As much as we Thais would like to keep reminding ourselves that criminals are criminals, it has become impossible to ignore the fact that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are insurgents, who, like their sympathisers, are Muslims of Malay descent. They chose to challenge the authority of the state by meting out inhuman punishment against innocent state officials.

The attack occurred during a tense stand-off between the village chief and his staff and angry villagers, who were demanding the release of two local men arrested earlier in the day on charges relating to the killing of a marine two months ago in a nearby district.

The incident on Friday was reminiscent of another that occurred in Narathiwat's Rangae district in September last year, in which two soldiers held hostage by Muslim villagers were beaten and stabbed to death as government negotiators held talks with community leaders to try to secure their release.

The two marines were tortured for many hours until they died, waiting in vain for their comrades to come to their rescue, which never happened.

No military commander dared authorise the use of force to free the hostages - even when they realised beyond any doubt that the two marines' lives were in danger - for fear that any casualties resulting from the rescue operation could jeopardise their career.

There is no excuse for such unprofessionalism or moral cowardice.

Such a policy of appeasement explains why Friday's incident was simply a repeat of the marines' killings. It followed a familiar pattern: security forces held back by "unarmed local women and children" from entering the village to rescue hostages, who, meanwhile, were being brutally tortured by "unidentified people from outside the village". The alleged intruders sneaked in to commit the atrocity then fled the scene, never to be seen again.

In Friday's incident, a group of unidentified villagers sneaked into the room where the two teachers were being held hostage and beat them nearly to death. Negotiators did virtually nothing but beg the villagers to free their hostages.

It appears the security forces have not learned their lesson.

Government negotiators in hostage situations must be empowered to authorise a rescue operation as a last resort - when persuasion fails and the lives of those held captive are in imminent danger. Clear-cut rules of engagement must be drawn up for the fight against ruthless insurgents and their supporters or sympathisers.

Villagers who participated in the kidnapping and torturing of hostages, or obstructing the security forces' rescue mission, must be brought to justice and punished if found guilty.

At the same time, consideration must be given to the fact that many locals are simply trapped in the firing line between state security agencies and Islamic militants/separatist insurgents, who may live among them.

Failure by state security forces to separate insurgents from innocent civilians continues to be a problem. There is still huge scope for improvement in intelligence gathering.

Continuing the policy of appeasement will not only exacerbate the situation in the Muslim-majority provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, but also fan the feelings of mutual distrust, if not hostility, between mainstream society and southern Muslims.

It is far better to combat insurgency from a position of strength, through forceful law enforcement, backed by good intelligence and with respect for human rights, than to allow a repeat of such horrific acts as the torture of innocents to inflame religious or racial hatred.