THAI SECURITY FORCES RAID OFFICE OF OUTSPOKEN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 000396 SIPDIS NSC FOR PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL PTER TH SUBJECT: THAI SECURITY FORCES RAID OFFICE OF OUTSPOKEN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP IN THE DEEP SOUTH BANGKOK 00000396 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Political Counselor George Kent, reasons 1.4 (B, D). ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Military and police officers raided and searched the Pattani office of the Working Group on Justice for Peace (WGJP),a Thai NGO that advocates for the human rights of Malay Muslims in southern Thailand and is harshly critical of security force efforts to combat the insurgency in Thailand's deep south, on February 8. According to a WGJP spokesperson, security personnel surrounded the office, searched computer files, and photographed documents. The raid occurred just days after a military spokesperson alleged in press statements that insurgents in the deep south were posing as human rights activists. Subsequent to the raid, the commander of Task Force Pattani said that the raid was conducted in response to reports that insurgents were gathering in the area, and that it was not solely targeted at WGJP. WGJP believes the primary purpose of the raid was to gather information about the NGO's contacts and to intimidate local residents from bringing information about human rights abuses to the NGO's attention. The raid on WGJP offices comes at a time when tensions in the deep south appear to be increasing, and in the wake of the brutal murder of two paramilitary rangers, and alleged extrajudicial killings of a Muslim cleric and a partially disabled Muslim villager. ¶2. (C) Comment: WGJP is a high profile activist organization that vigorously defends the human rights of Malay Muslims in southern Thailand. Because of the nature of its work, it is likely that it has contacts involved in the insurgency and that many of the abuse victims whose cases it highlights are not altogether innocent. Regardless, we have no information to support the RTG contention that insurgents are posing as human rights workers or that these groups have been co-opted by militants. The raid on WGJP may cause some southern residents to think twice before bringing their human rights grievances to the attention of groups such as WGJP. The action may have also been intended as a signal to RTG civilian agencies that security forces intend to continue to act with a firm hand in the south, despite the new government's plan for a more civilian focused approach. Despite their frustration with the stream of abuse allegations coming from groups like WGJP, Thai security forces will need to demonstrate a much greater sensitivity to human rights issues before they will be able to gain an upper hand in countering the insurgency in the South. End summary and comment. Security Forces raid southern NGO -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On February 8, a combined military and police unit of some 20 to 30 officers raided the Pattani office of the Working Group for Justice on Peace, a Thai NGO run by Angkhana Neelaphaijit, the widow of disappeared human rights advocate Somchai Neelaphaijit. WGJP's efforts are primarily focused on human rights abuses perpetrated by security forces in southern Thailand. According to Diana Sarosi, the advocacy coordinator for WGJP, security personnel from Royal Thai Army task force 23 led by Army Lt. Col. Prawet Suthiprapa surrounded the WGJP office in the early morning of February 8. She said Prawet told them neighbors had called the ISOC and complained that there were strangers in the area who might be connected to the insurgency. ¶4. (SBU) Prawet cited martial law to claim he did not need a warrant to search WGJP offices, according to Sarosi, and ten security personnel spent two hours photographing documents and reading confidential computer files. She said the officers also photographed four local residents who are associated with WGJP and were staying at the office. Sarosi told us she believed the WGJP office was raided to obtain information about WGJP,s contacts and to send a message to local residents to stay away from the organization. She said it appeared that the officers were primarily interested in gathering information on local villagers who were talking to WGJP. (Note: Martial law, which is in effect in the provinces of Pattani Narathiwat, Yala, and three districts of Songkhla, allows authorities to search properties and arrest BANGKOK 00000396 002.2 OF 002 suspects without a warrant. End note.) ¶5. (U) According to press sources, the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) had days earlier issued a warning that human rights organizations may be serving as a cover for Malay Muslim insurgents looking to inflame tensions between local residents and Thai government authorities. In press statements after the February 8 raid, the commander of Task Force Pattani, Maj. Gen. Saksin Klansano maintained that the operation involving the search of the WGJP office had been in response to a tip-off that insurgents had gathered in the area in preparation for an attack on a local festival, and that the task force searched every house in the area, not just WGJP's office. ¶6. (C) Note: A reliable NGO source disputed Saksin's claim. According to Human Rights Watch's Sunai Phasuk, security forces "spent less than five minutes" searching other buildings in the area, suggesting that WGJP offices were indeed targeted. Another setback to trust building -------------- ¶7. (C) Legal Specialist Paul Green of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) told us on February 10 that the raid "trampled the rights and confidence" of human rights defenders working in the south; Green called it a clear case of intimidation. He opined that the raid was a result of ISOC feeling cornered by recent attention paid to abuses in the south, such as the January launch of the Amnesty International report on torture and PM Abhisit,s comments about the need for justice in the south. Green suggested ISOC wanted to remind the human rights community that ISOC was still "running the show" after the barrage of negative reports and publicity. Green also noted that Angkhana acted as a bridge between ISOC and southern communities, and was an advisor to the head of ISOC about redressing human rights abuses. In the past, ISOC had always warned her when they intended to approach a mosque or other community organization for questioning. This time, he noted, they did not call prior to the raid on her organization. Cycle of violence continues -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The raid on WGJP offices comes at a time when tensions in the deep south appear to be increasing. On February 3, Thai press reported that two paramilitary rangers were shot, beheaded, and their bodies set afire by suspected insurgents. ISOC officials speculated in a press statement that the murder of the two rangers was part of a tit-for-tat cycle of violence in response to the alleged extrajudicial of killing of a disabled Muslim and a religious leader, both of whom were suspected of having ties to the insurgents. On February 7, the ISOC reported that during the month of January there were 85 violent incidents, leaving 44 dead and 79 injured. JOHN