US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK5676

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 005676 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/02/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, SOCI, KPAO, TH, Southern Thailand 
SUBJECT: 'HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER' INJURED IN MOTORCYCLE 
SHOOTING IN PATTANI; MOTIVE UNKNOWN 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Alexander A. Arvizu for Reasons 1.4 (b 
) and (d) 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY. On September 1, Mr. Chatopa "Mustafa" Awae, a 
prominent human rights researcher, was shot three times by 
unknown gunmen in Pattani.  Mustafa's injuries do not appear 
to be life-threatening and he is conscious and under armed 
guard in Pattani Hospital.  Mustafa reportedly had been 
threatened the week before by two men on motorcycles who 
waved their guns at him.  A former journalist for VOA, 
Mustafa had been working as a freelancer on human rights 
issues in the Thai South.  He had also been working closely 
with the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) and the 
Thai Senate.  He has many high-level contacts, and there were 
reports that Deputy Prime Minister Wisanu might visit him 
before the end of the day.  The police reportedly have no 
suspects, and motivation for the attack is a matter of 
speculation.  With little evidence to go on, our sources are 
blaming the attack on everyone from Thai security forces to 
Muslim insurgents to a personal vendetta against Mustafa. 
Post will continue to press government contacts to conduct a 
vigorous and credible investigation. END SUMMARY 
 
2. (SBU) On the morning of September 1,  Mr. Chatopa 
"Mustafa" Awae, a prominent local human rights researcher, 
was shot from behind by two unknown gunmen while riding his 
motorcycle in Pattani.  The two gunmen were also on 
motorcycles.  Mr. Mustafa was hit three times; once in the 
head, and once in each shoulder. Miraculously, Mustafa's 
injuries do not appear to be life-threatening and he is 
conscious and able to receive visitors.  He remains under the 
armed guard of District police at Pattani Hospital. 
According to Human Rights Watch, one member of the NRC had 
already come down to visit Mustafa in the hospital and 
reports from journalist contacts indicate that he may receive 
a visit from Deputy Prime Minister Wisanu Krue-ngarm this 
afternoon. 
 
PREVIOUS THREATS COME TO FRUITION 
 
3. (SBU) Mustafa had told Human Rights Watch (HRW) activist 
Sunai Phasuk that he had been threatened the previous week by 
two men, who waved their guns at him before speeding away. 
Mr. Sunai told Poloff that he had spoken with Mustafa on the 
morning of September 1 and advised that he try to keep a low 
profile after the incident, to which Mustafa concurred. After 
the telephone call, Mustafa was on his way to a meeting at 
Prince of Songkhla University when he was attacked. 
 
4. (SBU) Mustafa is a former journalist who had previously 
worked for VOA and for al-Jazeera.  According to local Human 
Rights Watch, Mustafa left al-Jazeera two to three years ago 
and has been working freelance ever since.  A native of 
Pattani, and a Thai Muslim, he reportedly worked well with 
members of both communities.  He had worked with the Thai 
National Reconciliation Commission, the Ministry of Education 
and the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs' Human 
Rights Section on various projects.  These projects included 
investigating suspicious "disappearances" and assistance to 
the victims of Southern violence.  He had also been working 
with influential Senator Kraisak Choonhavan, a staunch human 
rights advocate, as part of his work with the Senate.  HRW 
calls this the first attack on a "human rights defender" in 
the Thai South. 
 
 
WHO SHOT MUSTAFA? 
 
5. (C) As is usual in Thailand, theories about the attack run 
the gamut.  Post has been in touch with a range of 
journalists and human rights contacts to try to get a more 
complete story, but all our sources are merely speculating at 
this point.  We conveyed a message to the Pattani 
vice-Governor, a regular embassy contact, about our concern 
and will press him and other officials for further 
information about the case as the police investigation 
continues. With no credible information to go on, there are 
already a number of competing theories about the attack. A 
Pattani reporter and Embassy contact indicated that the 
victim has been an active supporter of Amad Somboon Bualung, 
a member of the NRC, in recent Tambon elections, and 
speculated that the attack by have come from political 
rivals; he thought it was unlikely to be related to the 
insurgency.  Human Rights Watch is more inclined to link the 
attack to the victim's recent work investigating human rights 
violations by the security forces. The Thai police have a 
poor investigative record in these cases, but we will press 
for a credible investigation and suspect others will as well. 
ARVIZU