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CIAO DATE: 01/06
Thailand's Emergency Decree: No Solution
November 18, 2005
Abstract
The Muslim-majority region of southern Thailand continues to experience a relatively low-level insurgency but a state of emergency imposed on three provinces is no solution to the conflict that has claimed more than 1,000 lives since January 2004. The decree has deepened mistrust of the security forces, worsened public discontent with the government's approach to the insurgency and heightened the risk of human rights abuses. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra should take immediate steps to moderate the decree or risk plunging the area into worse violence.
The Executive Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations took effect on 19 July 2005 in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala and was renewed for three months on 19 October. While it was designed to be a softer version of martial law, many see it as harsher. Far from helping to restore trust between the government of Prime Minister Thaksin and the Malay Muslims, the decree has further eroded it.
