Angkhana: Military must admit mistake

Angkhana: Military must admit mistake
Bangkok Post, 31 January 2012

Angkhana Neelapaijit, chairwoman of the Justice for Peace Foundation, on Tuesday called on Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa to show responsibility for giving incorrect information on Sunday's shooting incident in Pattani in which four people were killed and five others injured.

Ms Angkhana said Gen Yutthasak said in an interview on Monday that those killed and wounded in the shooting were believed to have caused unrest despite the fact that they were villagers who were on the way to prayers at a funeral.

She said the shooting took place on the route they were taking. A survivor said when their pick-up truck arrived at the checkpoint (at Ban Kayi) no security officials showed up to conduct a search but the vehicle suddenly came under fire, causing deaths and injuries.

What happened had caused local people to become angry and accentuated their distrust of government authorities, Mrs Angkhana said.

"The shooting will make it more difficult for the government to win the trust of the people. Gen Yutthasak and the Region 4 Internal Security Operations Command must come out and admit a mistake was made, and declare publicly that the culprits will be punished wkithin the justice system. They should not talk only about reparations," she said.

Mrs Angkhana said the fact that the Nong Chik district chief found it hard to reach the scene of the shooting to find out what had happened indicated that there was an intention on the part of the authorities to cover up the mistake.

She called for the government to set up a committee comprising representatives of the state, the people's sector, respected religious leaders and representatives of those affected, to investigate and establish the facts surrounding the incident.

The committee should be empowered to invite the authorities to testify and explain the shooting with scientific and forensic evidence to back them up.

A DNA test should be conducted on weapons claimed to have been found in the pick-up truck, to make it clear whether those killed and the wounded had used them, Mrs Angkhana said.

Meanwhile, an unconfirmed report citing sources in the area said that the nearly 200 paramilitary rangers at the operational base at Ban Nam Dam in tambon Pulo Puyo had been ordered to move within 24 hours to Ingkhayuthaboriharn military camp in Pattani's Nong Chik district.

They were being replaced by 200 soldiers of Company 2206 of the 15th Signal Battalion from Phaya Intira military camp in tambon Huay Nam Yen of Nong Chik district, the report said.