The killing of a prominent Muslim women's rights activist by On March 12, 2009, an eyewitness saw an insurgent fatally shoot Laila Paaitae Daoh, a prominent Muslim women's rights activist and peace advocate, in broad daylight in Krongpenang district, Yala province. She was rushed to Yala Hospital Center, but died of her wounds the next day. Laila and her family had long received threats and had been targets of insurgent attacks.
The killing of Laila followed the March 7 shooting and burning of two Buddhist civilians in Pattani province. In addition to daily shootings and bombings,
"Laila's brutal murder is part of ongoing efforts by insurgents to intimidate and attack Muslims who oppose insurgency or have supported Thai authorities," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Her death is a serious loss for those trying to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in the south."
For years, Laila and her family had received death threats from insurgents, who accused the family of being munafig (hypocrites) or Muslims who have sided with the occupying forces of infidels. Since Laila's death, her sister has received repeated phone calls from anonymous men, who said in the local Malay dialect: "Die. Die. Die." These calls continued through March 17. "The killings of Paaitae Daoh family members were undoubtedly meant as punishment and as a warning to other Muslims," said Adams. "In this way, the insurgents spread fear throughout the southern Muslim community."
The Pejuang Kemerdekaan Patani (Patani Liberation Fighters) insurgents, separatists in the loose network of BRN-Coordinate (National Revolution Front-Coordinate), maintain a presence in more than 200 Muslim villages despite having suffered major losses from counterinsurgency operations. The insurgents make use of abuses by government security forces and heavy-handed tactics to recruit and radicalize supporters. The Pejuang Kemerdekaan Patani insurgents have been implicated in thousands of deadly attacks over the past five years. Most of their victims have been civilians.
Human Rights Watch said that human rights groups in the southern border provinces have also been targeted by Thai security forces. The latest such incident took place on February 8, when about 20 soldiers and police in Pattani province raided the office of the Working Group for Peace and Justice (WGPJ), a nongovernmental human rights organization. After taking photos of documents and materials found in the office, the officers spent a long time inspecting data in the organization's computers, which contained details about victims and witnesses, and other sensitive information.