Civic groups yesterday demanded that the government implement 14 measures suggested by the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) to end violence in the restive South.

The groups of democracy and human rights advocates wanted the government to use forensic science in the investigation of all cases of violence in the region, said Suriyasai Katasila, secretary-general of the Campaign for Popular Democracy.

Using forensic science could give residents of the predominantly Muslim region confidence in the Kingdom’s justice system, he said.

The use of forensic crime detection methods to bring suspects to justice was one of the key recommendations made by the NRC to the government last Monday, he said. The advocacy groups also urged the government to show sincerity in speeding up the reconciliation process by preventing the use of abduction and extrajudicial killings by security officials, Suriyasai said.

The government must also enforce the rule of law to bring justice to the region, notably by making the case of missing lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit clear to the public, he added.

Suriyasai said the government should respect all independent agencies functioning in accordance with the Constitution, such as the National Human Rights Commission, instead of setting up duplicate ones to compete with them.

He said people doubted the government’s intentions in establishing a rights promotion panel as its role overlapped that of the existing National Human Rights Commission.

Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya said the new panel, to be chaired by former supreme state prosecutor Kanit Na Nakorn, would take care of all missing-person cases.

Chanchao Chaiyanukit, director-general of the Justice Ministry’s Rights and Liberties Protection Department, said yesterday that the new panel would complement the Constitution-mandated human rights commission, not duplicate it.

The Cabinet is likely to endorse the establishment of the new rights promotion panel at its meeting tomorrow, he said.