Authorities charge activists, students over mock referendum on Thailand’s Deep South
2024.10.03
Pattani, Thailand, and Bangkok
National Student MovementPattani police in Thailand’s far south charged two activists and three students on Thursday with organizing an event last year where participants were asked to take part in a mock referendum on self-determination for the border region.
The charges, which accused the five of threatening Thai national security, have reignited debate about free speech and freedom of assembly in the mainly Muslim Malay region, where a separatist insurgency has simmered for two decades.
On June 7, 2023, Thai activists and students organized an event at Prince of Songkla University’s Pattani campus. The event included a poll where participants were asked to vote whether they supported self-determination for the Patani region, a historical term for the southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and parts of Songkhla.
“The police informed us that today they would transfer the case to the prosecutor and hand us over. We question whether the entire process has been hastily concluded,” said defendant Artef Sohko, president of The Patani, a political action group advocating for self-determination in the region.
Other defendants were identified as Hakim Pongtigor, a member of The Patani group, and three students from the Pelajar Bangsa (National Student Movement) – Irfan Uma, Sarif Saleman and Hussain Buenae. They face charges under Article 116 of the Thai Criminal Code, which prohibits acts deemed harmful to national security and carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison.
Hussain said the 2023 event was an academic exercise that should be protected under free speech.
“This case involves students’ freedom of expression. Academic spaces should be free. We’ve been campaigning for this in universities both within and outside Pattani, but there’s still constant suppression,” he told reporters.
Questioned about the delay in filing charges, authorities called the case “delicate.”
“This is another delicate matter that officials must handle carefully. All proceedings follow the legal justice process,” said police Maj. Gen. Nitinai Langyanai, deputy commander of Provincial Police Region 9.
The June 2023 event launched the student movement Pelajar Bangsa, which aims to promote peace in the Deep South. Representatives from political parties, academia and activist groups participated in the event.
Attendees were asked to complete a survey asking, “Do you agree with the right to self-determination that would allow Patani people to legally vote for independence in a referendum?”
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Following the event, Lt. Gen. Santi Sakuntanark, the army commander for the southern region, issued a statement urging people to understand that “a referendum for independence cannot be conducted as it violates the law, threatens territorial integrity and poses a risk to national security.”
Six months later, Santi directed military personnel to file charges against the forum’s organizers.
Last month, the Pattani City Police Station issued summonses for the defendants to hear the charges against them, drawing new attention to the Deep South’s long-standing conflict.
This mainly Malay Muslim and heavily militarized region along the Malaysian border has grappled with complex insurgency-related challenges.
Ongoing insurgency
The region has seen over 7,500 deaths from 2004, when an insurgency ignited, through last year, to 2023, according to the Deep South Watch, a local monitoring group. It reported over 22,200 incidents of unrest that led to 14,000 injuries during that same period.
The Thai government has vowed to reduce casualties and violence in the region by as much as 80%.
Peace talks in the Deep South, which began in 2013, have seen intermittent progress. The current phase, which resumed in 2020, involves negotiations between Thai government representatives and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) group, the main insurgent group in the region.
The new government charges against the five raise concerns about its commitment to end the conflict, observers said.
Since 2017, at least 40 activists in the southern border provinces have faced criminal charges, according to the Cross-Cultural Foundation, a human rights group.
Previously human rights organizations criticized the legal actions faced by activists in the Deep South. In January, over 30 human rights groups in the region sent an open letter to the United Nations, requesting an investigation into whether a police summons violated freedom of rights.
Piyapong Pimpaluck, an assistant professor at Chiang Mai University’s Social Research Institute, warned law enforcers to be cautious in prosecuting activists or students, especially in cases involving peaceful discussions in academic settings.
“While the issue of separatism may be contentious, the government needs to better communicate its stance on this matter to society if it wishes to promote the peace process in the region,” he told BenarNews.
Defendant Artef expressed concern about the implications of the case for civil liberties.
“The police seem to stand in opposition to rights and freedoms, against what we’re doing, which is legitimate both legally and politically,” he told reporters.
He and the others are to appear in court on Nov. 13 when the prosecutor is to decide whether to proceed with the case.
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