{"id":556,"date":"2009-06-16T10:44:00","date_gmt":"2009-06-16T05:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mohamediqbalp.wordpress.com\/2009\/06\/16\/thai-army-fuels-south-unrest\/"},"modified":"2009-06-16T10:44:00","modified_gmt":"2009-06-16T05:14:00","slug":"thai-army-fuels-south-unrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2009\/06\/16\/thai-army-fuels-south-unrest\/","title":{"rendered":"Thai Army Fuels South Unrest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
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Impunity of Thai soldiers in the Muslim south is blamed for fueling unrest and anger in the violence-ravaged region. (Reuters)\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

BANA,
\nThailand \u2014 Sixteen-year-old Muktar was walking to a local football
\nmatch in the Muslim-majority south when Thai soldiers shot him in the
\nhead, kicked him into a ditch and left him to die.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Three weeks later, he is now breathing through a tube in his neck.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

The gunshot had entered his skull and blown away both eyes.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Two cotton pads now cover
\nthe spots his deformed face where his eyes once were, soaking up the
\ntears which still, somehow, emerge.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

“I feel so much anger
\ntowards the soldiers because I don’t know why they did this,” Muktar
\ntold Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Monday, July 7.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

“I want them to be shot like they shot me, and prosecuted.”<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Two months after the
\nshooting, Muktar now spends his days using his feet to navigate the
\nfloorboards in his corrugated iron-framed home, with brain damage which
\nmakes him feel disoriented and wet his bed.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

His parents received only a
\nthird of the four million baht (120,000 dollars) they sought from the
\ngovernment. A promised apology from the soldier never came.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

“If the government had more justice we would receive more care from them,” Muktar’s father Jaema said.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

The southern provinces of
\nPattani, Yala and Narathiwat, an independent Muslim sultanate until
\nannexed officially a century ago, have been ravaged by an armed
\nconflict since 2004, leaving more than 2,800 people dead.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Poverty and meager economic development in the Muslim south are blamed as one of the factors fuelling the unrest.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Impunity<\/span><\/b><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Experts say impunity of Thai soldiers in the Muslim south is fueling unrest and anger in the violence-ravaged region.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

“Impunity has always been
\nthe root cause of this kind of alienation and anger,” said Sunai
\nPhasuk, a researcher with Human Rights Watch.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

“All that’s important for the radicalization and recruitment of insurgents.”<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Before the incident,
\nMuktar’s village of Bana had been largely safe, but the day after the
\nshooting, insurgents burned down the local school in the village.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

“Residents feel that
\nthey’ve been physically abused by the government so they suddenly turn
\na blind eye to whatever insurgents want to do,” Sunai said.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Outrage in the south worsened after a Muslim imam died in the custody of the Thai army in March.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

According to an official autopsy, the imam’s body had nine cracked ribs, and an inquiry is underway.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Last month, another imam was shot dead as he walked between a mosque and his nearby home.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

The imam’s wife Tuantimoh
\nsaid her neighbors suspect soldiers shot him dead because a car was
\nseen entering a nearby military base shortly after the shooting.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

“I don’t trust the military anymore. I want more justice,” Tuantimoh told AFP. “Why don’t they try to find some suspects?”<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

The Thai military denies soldiers were involved, but this does little to reassure Muslim residents.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

“I cannot trust the soldiers now,” one 73-year-old man in Yala told AFP.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

“Sometimes they arrest good people who haven’t done anything,” added shopkeeper Asma, 22.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Experts say the conflict will continue until justice prevails in the south.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

“With impunity it’s a
\nvicious circle — people see things starting to fall into place but
\nbefore you can end impunity there’s a new case. Just as trust starts to
\nbe built, it collapses.”<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thai Army Fuels South Unrest IslamOnline.net & News Agencies Impunity of Thai soldiers in the Muslim south is blamed for fueling unrest and anger in the violence-ravaged region. (Reuters) BANA, Thailand \u2014 Sixteen-year-old Muktar was walking to a local football match in the Muslim-majority south when Thai soldiers shot him in the head, kicked him…
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