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	The men were convicted on Wednesday by the Pattani provincial court for shooting dead four soldiers in July 2013, Thai Rath, the country&#39;s largest circulation newspaper, reported.&nbsp;</div>
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	They were named as Ismail Daong, Masahadi Methor, Gordae Jatae, Nimuhammud Niseng, and Hisbulloh Buesa.</div>
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	Violence in Thailand&#39;s Muslim-majority south has left thousands dead -- the majority civilians -- since 2004 across the southernmost provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala, which were annexed more than a century ago by Thailand.</div>
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	Human rights activists hit out at the sentences in a region where the Thai military is often accused of acting with impunity.</div>
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Death sentences for Thai Muslim separatists condemned

BANGKOK (AFP) - Human rights groups Friday condemned the Thai authorities for sentencing five alleged Muslim separatists to death, saying the punishment would do little to promote peace in the violence-racked south.