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.
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