'HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER' INJURED IN MOTORCYCLE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 005676

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/02/2015
TAGS: PHUM SOCI KPAO TH
SUBJECT: 'HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER' INJURED IN MOTORCYCLE
SHOOTING IN PATTANI; MOTIVE UNKNOWN

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Alexander A. Arvizu for Reasons 1.4 (b
) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY. On September 1, Mr. Chatopa "Mustafa" Awae, a
prominent human rights researcher, was shot three times by
unknown gunmen in Pattani. Mustafa's injuries do not appear
to be life-threatening and he is conscious and under armed
guard in Pattani Hospital. Mustafa reportedly had been
threatened the week before by two men on motorcycles who
waved their guns at him. A former journalist for VOA,
Mustafa had been working as a freelancer on human rights
issues in the Thai South. He had also been working closely
with the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) and the
Thai Senate. He has many high-level contacts, and there were
reports that Deputy Prime Minister Wisanu might visit him
before the end of the day. The police reportedly have no
suspects, and motivation for the attack is a matter of
speculation. With little evidence to go on, our sources are
blaming the attack on everyone from Thai security forces to
Muslim insurgents to a personal vendetta against Mustafa.
Post will continue to press government contacts to conduct a
vigorous and credible investigation. END SUMMARY


2. (SBU) On the morning of September 1, Mr. Chatopa
"Mustafa" Awae, a prominent local human rights researcher,
was shot from behind by two unknown gunmen while riding his
motorcycle in Pattani. The two gunmen were also on
motorcycles. Mr. Mustafa was hit three times; once in the
head, and once in each shoulder. Miraculously, Mustafa's
injuries do not appear to be life-threatening and he is
conscious and able to receive visitors. He remains under the
armed guard of District police at Pattani Hospital.
According to Human Rights Watch, one member of the NRC had
already come down to visit Mustafa in the hospital and
reports from journalist contacts indicate that he may receive
a visit from Deputy Prime Minister Wisanu Krue-ngarm this
afternoon.

PREVIOUS THREATS COME TO FRUITION


3. (SBU) Mustafa had told Human Rights Watch (HRW) activist
Sunai Phasuk that he had been threatened the previous week by
two men, who waved their guns at him before speeding away.
Mr. Sunai told Poloff that he had spoken with Mustafa on the
morning of September 1 and advised that he try to keep a low
profile after the incident, to which Mustafa concurred. After
the telephone call, Mustafa was on his way to a meeting at
Prince of Songkhla University when he was attacked.


4. (SBU) Mustafa is a former journalist who had previously
worked for VOA and for al-Jazeera. According to local Human
Rights Watch, Mustafa left al-Jazeera two to three years ago
and has been working freelance ever since. A native of
Pattani, and a Thai Muslim, he reportedly worked well with
members of both communities. He had worked with the Thai
National Reconciliation Commission, the Ministry of Education
and the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs' Human
Rights Section on various projects. These projects included
investigating suspicious "disappearances" and assistance to
the victims of Southern violence. He had also been working
with influential Senator Kraisak Choonhavan, a staunch human
rights advocate, as part of his work with the Senate. HRW
calls this the first attack on a "human rights defender" in
the Thai South.


WHO SHOT MUSTAFA?


5. (C) As is usual in Thailand, theories about the attack run
the gamut. Post has been in touch with a range of
journalists and human rights contacts to try to get a more
complete story, but all our sources are merely speculating at
this point. We conveyed a message to the Pattani
vice-Governor, a regular embassy contact, about our concern
and will press him and other officials for further
information about the case as the police investigation
continues. With no credible information to go on, there are
already a number of competing theories about the attack. A
Pattani reporter and Embassy contact indicated that the
victim has been an active supporter of Amad Somboon Bualung,
a member of the NRC, in recent Tambon elections, and
speculated that the attack by have come from political
rivals; he thought it was unlikely to be related to the
insurgency. Human Rights Watch is more inclined to link the
attack to the victim's recent work investigating human rights
violations by the security forces. The Thai police have a
poor investigative record in these cases, but we will press
for a credible investigation and suspect others will as well.
ARVIZU