Sayed K El-Masry, the former OIC assistant secretary leading a six-man team to Thailand to obtain first-hand information about the plight of the Muslim minority here, said his team would raise the issue with the 57-member OIC in Yemen later this month.

The United Nations and the OIC have expressed concern over Thailand’s law enforcement and justice system following the disappearance of Somchai, who went missing in March 2004. Five police officers are being prosecuted on the charge of “unlawful detention”.

The high-profile lawyer had played a prominent role defending Muslims accused of instigating ongoing violence in the restive South.

According to an informed source, Sayed has sought answers on whether Somchai is still alive, and what kind of progress the Thai government has made to account for his whereabouts.

Sayed and his team have been touring the deep South to meet concerned parties and victims of violence, including people who took part in the Tak Bai protest, an incident that ended in the deaths of more than 80 unarmed demonstrators.

He also held a long meeting with the Foreign Ministry’s permanent secretary general Krit Garnjana-Goonchorn. The meeting ended with a joint statement that reiterated the OIC’s visit was not a form of intervention into Thailand’s internal affairs. It said that the OIC does not support any separatist movement.
The joint statement also said there was no discrimination against Muslims in Thailand - a point often contested by residents in the Malay-speaking South -and that Islam is not related to the violence.

“The root cause of a spate of violence might not have anything to do with religion,” Sayed said.

The OIC, however, expressed hope that the government would take steps to prevent a recurrence of the bloodshed experienced at the Krue Se mosque and at Tak Bai, in April and October last year.

“And that the security personnel involved will be better trained and equipped in handling crowds, based on international best practice,” the statement said.
Sayed said the situation needed to be handled in a peaceful way and that national reconciliation would succeed.

The OIC delegation yesterday also met Chairman of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) Anand Panyarachun and eight members of the commission to seek further information on the Krue Se and Tak Bai cases, and the missing lawyer Somchai.

Anand said after the meeting that he explained his task to map out a long-term strategy for the Kingdom to handle the situation.

The OIC delegation expressed satisfaction as the Thai authorities allowed them access to all concerned parties.

Information obtained by the OIC mission will help fine-tune the draft resolution to be presented to the upcoming foreign ministers meeting, said former foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan, also a member of NRC.

Surin said the report should help create a better understanding between Thailand and the OIC. Based from what OIC delegates observed on this trip, Thailand’s standing with the Islamic world should be on the up, he said.

Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation