No member of the Thai security forces has ever been jailed for extrajudicial killings or torture in the restive ’deep south’, despite frequent allegations of abuses across a region that has seen more than 6,500 people killed since 2004.The majority of the dead are civilians, killed by the secretive rebels or in raids by Thai security forces.Two villagers and two students were gunned down on 25 March last year in a raid on Ban To Chut village in Pattani province when security forces, acting on a tip-off, opened fire on a group of suspected militants.Initially authorities said the men were armed rebels but an investigating panel set up after the killings revealed the four to be unarmed civilians.Wednesday’s inquest at Pattani’s court found "the men died from shooting by military personnel and policemen during a raid," according Abdulha Awaerputae, a lawyer from the Muslim Attorney’s Centre representing the families of the dead men.The court declined to give AFP details of the ruling.Weeks after the killings Thai police said seven security officers would be charged with murder over the incident. But more than a year later no charges have been brought.Campaigners hope the ruling will finally see criminal charges brought in the latest case to inflame resentment from local Muslim Malays towards the Buddhist-majority Thai state. "Sadly this is not an extraordinary case... we have handled similar cases before," said Pornpen Khongkachonkiet of Amnesty International Thailand. "But in the end you never see any punishment for the officials. "When there has been a mistake, we cannot deny responsibility... but a court will decide whether authorities are guilty of rights violations," Colonel Pramote Prom-In, spokesman for the southern army, told AFP.The commanders who ordered the Ban To Chut raid have been transferred, he added.- AFP

Source: The Nation Bangkok September 14, 2016 11:48 UTC