The failure of Thai authorities to prosecute those responsible for the deaths of 85 protesters three years ago is alienating Muslims and fueling a separatist insurgency, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said yesterday.
The protest on Oct. 25, 2004, in the town of Tak Bai in Narathiwat Province was one of the bloodiest days in an insurgency that has left more than 2,600 people dead in Thailand's mainly Muslim southern provinces.
Seven people were shot dead as security forces broke up the protest, while 78 of about 1,300 people taken into custody suffocated or were crushed to death in trucks as they were being transported to a detention center.
No one from the security forces has faced charges over the deaths.
"The problems of Tak Bai are the problems of the south, where government impunity has been institutionalized," said Brad Adams, Asia director with HRW.
"By denying justice, the government is alienating local Muslims and making them easy targets for indoctrination and recruitment by separatist militants."
HRW said that a government-appointed committee found that inappropriate methods had been used to break up the Tak Bai protest, and singled out three senior army officers for blame.
Despite the committee's findings, no one from the security forces has been prosecuted for the tragedy, which has become a rallying cry for insurgents in the region who stage near daily attacks -- often against civilians.
"The Thai government has repeatedly promised justice for the Tak Bai victims and the local community. The government has completely failed to deliver," Adams said.
The south was an ethnic Malay sultanate until Buddhist Thailand annexed it a century ago. Unrest has simmered ever since.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS