BANGKOK - An INTERNATIONAL human rights group praised a Thai court ruling on Thursday that found soldiers responsible for the beating death of a detained Muslim religious leader in the country's turbulent south.

'The court gave a brave and unprecedented verdict in the inquest, putting its finger on torture and other abuses committed by Thai security forces,' the US-based group Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

The provincial court endorsed the findings of a post-mortem inquest that Yapa Kaseng, a 56-year-old Muslim religious leader, died in March 2008 after two days of brutal interrogation at an army camp in Narathiwat province. Yapa and five other men had been detained as suspected Muslim militants.

An Islamic insurgency in Thailand's deep south has claimed more than 3,300 mostly civilian lives since early 2004. Thailand's population is about 90 per cent Buddhist, and many of the country's Muslims - who are concentrated in the south - say they are treated as second-class citizens.

The brutality of the insurgents has often been met with heavy-handed repression by government authorities, but official abuses are rarely punished.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said prosecuting those responsible will be a test for new Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva who has 'vowed to bring justice to Thailand's conflict-ridden southern border provinces.'

The court's Dec 25 judgment - which went virtually unreported - held military personnel responsible for causing fatal injuries by beating. While the ruling has no immediate practical effect, it does open the way for legal action against the perpetrators.

It said Yapa, who sustained broken ribs and a ruptured lung, was roughly interrogated three times over two days and was dragged by his ankles because he could not stand up.

Nomi Kaseng, Yapa's daughter, said she was prepared to sue for damages.

Col. Parinya Chaidilok, a military spokesman, said the military would not protect personnel who are guilty and that such actions were not policy. But Human Rights Watch charged it was 'not an isolated case of rogue soldiers,' but part of a broader problem in Thailand. -- AP