Families of Tak Bai victims hold a protest saying ‘justice has no expiry date’, voicing their demands for accountability in the Narathiwat province (HRW pic)
The Long Road to Justice
Narathiwat: Khalijah Musa was just 12 years old when her brother Sari was stuffed into a Thai army truck, hands bound, joining a pile of arrested protesters who all suffocated to death.
Twenty years after the October 25, 2004 tragedy, known as the "Tak Bai massacre", Musa and the other relatives of the 78 victims are mourning the fact that the killers will never be brought to justice.
The Passing of Time
On Friday, the 20-year statute of limitations expires, and murder charges against the seven suspects will be dropped.
A Region in Crisis
The incident is one of the bloodiest days in the long-running conflict in Thailand’s deep south between government forces and separatist insurgents.
A Legacy of Impunity
"There is no natural justice in our country," Musa told AFP in an interview, saying those responsible deserved the death penalty.
"It’s not equal… we in the southernmost provinces are not part of the (Thai) family. Our voices are just not loud enough."
A Cry for Justice
Families will hold memorial prayers for the victims on Friday and once again repeat their calls for justice.
A Case of State Impunity
The case has long stood as an emblem of state impunity in the kingdom’s Muslim-majority southernmost provinces, which are culturally distinct from the rest of mostly Buddhist Thailand.
A Conflict with No End in Sight
A low-level conflict between security forces and insurgents demanding more autonomy for the region has killed more than 7,000 people since January 2004.
The Tak Bai Massacre
On October 25 that year, security forces opened fire on a crowd protesting outside a police station in the town of Tak Bai in Narathiwat province, close to the Malaysian border, killing seven people.
Subsequently 78 people suffocated after they were arrested and stacked on top of each other in the back of Thai military trucks, face down and with their hands tied behind their backs.
A Long-Fought Battle for Justice
In August, a provincial court accepted a criminal case filed by victims’ families against seven officials, a move Amnesty International called a "crucial first step towards justice".
But the officials – including a former army commander elected to parliament last year – have avoided appearing in court, preventing the case from progressing.
Conclusion
The case has become synonymous with lack of accountability in a region governed by emergency laws and flooded with army and police units. No member of the Thai security forces has ever been jailed for extrajudicial killings or torture in the "deep south", despite years of allegations of abuses across the region.
FAQs
- What happened during the Tak Bai massacre?
On October 25, 2004, security forces opened fire on a crowd protesting outside a police station in the town of Tak Bai in Narathiwat province, killing seven people. Subsequently, 78 people suffocated after they were arrested and stacked on top of each other in the back of Thai military trucks, face down and with their hands tied behind their backs. - What is the current situation with the case?
The 20-year statute of limitations expires on Friday, and murder charges against the seven suspects will be dropped. The case has become synonymous with lack of accountability in a region governed by emergency laws and flooded with army and police units. - What is the current situation with the conflict in the deep south?
A low-level conflict between security forces and insurgents demanding more autonomy for the region has killed more than 7,000 people since January 2004.