ANALYSIS - Global response needed to arrest of Thai Muslim youth Junta's detention of 100

Muslims to ID just 5 men linked to insurgency leaves many in southern Malay community aggrieved 

By Don Pathan
Oct. 30, 2016

BANGKOK -- More than 100 Malay Muslim youth from Thailand's southernmost provinces have been detained by security officials in the capital over the past three weeks, prompting their leaders to call on the international community to take action against Bangkok.

Some were held for two days, and others up to seven. In all around ten have not been released and their status remains unknown. Just as unclear is when this so-called crackdown will come to an end.

On Oct. 18, Col. Winthai Suwaree, spokesman for the National Council for Peace and Order (the ruling junta's self-anointed name), told reporters that the mass arrest of Patani Malay students in the Bangkok area resulted in the identification of the men who authorities said are linked to unrest in the far South. The five, however, are not students.

Patani youth and student leaders have said that while all too familiar with such harassment, the way that authorities tossed out such a wide net just to catch a few  sh has left them particularly aggrieved. The youth said the authorities were extremely disrespectful with their operation. The murky nature of the operation itself prompted local civil society organizations to raise their concern. In reaction to the harassment, the Federation of Patani Students and Youth (Permas), a student-led political movement, issued a statement calling on the United Nations and the international community to closely monitor the situation on the ground.

The group said it is “seriously concerned about the state's security policies as there is a likelihood that Patani people may be further targeted and made scapegoats for future violence during Thailand's unstable political situation”. It called on the UN to monitor law enforcement in Thailand and its Security Council to take part in the peace process to “secure the safety of the people and bring sustainable peace to the region".

Suhaimee Dulasa, a senior member of the Patani Institute, a local civil society organization, said, “The operation was political in nature. The Malays of Patani are the only people who continue to carry out their political activities, unlike other political action groups in other parts of Thailand.”

Speaking on condition of anonymity, some of the key leaders in the youth movement told Anadolu Agency this week that part of the reason for the “harassment” is related to their refusal to “become the authorities’ tools” in an effort to antagonize and discredit the key separatist group, namely the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN).

This has greatly frustrated Thai security officials, said the leaders on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal from Thai authorities. Thai security officials told Anadolu Agency that they believe the youth activists are an “extension” of the BRN, one of the long-standing separatist movements that surfaced in the mid-1960s to take up arms against the Thai state. The BRN is not part of ongoing unoffcial peace talks that the government has been conducting with the MARA Patani, a network of six long-standing separatist organisations that has no command-and-control over the insurgents on the ground. Bangkok’s strategy is centered on the hope that MARA Patani could convince the insurgents on the ground to give them and the talks a chance.

But the combatants’ loyalty to the BRN is still very much intact. At the beginning of the crackdown three weeks ago, there were reports that the possibility of car bombs in Bangkok were the primary reason behind the initial mass round up of Patani Malay students. “It was just an excuse to justify launching the crackdown,” Suhaimee said.

But within days, the narrative about the car bomb was dropped. A new explanation made vague reference to countering possible terrorist plots to commemorate the anniversary of the 2004 Tak Bai massacre, an incident that ended in the death of 85 unarmed Muslims demonstrating against the arrest of village of cers accused by police of willingly handing over government-issued weapons to insurgents. Of the 85 who died Oct. 25 that year, 78 suffocated after being stacked one on top of another on the back of military transport trucks while another seven were shot dead at the protest site.

On Oct. 21, the Thai Academic Network for Civil Rights issued a statement calling on the government to refrain from arbitrarily arresting Patani Malay Muslim students residing in Bangkok and urged the release of those who are being held without charges.

Thai Malay youth leaders from the Patani region said it’s an open secret that they and the Thai security agencies, especially those tasked with resolving the ongoing conflict in the Malay-speaking South, have been at loggerheads on just about every issue -- from the ongoing peace talks to the conduct of the security forces in this restive region, where more than 6,000 people have died from insurgency-related violence since January 2004.

Allegations of gross human rights violations committed by security offcials are ripe and well documented by international organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. The youth leaders said Thai officials take the differences personally because it’s difficult for them to comprehend the idea that Malay Muslims from the Patani region do not embrace the country’s nationstate narrative and construct.

Col. Pramote Prom-in, a spokesman for the Fourth Army Area (the Thai army command that oversees the conflict in the far South), said authorities would not hesitate to arrest any of the Permas activists if their “slandering” of Thai authorities goes beyond what the law permits.

Patani Malay youth said because of differences in their political outlook, Thai authorities tend to see them as troublemakers and place them under the watchful eyes of Thai security forces. Some agencies have even set up counter intelligence units to discredit these activists through social media, while others, especially those working on the various peace initiatives and secret talks with the rebels, have tried to use them as go-betweens.

But what is clear, according to these youth activists, is that they will not sell their soul to the Thai authorities. The youth leaders have consistently said that the right to self-determination and the ability to chart their own course is the key to peace. In this respect, the Thai state and the BRN will have to talk about the root causes and the historical grievances of the con¡ict, which Bangkok appears to never want to do.

Don Pathan is an associate with Asia Conflict and Security Consulting, Ltd and is based in Yala, one of Thailand's three southernmost provinces hit by the current wave of insurgency 

Opinions expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Anadolu Agency's editorial policy.

South caught in an endless loop of violence

The Nation

Talks with MARA Patani have limited potential to succeed if root causes not tackled

It breaks everybody’s heart when innocent young people, especially  little boys and girls, get caught up in political violence.

But in a situation when the state is hardly ever put in a position where it has to defend its policy and handling of a domestic conflict like in Thailand’s southernmost provinces, the message being consumed by the general public will, most likely, be distorted.

This is not to say that the bomb that ripped through Pattani’s nigh market last Monday, killing one and injuring 18 others, should not be condemned.

Political conflict in whatever form must embrace some degree of civility and humanitarian norms. Attacking civilians and non-combatant targets are violations that must be condemned.
But the same standards and principles must apply to the government side as well. Authorities must understand that the culture of impunity in the far South where no security officials have ever been convicted of any wrongdoing over sweeping operations that have led to some 100 young Malay Muslims being detained, interrogated and allegedly beaten up over the past two weeks, will draw a reaction from the insurgents.

They should also understand that their dialogue with the MARA Patani – a network of separatist groups who have been talking to the Thai government negotiators – will be discredited by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the one long-standing separatist group that controls the vast majority of combatants on the ground and is not a part of the talks.

As expected, government officials tried hard to make sense of what had happened, issuing the usual sound bites.

Colonel Pramote Prom-in, spokesman for the Internal Security Operation Command’s Region Four, said authorities suspected the Monday night attack was launched by assailants linked to previous incidents, particularly the July 3 blast that was carried out in front of the Pattani Central Mosque, which caused the death of one police officer and left three injured.

Deputy Defence Minister General Udomdech Sitabutr, who leads the newly established 13-member “front command Cabinet” tasked with tackling issues related to the southern unrest, said he had ordered officers to improve security measures to protect development projects.

What development projects is Udomdech talking about? For the past 13 years marked by daily violence, no development project in this conflict-ridden region has taken off.

There have been only a few incidents in which officials working on development projects have been killed but there is no suggestion that the insurgents were out to destroy the project itself.
If they really sought to, the Patani Malay separatist militants who enjoy tremendous support among the majority local Malay Muslims can easily destroy the economic lifeline that links the region to the rest of the country.

The insurgents have exercised some restraint, even though the government doesn’t want to admit to it.

Udomdech called the militants “misguided” but he was not clear as to what these combatants were straying from. Perhaps it was just something politicians say – or in this case, a retired soldier trying to play politician – to create the impression that they are important and interesting.

Perhaps the one man who made the most sense was Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha who suggested that it was the work of insurgents’ attempt to discredit the ongoing peace talks.

And since public space and security was so important in the latest round of talks with the MARA Patani, in line with past practices, it was inevitable that the BRN militants would attack a public space, such as Pattani’s night market.

Thailand’s Military Outsourcing Deep South Security to Local Militias

Don Pathan
Yala, Thailand
Oct. 5, 2016

 BenarNews

Troop levels in Thailand’s conflict-ridden Deep South are at their lowest level since peak deployment nine years ago, through a gradual draw-down accompanied by the shifting of security responsibility to local armed groups.

Current troop strength in the southern border region is just over 20,000, slightly more than half the number of military personnel posted there in 2007, according to a spokesman for the military command in charge of Thailand’s south.

Virtually all troops from the country’s north, northeast and central regional commands have already left the Deep South, according to Col. Pramote Prom-in of the Fourth Army Area.

He said only three battalions of non-local troops remain, each made up of about 800 soldiers, remain in the Muslim-majority region where more than 6,000 people have died since 2004  in violence associated with a separatist insurgency.

The downsizing is balanced by the outsourcing of security duties to local armed units such as the Volunteer Defense Corps (Ar Sar - VDC) and the village defense volunteers (Chor Ror Bor - VDV), Pramote told BenarNews.

The total security presence, including those groups and police, is around 50,000, in an area of 1.7 million residents, 80 percent of whom are Malay-speaking Muslims.

“It will not be a complete replacement as the 15th Infantry Division of the Fourth Army Area command will oversee the day-to-day operation in this region,” Pramote said.

The gradual pullout started in 2011, with the largest draw-down being 8,000 military personnel in 2015 alone, he said.

Giving Volunteer Units Bigger Role

The volunteer units operate under the Interior Ministry, not the Defense Ministry.

The Volunteer Defense Corps receive basic military training from army and police. They function as security details for provincial officers and receive a monthly salary from the Interior Ministry.

Village Defense Volunteer units receive 20,000 baht ($578) per month per unit for basic things such as snacks and coffee. Members are given shotguns and trained by local military units. They function more or less as part of neighborhood watch scheme.

Col. Pramote added that about 40 percent of the remaining 20,000-plus soldiers are Rangers, a significant number of whom are local Malay Muslims. These paramilitary forces are not part of the regular armed forces but are locally recruited and trained by the Thai Army.

The rangers form light infantry units and are posted in remote areas where they conduct long-range reconnaissance patrols, as well as search and destroy operations to flush out insurgent units on the army’s behalf.

‘Tired of violence’

The peak of the troop strength in this historically contested region was in 2007 when the total number of armed security personnel stood at about 70,000. Just over half of these personnel were members of the armed forces.

Four years later, in 2011, the military decided to start to downsize and hand out security duties to locally hired militia in the three southernmost provinces – Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat – as well as the four Malay-speaking districts in Songkhla province.

The same year also saw an additional 1,700 police officers being hired in the region, Pramote said.

He conceded that the current troop strength reflected a sharp drop from 2007, but insisted that locally hired forces were ready and able to take over the security work.

Other factors that added to the confidence of the military include the argument that a growing number of residents are siding with the government.

“The people are tired of the violence,” Pramote said.

Moreover, he added, the overall number of violence incidents has also dropped dramatically.

Military presence remains significant: Security expert

According to Deep South Watch (DSW), a think-tank attached to the Prince of Songkhla University in Pattani province, between 2004-2007, the average number of insurgency-related violent incidents per year was 1,926.

From 2009-2014, the annual figure dropped by about half to 1,027 incidents year. The past two years saw a further drop to about 60-70 incidents per months, or 840 annually.

DSW’s director, Assistant Professor Srisompob Jitpiromsri, said outsourcing security work to local militia was part of the military’s long-term strategy to reduce personnel and cut costs.

“The presence and number of the military personnel is still significant and the military operation will remain pretty much the same. The trade off is that the Royal Thai Army will be able to reduce spending significantly because of the withdrawal of troops but efficiency in the on-the-ground operations will inevitably be reduced because local militia will not have the same capability as the regular soldiers,” Srisompob said.

Suhaimee Dulasa, the director of foreign relations for the Patani Institute, a local civil society organization, said, “A professional army, if properly trained, should be in better position to carry out peace-building operation in a conflict such as this one in the Pattani region. Arming local civilians and putting their lives on the line is not the solution.”

“Moreover, meaningful changes can only come about if the Thai Army comes to the understanding that military means will not solve this long-standing conflict. The Thai state will have to open up political space for meaningful discussion to get to the root causes if they want to resolve this conflict,” Suhaimee said.

http://www.benarnews.org/english/news/special-reports/Deep-South-troops-10052016164917.html