Violation of humanitarian principles in South conflict must be dealt with
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NHRC's appeal to end violence against women and children needs to be promptly implemented
Once in a blue moon a state agency comes up with a proposal that hits the right note.
The recent one came from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), calling for an end to violence against women and children in Thailand’s southern border provinces.
Ideally, the two armed forces – the militants and the state security – should come face to face and discuss a way out of this bloody conflict. But that would be a bit of wishful thinking.
But the NHRC proposal is a good starting point. And good things start with small steps.
Essentially, respecting women and children in conflict zones by combatants is about the rules of engagement.
The Geneva Convention touches on this very issue and it is the responsibility of all stakeholders, state agencies such as the NHRC, and non-state actors, as well as civil society organisations and the armed militants, to strive to live up to the ideas and ideals stated in this convention.
Civic organisations, think tanks and research institutions have been set up to take up the cause and called on states and non-state actors to abide by these important rules that basically centred on humanitarian principles.
Such organisations include the International Committee of the Red Cross, Small Arms Survey, Child Soldiers International, and so many more.
Insurgency violence in Thailand’s southernmost provinces resurfaced a decade ago and the end is nowhere in sight. About 6,000 have died from the violence this past decade.
In spite of the absence of meaningful breakthrough in negotiations, the two opposing forces have virtually nothing to show in terms of respecting international norms and practices.
In fact, both sides have violated these humanitarian principles. Locals and human rights organisations continue to speak of torture, target killings, abduction and a culture of impunity among security officials assigned to the restive region.
The insurgents also are guilty of violations.
As a result, hundreds of women have become widows and their children orphans. And if these widows and orphans are deemed to be family members of the anti-government forces, they are often neglected by the state service providers.
In line with international norms and best practices, the Thai authorities are obligated to help its citizens, regardless of whether they are siblings or the wives of insurgents.
If these children are neglected at this point in time, then the state should stop talking about rehabilitation and national reconciliation. All sides have scars and healing is for everyone, not just those who do not question the state’s legitimacy.
Essentially, the authorities will have to decide what kind of country they want Thailand to be. How we deal with the people, as well as their family members who challenged the state’s legitimacy says a great deal about us as a nation and as a society.
The NHRC’s statement marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which fell on November 25.
Among other things, the NHRC called on the government to issue clear policies and prescribe measures needed to protect women and girls from all forms of violence, and provide physical and emotional rehabilitation to female victims.
The NHRC was correct to say that the government must heed the recommendations of the UN Committee against Torture.
It’s a way of saying the culture of impunity among security officials and the use of torture to get information from suspected insurgents remained a problem.
