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Thailand: Rights group demands justice for religious leader
Adnkronos International - January 8, 2009
New York – A leading human rights organisation has called for the newly elected Thai Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, to keep his word and prosecute the soldiers who killed a Muslim leader in a detention centre in the restive south.
A court in the Muslim-majority province of Narathiwat last December ruled that Imam Yapa Kaseng, a 56-year-old Muslim religious leader, was tortured and killed by soldiers while being interrogated in March 2008.
In his inaugural speech to Parliament on 30 December, Abhisit stressed that "justice will be integral to the resolution of the conflict in the southern border province."
Brad Adams, the Asian director at Human Rights Watch, said on Thursday that the case was a test for the new administration.
"This is not an isolated case of rogue soldiers, but part of a broad pattern," he said. "Now it is Prime Minister Abhisit's turn to show political courage and ensure the prosecution of the soldiers and officers who ordered and carried out the killing."
The army has enormous influence in Thailand's political life. It is also believed that Army Chief General Anupong Paochinda played a pivotal role in helping Abhisit establish his government coalition and some analysts have said that it will be very difficult for the Oxford-educated premier to prosecute any soldiers.
The Islamic-tinted southern rebellion started in 2004 and more than 3,200 people have died in the conflict.
HRW says that human rights abuses have regularly occurred during the government's counterinsurgency operations since the former premier Thaksin Shinawatra ordered the army to use heavy-handed tactics to respond to attacks on army camps in 2004. Abuses are thought to have escalated in 2007 with the launch of "Operation Southern Defender."
"As a priority, the new government needs to overhaul the counterinsurgency strategy that encourages abuses, impose effective civilian control over the army, and provide efficient redress for victims of abuses," added Adams.
"By relying on repressive measures and restrictions on fundamental human rights, Thai authorities have created a fertile ground for the insurgency to expand."
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