Thread: Three Civilians Killed During Jungle Encounter in Thai Deep South

Thailand’s southern army commander clarified an earlier statement and promised a fair investigation on Tuesday when he announced that three men shot dead by a security task force in insurgency-stricken Narathiwat province the day before were unarmed civilians.


Shortly after the killings on Monday, Lt. Gen. Pornsak Poolsawat, the commander of the 4th Army Region that oversees Narathiwat and the rest of the Deep South, said the slain men were suspected insurgents who had clashed with security forces while others managed to escape.


But after hearing from relatives and conducting an initial investigation, Pornsak reversed his initial conclusion and spoke to reporters on Tuesday to set the record straight.


“When officers arrived at the scene and encountered four to five unknown men, they identified themselves and asked to search the men,” Pornsak told reporters in Narathiwat, referring to the task force made up of soldiers, police and officials from local agencies.


“But those men ran away and three or four gunshots were heard, so the officers returned fire, killing three while one or two managed to escape,” he said.


He also said the men were not armed – reversing an earlier statement that the men had two guns.


Pornsak promised justice for the slain loggers, saying he had ordered the unit responsible, the 45th Ranger Task Force, to conduct an investigation into the shootings.


“When there is an initial finding that the dead men are villagers and not insurgents, and despite officers’ efforts to be careful, they cannot deny responsibility because of the deadly mistake,” Pornsak said. “They will face investigation and punishment, disciplinarily and criminally, without exception ... if they intended to do wrong deeds.”


Ibraheng Mali, the father of Budiman Mali, 26, one of the three men killed on Monday, said he heard gunshots and was told about his son by a neighbor who witnessed the shooting. Ibraheng identified the two other dead men as Hafisi Mada-o, 24, and Manasi Sama-ae, 27.

“My son, my nephew Hafisi Mada-o, and their friend Manasi Sama-ae, were shot on the mountain,” Ibraheng told BenarNews.


“I affirm that my son and nephew as well as their friend were not insurgents or bad guys as reported. They cut logs to make a living,” he said. “What I want is justice.”


Manasi’s father, Mahamaroyali Sama-ae, said he kept waiting for his son’s body for burial.


“I did not sleep since last night, awaiting my son to come and have his rite,” Mahamaroyali told BenarNews. “I grieve for my son, he must have felt sheer pain. I want justice. He was not a bad guy.”


Pornsak, the army commander, said Monday’s incident in the Tawae mountains followed a Dec. 4 bloodless shootout against eight to 12 suspected insurgents in another village in the same district. Security forces in the Deep South have been involved in a manhunt since Nov. 5 when a pair of insurgent attacks killed 15 people at two checkpoints in Yala province.


Pornsak also requested that a Deep South human rights protection team of religious leaders, civilians and officials, conduct an independent investigation to ensure fairness and provide a base for possible compensation.


Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, director of the Bangkok-based Cross Cultural Foundation, called for a truly independent investigation.


“The fact-finding team for the extra-judicial execution in Narathiwat must be independent and competent – if not it is another mouthpiece for the perpetrators who are in power,” Pornpen said in a Facebook posting.


“Mistaken killing is not self-defense, not subject to reduction in punishment, not exempt and is obligated to the law,” she said. “Bring the wrong-doers to justice, compensate the dead and reform the military.”


Pornpen was out of the country and could not be reached for comment Tuesday.


Meanwhile, a Deep South human rights protection committee member promised the families of the slain loggers that they would get justice.


“The three were found dead next to timber without weapons,” Pornpilai Bovornnaringdesh told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. “Please, all villagers, trust officials who are performing the investigation.”


In Bangkok on Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha announced that a 2005 Emergency Decree would remain in effect in most of the Deep South. The decree gives security forces almost blanket immunity for their actions.


More than 7,000 people have been killed in violence across the mainly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South – which consists of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces and four districts of Songkhla province – since the separatist insurgency reignited in 2004.

https://www.benarnews.org/english/ne...019163518.html

It would be nice if it puts off that parasitic chinky factory that has its eyes on all that old forest.

^Why to leave it for Chinese, when we can cut it down by ourselves...

Civilian locals running away from armed Thai soldiers in a war zone is not something even the stupidest might contemplate so I should imagine something was said or done to provoke those villagers into fleeing.

Thai Deep South: 2 Soldiers Linked to Loggers’ Deaths Surrender to Police

Two soldiers turned themselves in on Friday as part of an investigation into the shooting deaths of three unarmed civilians by Thai security forces in the mountains of insurgency-stricken Narathiwat province on Dec. 16, police said.


The killings have sparked new anger against the Thai government in Narathiwat and neighboring provinces in the mainly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South, a heavily militarized region where a rebellion against Bangkok rule has simmered for decades.


“One is a volunteer [army] ranger and another is a commissioned officer. They turned themselves in and brought with them two pistols to Narathiwat city’s police station at 7 a.m. today. Previously, the 45th Ranger Forces Regiment told us that they would come at 10 a.m.,” Narathiwat police chief Maj. Gen. Narin Busaman told BenarNews.


The pair turned up at the police station a day after the army chief in southern Thailand ordered security-unit members who were involved in killing the three loggers to turn themselves in so an investigation could begin, Thai media reported.


Military and police officials withheld the names of the two soldiers.


“We have to further investigate before releasing any details,” Col. Pramote Prom-in, the 4th Army Region spokesman, told BenarNews.


On Tuesday, a day after the civilians were fatally shot during a confrontation with the security unit, Lt. Gen. Pornsak Poolsawat, the army commander in the Deep South, promised a fair probe. He said an initial investigation had revealed that the three slain men were villagers foraging in the forest for logs, not armed separatist insurgents.


On Friday, a relative of one of the slain villagers called on the army to bring the suspects before next of kin to apologize for their actions. Budiman Mali, 26, Hafisi Mada-o, 24, and Manasi Sama-ae, 27, have been identified as the victims.


“What we want is justice, guilty persons should be punished,” the relative told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.

“We want all soldiers to retreat from our village because villagers are afraid that there might be a retaliation from those soldiers.”


The man alleged this was not the first time that soldiers had killed villagers.


“This similar situation has been repeated over and over before,” he said, adding, “shooters turned themselves in and nothing happened.”



“So villagers do not trust soldiers anymore.”


Meanwhile, the president of the Narathiwat Islamic Committee questioned the government’s sincerity in this case.


“They should stop promising villagers justice. All promises are just bragging,” Safie Jehloh told BenarNews.



‘The dead men are villagers’


Monday’s killings occurred while the security unit – a combined force of military, police personnel, militia and officials from local agencies – was patrolling the Tawae mountains in Narathiwat as part of an operation to hunt for insurgents connected to twin attacks that killed 15 people at security checkpoints in nearby Yala province early last month.


The unit ran into at least four men in the forest, and ordered them to identify themselves and submit to a search, Lt. Gen. Pornsak told reporters on Tuesday.


“But those men ran away and three or four gunshots were heard, so the officers returned fire, killing three while one or two managed to escape,” he said.


On the day of the shooting, Pornsak said the slain men were suspected insurgents who were armed. However, he reversed that statement the next day, saying that they were in fact unarmed.


The military commander then promised justice for the slain loggers.


“When there is an initial finding that the dead men are villagers and not insurgents, and despite officers’ efforts to be careful, they cannot deny responsibility because of the deadly mistake,” Pornsak said on Dec. 17. “They will face investigation and punishment, disciplinarily and criminally, without exception ... if they intended to do wrong deeds.”


Pornsak also requested that a Deep South human rights protection team of religious leaders, civilians and officials conduct an independent investigation to ensure fairness and provide a base for possible compensation.


Also on Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha announced that a 2005 Emergency Decree would remain in effect in most of the Deep South, giving security forces almost blanket immunity for their actions.


More than 7,000 people have been killed in violence across the Deep South – which consists of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces and four districts of Songkhla province – since the insurgency reignited in 2004.


https://www.benarnews.org/english/ne...019163012.html