A Thai court drops a case over the deaths of Muslim protesters in 2004

A court in southern Thailand on Monday dropped a case against former state security personnel and officials over the deaths of 85 Muslim protesters in 2004, saying none of the suspects had been apprehended.

Families of the victims of what is known as the Tak Bai massacre in April accused seven soldiers and government officials of murder, attempted murder and unlawful detention. The Narathiwat Provincial Court formally accepted the case in August.

While there was enough evidence for an indictment, the court said the case was unable to proceed as no suspects were arrested and brought to the court, and as a result, the 20-year statute of limitations expired on Friday.

The court’s statement noted that its order is not a dismissal of the charges against the suspects, as they “had never entered the legal proceedings, but fled until the statute of limitations expired.”

One of those named is Pisal Wattanawongkiri, commander of the 4th Army Region at the time of the incident. At the time of indictment in August, he was a lawmaker of the ruling Pheu Thai party. The party said he filed a medical leave to seek treatment abroad, and resigned from the party earlier this month. Other suspects were also believed to have left the country after the indictment.

The case earned notoriety because of the manner in which the victims died. On Oct. 25, 2004, thousands of protesters gathered at the police station in Narathiwat’s Tak Bai district to demand the release of six Muslim men who had been detained several days earlier. The detainees, members of an official village defense force, were accused by police of handing over weapons to Muslim insurgents, but reporting them stolen.

Seven of the protesters were shot dead after the demonstration turned violent. Around 1,300 of them were later rounded up, had their hands tied and were loaded onto trucks, stacked like firewood. By the time the vehicles reached an army base where they were taken to be detained, 78 had died of crushing or suffocation. Several others were seriously injured or became disabled due to crushing.

The deaths occurred shortly after a Muslim separatist insurgency erupted in Thailand’s southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, the only ones with Muslim majorities in the Buddhist-dominated nation.

Muslim residents have long complained of being treated like second-class citizens in Thailand, and separatist movements have been periodically active for decades. Heavy-handed crackdowns have fueled the discontent. Fighting continues to this day, but at a lower level.

Speaking to reporters outside the court, Ratsada Manooratsada, who represents the victims' families, said while the outcome was expected, the legal team will continue to pursue other alternatives, including investigations into whether police officers had purposefully delayed the proceedings until the case had almost expired.

“The statute of limitations in memory of the people will never have an expiration date,” he said.

The U.N. special rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council issued a statement last week calling for the investigation and the pursuit of justice to continue even after the statute of limitations expired, as “a failure to investigate and bring perpetrators to justice is itself a violation of Thailand’s human rights obligations.”

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra last week said that it wasn't possible to extend the validity of the case. She offered an official apology to those affected, insisting that all relevant agencies had done what they could to provide justice.

“We will do our best to prevent such an incident from happening again,” she said.