Don Pathan
BenarNews
Yala, Thailand
Thailand’s peace initiative with Malay Muslim insurgents in the Deep South has hit a snag as rebels have threatened not to go through with the Safety Zone initiative unless Bangkok releases three of their imprisoned members.
Thai officials insisted that the call to release the three prisoners was not a demand tied to the prospect of a safety zone – or geographically limited ceasefire – but a “request” from MARA Patani, the panel representing insurgent groups in the peace talks. The Justice Ministry is looking into the case, officials told me.
If granted, it would not be a pardon but an early release, according to sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
If not, it would be a setback for the Safety Zone, a much-talked about project that would become Thailand’s showpiece for the international community. The project involves the designation of a district where a ceasefire is to be observed in Thailand’s southern border region.
MARA Patani, an umbrella organization made up of six long-standing separatist movements, began talks with the Thai government three years ago.
Like all other previous peace initiatives, Thailand’s engagement with MARA Patani rests on a shaky ground because the umbrella organization does not have control over the combatants on the ground.
A military intelligence officer described Thailand’s engagement with MARA Patani as “just buying time” until the leadership of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the one group that controls virtually all of the militants in the field, decided to join the peace process.
So far, there is no indication BRN will change its stance – not because of a lack of trying on the part of MARA Patani or Malaysia, the designated facilitator.
Glimmer of hope
A moment of hope, albeit small, came late last year during a meeting between Malaysian mediator Ahmad Zamzamin Hashim, who is a retired spy chief, and two senior members of BRN’s ruling council.
Zamzamin received an assurance from the BRN leaders that their militants would not sabotage the safety-zone initiative, which would be implemented in a yet-to-be-named district in one of three Muslim-majority provinces in the Deep South. The idea was conjured up by MARA Patani and Thailand’s Dialogue Panel.
BRN sources said they were still committed to independence for Patani, the Malay historical homeland that today forms Thailand’s three southernmost provinces. They had no plan to enter into a negotiation with the Thais, they said.
Moreover, a planned meeting between the country’s chief negotiator, Gen. Aksara Kerdpol, and one of the BRN senior figures, Doonloh Wae-mano (alias Abdullah Wan Mat Noor), to be held in Indonesia, should not be interpreted as a breakthrough in any way.
Nevertheless, the fact that BRN agreed not to sabotage the Safety Zone project and allow the initiative to take its course was welcomed in Thailand despite the glaring irony that the participants, MARA Patani and Thai government, don’t control the armed militants.
A spitting contest
Bangkok wants to make this Safety Zone project its showpiece in order to demonstrate to the public and the world that it is making “progress” in efforts to end a separatist conflict that has killed nearly 7,000 people since January 2004.
For a moment, things appeared to be moving in the right direction.
People were looking forward to the launch of the safety zone scheduled for April 2018. And then came a demand from the MARA Patani that three of their people be released from prison, sources on both sides told me.
Beside the horse-trading and the political and legal challenges that come with it, Thailand’s peace initiative for the Deep South is also facing some major obstacles coming from the people inside the country.
The ongoing spitting contest between Aksara and the commander of the Fourth Army region, Lt. Gen. Piyawat Nakwanich, who oversees security in the Deep South, could very well have negative consequences on the government’s strategy for the area.
Government sources said the disagreement was part of a turf war between the two members of the military top brass who had been dismissive of one another through the media.
In a recent statement to the press, Piyawat said Aksara’s safety project was nothing to get excited about and added that he himself had single-handedly created 14 such zones and that he didn’t want to boast.
Piyawat also talked about his Bring People Home project, a half-baked amnesty program that supposedly helps former insurgents return to normal civilian life, calling it a success because it put a dent in BRN’s morale and military standing.
According to a Thai government source overseeing the southern conflict, the bickering stemmed from the dispute of who should oversee which programs.
Members of the Dialogue Panel, the official name of Thailand’s negotiating team, believe they should be the one administering Bring People Home because they are the ones who are dealing directly with the rebels and, therefore, they would be in a better position to run the program.
The dispute between Aksara and Piyawat forced a leading member of MARA Patani to issue a public statement, accusing the commander of the Fourth Army region commander of creating confusion.
Sukree Haree said Piyawat’s amnesty project and his version of 14 “safety zone” districts were entirely different from the programs discussed at the negotiating table between his umbrella organization and the Dialogue Panel.
BRN sources dismissed Piyawat’s claim of success, saying those who surrendered through the program were not deeply involved in the movement and may just be guilty by association. This is a common accusation employed by the Thai authorities but has no bearing in court.
Moreover, the BRN has not reached the stage of a full-fledged army and, therefore, does not need that many soldiers in its ranks.
The strategy at this point is to discredit the government’s security apparatus, making the region ungovernable as much as possible.
A roadside bombing followed by a brief gunfight that hardly ever lasts more than five minutes is the usual battle scenario in this region.
The insurgents said they are more interested in capturing the locals’ hearts, mind and imagination, not geographical space, which is something way down the road, at which time, a conventional force will be needed.
Don Pathan is a consultant and security analyst based in Thailand. The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and not of BenarNews.
DON PATHAN Senior Program Officer for Regional Security Cooperation at The Asia Foundation
Thursday 29 March 2018
Saturday 10 March 2018
Army’s tighter grip threatens peace initiative in far South
Don Pathan
Special to The Nation
March 10, 2018
Yala
Concern is growing that the military’s eagerness to please bosses in Bangkok could lead to collapse of safety zone project
The tension between Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc) Region 4 and civic leaders working on the conflict in Thailand’s far South has reached an unprecedented height as neither side shows signs of backing down.
A week ago, 38 civil society organisations (CSOs) and 22 individual academics and activists signed a petition calling on Isoc Region 4 Command to stop intimidating the media and human rights defenders, and to be realistic about the challenges people in the region face. Signatories pointed to alleged harassment of local human rights activist Ismail Teh, who won an eight-year legal battle when a Thai court ordered the government to compensate him financially for the beating inflicted upon him while he was in detention.
Just weeks ago, 4th Army commander Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich filed defamation charges against Ismail for talking to the media about his case. Late last month, Aiman Hadeng, president of Justice of Peace Network, a local CSO made up of former detainees, was held incommunicado without charges for a week. Other similar incidents over the past few weeks include the raid of a private Islamic school in Pattani’s Nong Chik district that turned up nothing incriminating and the detention of 14 youths camping on a Yala’s hilltop popular among local tourists. The March 2 press statement was signed by both Muslims and Thai Buddhist academics and CSO leaders who are fed up with what they say amounts to a campaign of intimidation from the military.
These activists accuse the Fourth Army Area Command, the engine behind Isoc Region 4, of ignoring the reality on the ground and refusing to address the root cause of the conflict. A government source in Bangkok who monitors the conflict in the far South said concern is growing that Lt-General Piyawat’s activities could drive a bigger wedge between the state and a local Malay population which the Army is supposed to be winning over.
There is also concern that his heavy-handedness could affect the ongoing peace dialogue between the central government and MARA Patani, an umbrella organisation made up of six long-standing Patani Malay separatist movements. Thailand’s engagement with MARA Patani has reached an important juncture that includes the implementation of a Safety Zone, a pilot project in which the two sides will designate a district in the far South where a period of ceasefire will be observed.
The Thai government and MARA Patani will also set up a “Safe House” where representatives from both sides can jointly monitor the security situation in the Safety Zone and take up issues raised by the local residents. The designated district is set to be announced by May, once technical teams from the two sides have ironed out the details of a project that had been on the table for more than two years.
Bangkok and MARA Patani were able to push for implementation only after the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the group that controls virtually all of the insurgent combatants but is not taking part in peace negotiations, agreed not to sabotage the initiative. In 2013, alleged extrajudicial and “target” killings by Thai forces came into focus when a BRN liaison, Hasan Taib, raised the issue at a meeting with Thai representatives in the peace talks. Negotiations at the time were also complicated when local activists marched to the Malaysian Consulate in Songkhla to raise the same case and called on Kuala Lumpur, in its capacity as talks facilitator, to intervene and end alleged torture and assassination of former detainees. Now, there is growing concern that Piyawat’s aggressive tactics in the South could see the BRN wash its hands of (or place severe limitations on) the Safety Zone project.
Rebel sources said they were extremely upset at Piyawat’s “blind” sweep operation in Bannang Sata, Yala, in early January, during which government troops netted about 50 local residents for detention. The round-up was in response to an arson attack on a passenger bus by a local militant cell in mid-December 2017. A Thai government security official said Piyawat was out to impress his superiors in Bangkok with his heavy-handed tactics while giving no consideration to the consequences.
But senior government officials and the top brass don’t seem to mind the aggression, while the predominantly Buddhist Thai general public outside of this restive region remains largely indifferent to the plight of the Patani Malays. For many, the very idea of sitting at the same table with Patani Malay movements as equals is unpalatable. “In the eyes of the military leaders, they [Patani Malay separatist movements] will always be criminals,” said the Thai government source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. In this line of thinking, said the source, Piaywat’s questionable tactics on the ground will generate little opposition among the top brass in Bangkok, who are running the show and will continue to do so until the mandate is eventually handed back to the Thai people.
Don Pathan is a founding member of the Patani Forum (www.pataniforum.com), a civil society organisation dedicated to critical discussion on the conflict in Thailand’s far South. He is based in Yala, one of the three southernmost provinces in this historically contested region known as Patani.TagsArmyfar SouthpeaceinitiativeArmy’s tighterBangkok
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30340631
Special to The Nation
March 10, 2018
Yala
Concern is growing that the military’s eagerness to please bosses in Bangkok could lead to collapse of safety zone project
The tension between Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc) Region 4 and civic leaders working on the conflict in Thailand’s far South has reached an unprecedented height as neither side shows signs of backing down.
A week ago, 38 civil society organisations (CSOs) and 22 individual academics and activists signed a petition calling on Isoc Region 4 Command to stop intimidating the media and human rights defenders, and to be realistic about the challenges people in the region face. Signatories pointed to alleged harassment of local human rights activist Ismail Teh, who won an eight-year legal battle when a Thai court ordered the government to compensate him financially for the beating inflicted upon him while he was in detention.
Just weeks ago, 4th Army commander Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich filed defamation charges against Ismail for talking to the media about his case. Late last month, Aiman Hadeng, president of Justice of Peace Network, a local CSO made up of former detainees, was held incommunicado without charges for a week. Other similar incidents over the past few weeks include the raid of a private Islamic school in Pattani’s Nong Chik district that turned up nothing incriminating and the detention of 14 youths camping on a Yala’s hilltop popular among local tourists. The March 2 press statement was signed by both Muslims and Thai Buddhist academics and CSO leaders who are fed up with what they say amounts to a campaign of intimidation from the military.
These activists accuse the Fourth Army Area Command, the engine behind Isoc Region 4, of ignoring the reality on the ground and refusing to address the root cause of the conflict. A government source in Bangkok who monitors the conflict in the far South said concern is growing that Lt-General Piyawat’s activities could drive a bigger wedge between the state and a local Malay population which the Army is supposed to be winning over.
There is also concern that his heavy-handedness could affect the ongoing peace dialogue between the central government and MARA Patani, an umbrella organisation made up of six long-standing Patani Malay separatist movements. Thailand’s engagement with MARA Patani has reached an important juncture that includes the implementation of a Safety Zone, a pilot project in which the two sides will designate a district in the far South where a period of ceasefire will be observed.
The Thai government and MARA Patani will also set up a “Safe House” where representatives from both sides can jointly monitor the security situation in the Safety Zone and take up issues raised by the local residents. The designated district is set to be announced by May, once technical teams from the two sides have ironed out the details of a project that had been on the table for more than two years.
Bangkok and MARA Patani were able to push for implementation only after the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the group that controls virtually all of the insurgent combatants but is not taking part in peace negotiations, agreed not to sabotage the initiative. In 2013, alleged extrajudicial and “target” killings by Thai forces came into focus when a BRN liaison, Hasan Taib, raised the issue at a meeting with Thai representatives in the peace talks. Negotiations at the time were also complicated when local activists marched to the Malaysian Consulate in Songkhla to raise the same case and called on Kuala Lumpur, in its capacity as talks facilitator, to intervene and end alleged torture and assassination of former detainees. Now, there is growing concern that Piyawat’s aggressive tactics in the South could see the BRN wash its hands of (or place severe limitations on) the Safety Zone project.
Rebel sources said they were extremely upset at Piyawat’s “blind” sweep operation in Bannang Sata, Yala, in early January, during which government troops netted about 50 local residents for detention. The round-up was in response to an arson attack on a passenger bus by a local militant cell in mid-December 2017. A Thai government security official said Piyawat was out to impress his superiors in Bangkok with his heavy-handed tactics while giving no consideration to the consequences.
But senior government officials and the top brass don’t seem to mind the aggression, while the predominantly Buddhist Thai general public outside of this restive region remains largely indifferent to the plight of the Patani Malays. For many, the very idea of sitting at the same table with Patani Malay movements as equals is unpalatable. “In the eyes of the military leaders, they [Patani Malay separatist movements] will always be criminals,” said the Thai government source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. In this line of thinking, said the source, Piaywat’s questionable tactics on the ground will generate little opposition among the top brass in Bangkok, who are running the show and will continue to do so until the mandate is eventually handed back to the Thai people.
Don Pathan is a founding member of the Patani Forum (www.pataniforum.com), a civil society organisation dedicated to critical discussion on the conflict in Thailand’s far South. He is based in Yala, one of the three southernmost provinces in this historically contested region known as Patani.TagsArmyfar SouthpeaceinitiativeArmy’s tighterBangkok
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30340631
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