Thai PM says sorry for raid that killed 85 Muslims, but people are losing hope for justice

On Thursday, Thailand’s prime minister apologized for the deaths of dozens of Muslim protesters who were stacked up in army trucks 20 years ago. The apology came just hours before the statute of limitations for the crime expired, but no one in the government has been charged.

In 2004, 85 people were killed in a security crackdown in the town of Tak Bai in the south. It was one of the most well-known events in a rebel uprising that started that same year and has since killed more than 7,600 people.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said, “I am deeply saddened by what happened and apologise on behalf of the government.” He also promised that such things would not happen again.

The event in Thailand, which is mostly Buddhist, got a lot of attention around the world and was strongly condemned after 78 people were killed or suffocated while being tied and stacked on top of each other in army trucks. They shot and killed seven more.

The crackdown, which became known as the Tak Bai massacre, happened when Paetongtarn’s father, Thaksin Shinawatra, was in charge. Thaksin Shinawatra is a key player in Paetongtarn’s ruling Pheu Thai Party.

There have been failed attempts to bring security staff to justice, including two in the last two months.

Families of the victims filed a criminal complaint with the court in August against seven high-level officials, including a retired general and a lawmaker from the ruling party. However, none of the defendants showed up for the meeting. The attorney-general filed a different case against eight other employees last month, but it hasn’t moved forward.

Paetongtarn said that the event shouldn’t be turned into a political issue. He also said that the statute of limitations couldn’t be pushed back because that would be against the constitution.

The Thai police said they were actively looking for all 14 suspects and had sent Interpol red alerts.

A lawyer for the families of the victims told Reuters, “Even though the case is over, history and memories do not.”

“(The families) will never forget because the perpetrators were not brought to justice.”