Killed while in custody

last updated 8 January 2015

Narathiwat, Thailand

Nearly 80 Muslims suffocated to death in police vans this week after a riot in southern Thailand. The melee began at a rally in which thousands were protesting the arrest of several Muslims accused of stealing weapons. The crowd stormed the police building, throwing rocks, and police waded in with tear gas and water cannons, killing six. Hundreds of protesters were then herded into vans and simply locked in. The southern region, where the Muslim minority lives, was a Malaysian province until Thailand, which is mainly Buddhist, annexed it, in 1902. Islamic separatism has been simmering in the south for decades and has surged in the past few months.