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<div>A prominent insurgent group in Thailand's restive Deep South has denounced MARA Patani, the umbrella organization of separatist movements, and on-going peace talks between them and Bangkok.
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<p>An anti-graft agency has submitted a report recommending criminal charges against 10 soldiers in Thailand’s restive Deep South for their role four years ago in torturing an army recruit to death.</p>
By Human Rights Watch |
<p>Thai authorities should investigate and appropriately prosecute a junior officer implicated in the torture and killing of a Muslim cleric in 2008, Human Rights Watch said today. The case is a major test of the Thai government’s commitment to justice for military abuses in embattled southern <a href="http://hrw.pr-optout.com/Tracking.aspx?Data=HHL%3d8%2c97%3a1-%3eLCE593719%26SDG%3c90%3a.&RE=MC&RI=4432086&Preview=False&DistributionActionID=86028&Action=Follow+Link">Thailand</a>.<br /></p>
By Thaweeporn Kummetha |
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<div><em>“Patani” is now a very controversial term used to refer to the area encompassing the provinces of Pattani (with 2 t’s,), Yala, Narathiwat, and 4 provinces of Songkhla, mostly inhabited by Malay Muslims and infamous in the news for being a space of conflict. The term arguably carries a strong sense of separatism. The increasing use of the term by CSO, media and the separatists themselves raises concerns among the non-Malay Muslim whether they are included as Patani people and if they will have a say in the right to determine the future of the region.</em></div>
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<p dir="ltr">A self-described Muslim insurgent member in a restive Deep South of Thailand released a video clip online, pointing out the Thai state’s hypocrisy in solving the southern conflict and vowing to fight on for independence. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The Appeal Court in the restive Deep South of Thailand has dismissed murder charges against two paramilitary officers one of whom confessed of killing three children in early 2014. </p>
By Thaweeporn Kummetha |
<div><em>For the past few decades, Malay, Thai, and Chinese locals living in the southernmost provinces of Thailand have had to carry out their lives amidst an atmosphere of violence and tension. The story examines the everyday's life of Muslim Malay and Thai-Chinese in Patani to see how the violence affects their life and their attempt to normalize the daily discrimination and conflict.</em></div>
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By Human Rights Watch |
<p>A Thai court’s award of damages for the fatal torture of a Muslim detainee highlights the government’s failure to prosecute soldiers who commit grave abuses in <a href="http://hrw.pr-optout.com/Tracking.aspx?Data=HHL%3d8%2c90A1-%3eLCE593719%26SDG%3c90%3a.&RE=MC&RI=4432086&Preview=False&DistributionActionID=84163&Action=Follow+Link">Thailand</a>’s troubled deep south border provinces, Human Rights Watch said today. The case is a critical test of Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha’s vow to bring justice to Thailand’s restive southern border provinces.</p>
<p>The court in the restive southern Thailand ordered a security unit to provide compensation for the family of the Deep South violence victim who was tortured to death, but none of the security officers and public agencies were prosecuted.</p>
<p>On Friday morning, 21 August 2015, the Administrative Court of the southern province of Songkhla ordered the security agency in the restive Deep South responsible for torturing Ashari Samaae to death to compensate the victim’s family with 534, 301.36 baht fund and 479,500 baht of accumulative interest.</p>
By Thaweeporn Kummetha |
By Thaweeporn Kummetha |
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<div>The Thai state has barely learned the lessons on the conflict of Thailand’s restive Deep South, voiced experts and locals during an event to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the enforced disappearance of Haji Sulong Tohmeena, a local political icon who campaigned for the rights of Muslim Malays.</div>
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<div>“The Thai state wants to crush and erase Haji Sulong. They don’t want people to speak about Haji Sulong. The Thai state has acted like this all along.
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<p>The latest research conducted by a think tank based in Thailand’s restive Deep South shows that most people in the region are in favour of peace talks. However, they urged the Thai government to be more open and the insurgent groups to abstain from violence.</p>