<p>Human rights defenders accused by the military of criminal defamation for exposing torture in the Deep South have urged prosecutors to seek more witnesses. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>On 21 February 2017, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Director of the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF); Somchai Homla-or, Advisor to the CrCF; and Anchana Heemmina, President of the Duay Jai group,<a href="http://news.voicetv.co.th/thailand/463767.html">&nbsp;submitted a letter to the Office of Provincial Public Prosecution </a>in the Deep South province of Pattani.</p>

<div>A group of civil society in Thailand’s restive Deep South has issued a joint statement demanding a release of Muslim female author.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <h2>Demanding transparent investigation, respect of human rights and immediate release: The arrest of women author and husband in the Southern Border Province</h2> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 15 August 2016, the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF) was informed that on 14 August, Ms. </div></div>

<div> <div>Police in the restive Deep South of Thailand have accused three prominent human rights defenders of defaming the Thai army after the three published a report on the torture and inhumane treatment of Muslim Malay suspects in military camps. &nbsp; &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Tuesday, 26 July 2016, police officers in Pattani Province accused Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Director of the Cross Cultural Foundation, Somchai Homla-or, Advisor of the Duay Jai group, and Anchana Heemmina, President of the Duay Jai group, of defaming the Royal Thai Army. </div></div>

<p>On June 13, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights welcomed Thailand’s decision to enact the Prevention and Suppression of Torture Act. However, the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) is currently suing three authors of a report published earlier this year on alleged military torture practices in the Deep South. Ignoring the 12 Core Values of Thai People is how to lose Thailand’s 4GW in the Deep South.</p> <p><strong>Thailand’s Fourth Generation War</strong></p>

<p>The Thai military have defended their decision to file legal complaints against human rights advocates in the restive Deep South, saying that they have to defend the honour of the country, while the embattled rights activists refuse to be cowed.</p>

<div> <div>Human Rights Watch has condemned the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) for filing a complaint against three human rights defenders in the Deep South for exposing torture by the military of Muslim Malay minority members. </div></div>

<p>The Thai military should immediately withdraw its criminal complaints against three human rights defenders for reporting alleged torture by government security forces in southern&nbsp;<a href="http://hrw.pr-optout.com/Tracking.aspx?Data=HHL%3d8-48%3c4-%3eLCE593719%26SDG%3c90%3a.&amp;RE=MC&amp;RI=4432086&amp;Preview=False&amp;DistributionActionID=101231&amp;Action=Follow+Link">Thailand</a>, Human Rights Watch said today.<br /></p>

<div><em>A human rights activist from Thailand’s Deep South speaks about her motivation for co-founding a human rights organization, after her own experience of a family member being harassed. Since the start of 2016, she has been repeatedly harassed by the military due to a report, co-written by her, revealing allegations of torture by the state.&nbsp;</em></div> <p></p>

<div> <div id=":16t" tabindex="-1">24 February 2016</div> <div id=":15f"> <div id=":15g"> <p align="CENTER"><strong>Harassment</strong><strong>&nbsp;of human rights defender&nbsp;</strong><strong>Anchana Heemmina</strong></p> <p align="JUSTIFY">On 19 February 2016, a group of ten men claiming to be border police officers came to the house of human rights defender Ms&nbsp;<strong>Anchana Heemmina</strong>&nbsp;in the Songkhla province of southern Thailand and questioned and photographed the human rights defender's mother without presenting a warrant.</p> </div></div></div>

<p dir="ltr">Men claiming to be border police officers have visited the home of a Deep South activist who took part in compiling a recent report on the torture of Malay Muslims in the region. &nbsp;</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://tlhr2014.wordpress.com/2016/02/20/south_threaten/">Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR)</a> reported that at about 5 pm on Friday, 19 February 2016, a group of ten men in green uniforms visited the home of Anchana Heemmina, a local activist in the Duay Jai Group, in Songkhla Province.</p>

<div>On 11 February 2016 the Thai army threatened human rights defenders for documenting the military’s continued use of torture on detainees in the country’s south. Major General Banpot Poonpien, the spokesperson for a specialist counterinsurgency agency, the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), accused the human rights groups of fabricating accounts of torture to obtain funding from abroad. He also asked whether or not the groups had the mandate to investigate the work of state officers. </div>

<div>Allegations of torture committed by the Thai authorities against the Muslim Malay minority in Thailand’s restive Deep South doubled after the 2014 coup, a report says.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The report, released on Friday, showed at least 18 cases of alleged torture and ill-treatment since 22 May 2014, when Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha staged the coup d’état. In 2015 alone, there were 15 recorded cases, whereas a total of 17 were recorded in 2014. </div>