State violence victims in south Thailand to be compensated

Bangkok (The Nation/ANN) - Victims of violence by security officials in south Thailand and those killed or injured during political protests since 2005 will be compensated equally by the government, Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit said yesterday.

The government is drafting guidelines on the compensation for the victims of violence in the deep South, Yongyuth said yesterday after chairing a meeting of a committee on development in the region.

Innocent victims of violence at the hands of security officials, such as five local Muslims killed by Army rangers over the past week, would qualify for compensation, he said.

Rangers killed five villagers on Monday as they were on their way to a funeral in Pattani's Nong Chik district. Authorities said the rangers mistook them for insurgents who had launched M79 grenades at a ranger outpost earlier. If the victims are proved to have been innocent, the government would definitely compensate their families for their loss, Yongyuth said.

The government earlier announced plans to compensate families of victims who died and those who were injured during the political chaos since 2005. Opposition and civic groups called on the government to expand the compensation to cover all victims of violence caused by security officials.

Asked if this included victims of the Krue Se and Tak Bai incidents in the South in 2004, Yongyuth said the government would consider incidents on a case-by-case basis to see if they met the criteria. Nearly 200 people have died in mishandled operations to contain the uprising and protests in Pattani and Narathiwat since 2004.

The government initially planned to compensate only victims of the recent political violence, but it has drafted new regulations to cover other incidents, he said.

Yongyuth insisted the government would proceed with compensation for the victims of political violence despite strong criticism from the Opposition and civic groups that the payments favoured red-shirt victims.

"The government definitely has to compensate them. Nobody wants to die or get hurt when it happens; the government is obliged to compensate them," he said.

Asked if too much of the compensation was going to red shirts, Yongyuth said relatives of victims associated with the yellow-shirt group, such as Angkana Radabpanyaarvudh, who died during the Oct 7, 2008 protest, and Colonel Romklao Thuvatham, who was shot dead during a red-shirt protest in April 2010, would receive the same treatment.