PM urged to offer a public apology for Tak Bai massacre

File photo: File photo: People attend a special prayer for victims of the 2004 Tak Bai incident at a mosque in Tak Bai in Thailand's restive southern province of Narathiwat on October 25, 2019.//AFP

As the 20-year statute of limitations is due to expire on the Tak Bai massacre case tomorrow at midnight, the opposition Thai Sang Thai party urged Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra today to offer a public apology for the deaths of 85 people

Thai Sang Thai party leader Sudarat Keyuraphan told the media today that, even though General Pisan Wattanawongkiri, a former MP of the Pheu Thai party, is one of the seven defendants, the prime minister, who is also Pheu Thai party leader, has not shown a clear stance on the court case, which may be dismissed at midnight on Friday.

There have been no clear signs that any of the seven defendants, who are mostly retired senior government officials, will face justice before tomorrow’s deadline.

Sudarat said that the government must demonstrate its sincerity and explore all means to bring the defendants to stand trial, while noting, however, that some key government figures have politicised the case.

Meanwhile, the Patani political organisation, advocating for the right to self-determination for people of Pattani, and 45 civil society organisations have proposed that the government set up an independent truth committee, similar to South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee, to uncover truth about the Tak Bai massacre, even if the legal option for justice does expire.

In an open letter, addressed to the House committee to resolve conflicts in the Deep South, the rights network said that the proposed truth committee could call the defendants and those concerned with the Tak Bai event to provide testimonies and explain their roles to the committee. It would also be a chance for them to offer an apology to relatives of the victims.

For those who refuse to cooperate with the truth committee, the group proposed that the government cut their pensions and/or to strip them of their ranks. They also propose that a religious ceremony be held annually on October 25th in remembrance of those who died.

Seven protesters were shot dead by security forces during the violent protest in Tak Bai district of Narathiwat on October 25th 2004. 78 more died of suffocation after they were stacked, several layers deep, on trucks for a five-hour journey from Tak Bai district to an army barracks in Pattani province.