<p>Security officers in the restive Deep South collected DNA samples of a five-month-old child believed to be the son of a fugitive suspect in a 2012 Hat Yai bombing. </p>
<p>18 civil society organisations in the Deep South region of Thailand have urged Thai state authorities to stop the intimidation and suspension of rights of civil society workers.</p>
<p>At the Muslim Attorney Centre (MAC) in the southern province of Pattani on Tuesday morning, 14 July 2015, 18 civil society organisations, members of the ‘Southern Border Provinces CSO Network for Peace’, came together to read a joint statement to demand that the Thai authorities stop the abuse of rights and intimidation.</p>
<p>The UN rights agency and the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC) have pointed out that an increasing use of DNA tests to combat the Deep South insurgency may constitute racial discrimination against Muslims.</p>