|
Statements of AFAD
Proceedings:
Articles on the Proceedings on the AFAD Leadership Training
Jan. 27 - 31, 2003, Philippines
AFAD Second Congress Resolutions
August 2003
Remembering Munir
AFAD Second Congress
August 26-30, 2003 in Bangkok, Thailand
AFAD’s Mid-Year Report
Ding Zilin's
Message To
Hong Kong
Again, The KONTRAS – IKOHI Office Was Attacked
“ If they are dead, tell us”!
My sons, where are they? |
JUSTICE FOR MUNIR,
JUSTICE FOR ALL!
September 7, 2009 – Today marks the 5th anniversary
of the murder of the former AFAD Chairperson, Munir. It has been five
years ago since our Federation received a text message about the sudden
death of Munir. Incredible was the message we received about the death
of a man who, at the prime of his life, was contributing to a large
measure, to the cause of human rights and democratization process of
Indonesia and in the rest of the world. More revolting was it to know,
two months later, that the most courageous human rights defender of
Indonesia was poisoned by a lethal dose of arsenic allegedly by elements
of the military intelligence in Indonesia , the BIN.
Five years have passed. While Pollycarpus, the Garuda pilot implicated
for the murder, and former Garuda president Indra Setiawan were found
guilty and sentenced for twenty years and 12 months imprisonment, the
news about the acquittal of Major General (ret.) Muchi Purwopranjo is a
manifestation of continuing impunity in Indonesia. For this, the Asian
Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances and the rest of the
international movement against enforced disappearances continue to cry
for truth and justice for Munir.
A week prior to the anniversary of Munir, the Asian Federation Against
Involuntary Disappearances visited Indonesia to conduct series of
activities related to the entry into force of the UN Convention for the
Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The series of
activities from September 1-6 were culminated with our participation in
the every Thursday rally in front of the Presidential Palace. It was the
125th day since the families of the disappeared and other victims of
human rights violations in Indonesia, inspired by Argentina’s Madres
de Plaza de Mayo, have been weekly conducting their protest
demonstration. On that occasion, representatives of AFAD from the
Philippines and Nepal and of its Latin American counterpart, the Latin
American Federation of Associations of Relatives of
Disappeared-Detainees were physically present. Their presence was a
concrete manifestation of solidarity with Suciwati and her family and
with Munir’s larger family of victims of the 1965 massacre; the 1998
riot resulting in killings, imprisonment and disappearances of persons,
the Tanjung Priok victims and many other victims and defenders of human
rights in a country devastated by 32 years of dictatorship.
As the present administration of President Sucilo Bambang Yudhoyono has
received a landslide victory and will soon officially receive a new
mandate in October 2009, AFAD once again calls on the Indonesian
government to leave no stone unturned to facilitate that truth be
ferreted out, justice be served and that the mastermind of Munir’s
treacherous murder be punished to the full extent of the law.
Munir spent several years of his life as a human rights defender to the
cause of the disappeared. He actively participated in the drafting and
negotiation process of the UN Convention for the Protection of All
Persons from Enforced Disappearance. An apt tribute for Munir during his
5th death anniversary is the Indonesian government’s ratification of the
UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
Disappearance. Thus, on this occasion, as we seek for justice for Munir
and for all victims of human rights violations, we reiterate our call to
the Indonesian government for the immediate ratification of the UN
Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
Disappearance. It will be an apt tribute to Munir and the most precious
gift which the Indonesian government can give to the families of the
disappeared whom Munir lived and died for.
Justice for Munir, Justice for All!
Signed by:
|
MUGIYANTO |
MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO |
| Chairperson |
Secretary-General |
|