THAI COURT CLEARS SECURITY OFFICIALS OF MISCONDUCT IN TAK BAI CASE

By D. Arul Rajoo

SONGKHLA, May 29 (Bernama) -- Nearly five years after the Tak Bai incident
that caused the death of 85 Muslim demonstrators and was seen as one of the
triggering points in the Southern Thai conflict, a Thai court has ruled that
there was no misconduct on the part of security officials.

The two-member panel on the post-mortem inquest concluded that army and
police officials acted according to the law, used their judgment to deal with
the pressing situation and did their best based on the circumstances of the
situation then.

Judge Yingyut Tanor-Rachin, who sat with Judge Jutarath Santisevee, said the
officials were carrying out their duties and had compelling reasons to transport
over 1,000 detained demonstrators from Tak Bai at the Thai-Malaysia border to
Ingkayuthaborihaan Army Camp in Pattani on Oct 25, 2004.

The incident happened when over 1,500 people took part in a demonstration in
front of the Tak Bai Police Station to demand the release of six village
defence volunteers who were detained on suspicion of filing false reports to
the police concerning a robbery of government-issued shotguns.

Police sprayed water and fired tear gas at demonstrators while live
ammunition were fired into the sky and at crowd level to break-up the
demonstration that resulted in the deaths of seven people.

Some 1,292 persons were arrested and detained by the authorities. According
to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), those detained were beaten with
batons, kicked and punched, some whilst lying on the ground with their hands
tied behind their backs.

The detained persons were then loaded into a trucks where they were piled up
in many layers and transferred to Ingkayuthaborihaan Camp, a journey which took
several hours. A total of 78 people were found dead in the trucks in the
incident that occurred during the Muslim fasting month.

More than 3,500 people have died since armed separatists resumed their
campaign in January, 2004 to seek independence for the three Muslim-majority
provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

Many locals and human rights bodies blamed the rising violence on the Tak
Bai incident as well as on the earlier tragedy, in April 2004, when 32 suspected
insurgents were killed after the authorities stormed the 300-year-old Krue Se
mosque in Pattani following a nine-hour stand-off.

Reading out the decision at the packed-courtroom at the Songkhla Provincial
Court, Judge Yingyut said security officials had to make a swift decision to
transport the detainees in such a manner to Pattani due to security reasons as
the location of the demonstration was not far from the Thaksin Ratchaniwet
Palace and the Malaysian border.

Furthermore, he said there were attempts to block the smooth passage of the
transportation of detainees to Pattani with trees being felled and spikes thrown
on the road.

He said although there was a video-tape footage of the incident that showed
some people clad in uniform causing injuries to the demonstrators, there was no
clear indication if it was done on the orders of their superiors or individuals
taking impromptu action to deal with the demonstrators.

The inquest also found that the demonstrators were not carried out
peacefully, as there were gunshot from an unknown source before the crackdown
and weapons found at the nearby river after the incident.

Officials were also cleared of any wrongdoing as they were acting under the
Emergency Decree. The Section 17 of the decree stated officials cannot be
subjected to civil, criminal or disciplinary liabilities arising from them while
performing their duty.

Representatives from the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Cross
Cultural Foundation and several non-governmental organisations operating in the
southern provinces were present at the court.

The verdict was received with disbelief by families of the victims who had
travelled several hundred kilometres to be present.

Zainah Saleme, who set up a women's group fighting for justice for Tak Bai
victims, said she was very disappointed with the decision.

"There was no consideration at all concerning the condition of the victims,
the feelings of family members. The court said the deaths (of the 78 victims)
were not caused by bullets...but they were piled in layers. They did not think
about the victims' lives at all," said Zainah, whose son was detained for two
years for being involved in the demonstration.

Hamiah Ahmad, 53, said she was extremely sad because there was totally no
justice for the victims and their families who had to travel to the courts and
back since the case started several years ago.

"My son was there by coincidence and died of bullet wound," said Hamiah who
received a compensation of RM2,000 (20,000 baht) from the government.

Muhammad Hassan, 50, whose only son died after being piled in layers in a
truck, said he was shocked at the decision of the court.

The Thai Government under the previous military-appointed Prime Minister
Surayud Chulanont gave compensation amounting to 42 million baht (RM4.2 million)
to family members of the Tak Bai victims, and dropped charges against 56 people
involved in the demonstration, and apologised for the tragedy. (US$1=RM3.48)
-- BERNAMA