A Thai tragedy

Try though he may, there can be little justification to explain Tuesday's death of at least 78 detainees in Thailand's Narathiwat province.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's remarks blaming the high death toll on detainees conducting the obligatory Ramadhan fasting, drug use among protesters or that there were too few trucks due to a public holiday, is simply unacceptable.

The swift announcement to set up a committee "to investigate why they were crowded into trucks until they couldn't breathe" is a welcome move by the government. As such the Prime Minister should have refrained from making unsubstantiated statements. Thaksin was right, however, when he said "they should not have died".

The fact of the matter is that dozens died unnecessarily in the custody of Thai authorities, and the incident will only inflame further the unrest in southern Thailand to a critical boiling point.

Human error, or negligence, is the most likely conclusion of an inquiry. Blaming it on Ramadhan, a public holiday, or even the weather for that matter is simply ludicrous.

The protesters may have been unruly at the time of arrest, but from the moment they were detained by security forces their well- being becomes the responsibility of the authorities in charge. By all accounts, the protesters upon being detained did not engage in actions which would have endangered the lives of the overseeing security officers or justified severe measures which would have resulted in the death of so many.

Detainees -- whether in times of peace or conflict -- have rights. That is why civilized nations have due process. Punishing those culpable should be the first move in a tragedy that is surely to take on new dimensions in the future.

For many years, Indonesians have looked to Thailand with great admiration. It, along with the Philippines, was one of the first countries to truly embrace democracy in a thriving climate of free expression.

We are confident that Thailand will resolve this tragedy in a transparent manner becoming of its democratic society. We are also hopeful that in such a society the response to the probable reaction from the growing insurgence in the south of Thailand will not be one of iron hands.

We are fearful that the tragedy in Narathiwat will be a precursor to a bigger flare-up in the great nation of Thailand.

Indonesians have learnt from insurgencies in Aceh and Papua -- even though our own government has not -- that ruthless violence only begets violence. The strong arm of the Thai military may win battles, but only through hearts and minds will they win such a war.