<p dir="ltr">A human rights activist in Thailand’s restive Deep South has denied rumours that he is a member of an insurgent group in the region.</p> <p>Wifa-e Molor, 31, a human rights activist based in the Deep South province of Pattani, on Tuesday, 9 February 2016, spoke to the local <a href="https://www.facebook.com/wartanimap">Wartani News</a>, to reject a rumour that he is a member of an insurgent group affiliated with Abdullayib Dolah, 42, a suspect in the assassination of a Muslim cleric in Pattani. &nbsp;Abdullayib died in custody in mysterious circumstances on 4 December 2015.</p>

<p>A spokesman for the national counter-insurgency agency today denounced a report alleging the use of more than a dozen torture techniques to force confessions from insurgent suspects in the Deep South as a work of fiction aimed at destroying the credibility of the army.</p>

<p>Allegations of torture and ill-treatment committed by state authorities against the Malay Muslim minority in the restive Deep South are currently double the level reported after the 2014 coup d’état. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>The <a href="http://th.macmuslim.com/?p=1025#more-1025">Muslim Attorney Centre (MAC)</a>, a civil society organisation providing legal aid in the Deep South, on Tuesday, 2 February 2016, published a report on allegations of torture and ill-treatment of Deep South insurgent suspects arrested and detained under special security laws in the region in 2015.</p>

<p>One of the insurgent groups in Thailand’s Deep South has warned people to stay away from military bases, saying that it has fired rockets into them.</p> <p>On Friday, 29 January 2016, Patani United Liberation Front (PULO), an insurgent group in Thailand’s restive Deep South, announced through its website&nbsp;<a href="http://puloinfo.net/">Puloinfo</a>&nbsp;that the group has attacked military bases in Pattani and Narathiwat Province with rockets.</p>

<p>The juvenile court in Thailand’s restive Deep South dismissed charges against the first Buddhist youth in the region accused of rebelling against the state.</p> <p>According to the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF), a human rights advocacy group, and Muslim Attorney Center (MAC), the Juvenile and Family Court of the Deep South province of Narathiwat acquitted a former novice from Yala province referred to as Mr. A [name not disclosed to protect his identity] accused of charges related to national security.</p>

<div>Two experts have confirmed that although the Deep South is unsuited to receive ISIS influence, the state still should avoid situations which may cause conflict related to Islam in the area.</div> <div> </div>

<p>After the junta leader scrapped regulations on power plant construction at the stroke of a pen, hundreds of students in Thailand’s Deep South rallied against a proposed coal-fired power plant in the region.</p> <p>Hundreds of students from the Federation of Patanian Students and Youth (PerMAS) and other student organisations on Friday afternoon, 22 January 2016, rallied at Prince of Songkla University in the Deep South Province of Pattani against the plan to construct a coal-fired power plant in Thepha District of Songkhla Province.</p>

<div><em>Prachatai talked to Romadon Panjor, a civil society worker in Thailand’s Deep South who went to participate in the discussions between the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Patani independence group MARA Patani in Kuala Lumpur. Romadon reveals how the discussions went, the OIC’s direction, and how the continuing peace process will probably proceed.&nbsp;</em></div> <p></p>

<div>Allegations of torture committed by the Thai authorities against the Muslim Malay minority in Thailand’s restive Deep South doubled after the 2014 coup, a report says.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The report, released on Friday, showed at least 18 cases of alleged torture and ill-treatment since 22 May 2014, when Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha staged the coup d’état. In 2015 alone, there were 15 recorded cases, whereas a total of 17 were recorded in 2014. </div>

<div> <div>After a rare demonstration by Muslim Malays in the restive Deep South, the Thai military on Wednesday evening released a Muslim Malay youth detained on allegations related to the insurgency.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The Internal Security Operations Command Region 4 released Abdul-rohim Roya shortly before 7 pm on Wednesday at ISOC’s Sirindhorn Camp in Yarang District, Pattani Province. </div></div>

<p>Hundreds of students in the restive Deep South gathered to visit an insurgent suspect who has been held for the last five days and reportedly faces ill treatment in custody. &nbsp;</p>

<p>The family of an insurgent suspect recently detained in the restive Deep South has alleged that the suspect might have suffered ill treatment in military custody. &nbsp;</p> <p>According to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/1438146019820331/photos/a.1438169226484677.1073741828.1438146019820331/1502969196671346/?type=3&amp;theater">Federation of Patani Students and Youth (PerMas)</a>, on 31 December 2015, security officers from an unidentified unit seized Abdul-rohim Roya from his house in Ra-ngae District of the Deep South province of Narathiwat. &nbsp;</p>