Statement
on the 6th Anniversary of Munir’s Murder
7 September 2010
Justice
Delayed is Justice Denied
The
six-year
delay in rendering justice for the murder of
Indonesia's then leading human rights defender, Munir Said Thalib
is nothing short of a denial of justice. It is but a shame for a state
which tries to project itself before the international community as a
country ruled by law, committed to the protection and respect of
human rights and in transition to democracy.
While the direct perpetrator has been found guilty and now
imprisoned, those who plotted and ordered Munir’s murder remain free and
unaccountable. This case hereby makes the
long and highly politicized judicial process a mockery of
justice
as it reflects the pervasive climate of impunity for human rights
violations.
Munir’s
murder
by
arsenic poisoning on Garuda flight 974 from Jakarta to Amsterdam via
Singapore has brutally deprived the
international human rights community of his brilliance and commitment.
Moreover, it also
creates a chilling atmosphere aimed at stifling dissent and preventing
genuine reforms of a system that perpetuates impunity to those,
especially in the security forces, guilty of human rights violations
including torture, murder, enforced disappearances, etc.
Worse still,
the
Indonesian legal system is now being manipulated to intimidate human
rights advocates such as the case of Mr. Usman Hamid,
Coordinator of the Commission for Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS),
who is charged of criminal defamation for testifying against Ret. Gen.
Muchdi Purwopranjono, former Chief of
National Intelligence Agency (BIN) in Munir’s murder case.
This
proves that impunity begets even more wickedness. It does not only allow
the perpetrators of human rights violations to escape prosecution and
accountability but it also provides them with the legal weapon to strip
the human rights defenders of the legitimacy of their cause.
The
unresolved murder of Munir raises public concerns about the Indonesian
government’s human rights position.
President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who promised in his first term of office in
2007 to put Munir’s murder case at the top of his agenda, did little, if
at all, to ferret out the truth and to
equally apply the rule of law by bringing those responsible, including
the mastermind, to justice. For
this reason, human rights activists and families of victims of human
rights violations persistently rally outside the Parliament in Jakarta
every Thursday to demand that Pres. Yudhoyono fulfills his
promise.
After his
re-election in October 2009, any little hope for the final resolution of
Munir’s murder seems to vanish into thin air. The
Indonesian government has never shown serious efforts to take necessary
steps to resolve other past human rights cases particularly in
accounting for persons who disappeared and in prosecuting those
responsible. This is so despite the recommendations of
the then
Special Committee of the Indonesian Parliament for the President to
establish an ad hoc Human Rights Court in relation to the disappeared
students of 1997-1998; to take appropriate steps to immediately locate
the whereabouts of the 13 students cited as still missing by Komnas
HAM; to facilitate the rehabilitation and satisfactory compensation
to victims and/or the families of the disappeared; and to immediately
ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons
from Enforced Disappearances.
The fact
that Munir’s murder involved agents of the state, the Indonesian
government can never elude responsibility. It is an inherent
obligation of the state not to guarantee and protect people’s civil
liberties and fundamental freedom. Any
efforts towards Indonesia’s
democratization are rendered meaningless and sheer pretense unless
a successful resolution of the Munir case is made. Such a resolution
will require the full support of Indonesian government
in the
continuing struggle of victims and their families for truth, justice and
redress.
On the 6th anniversary of the murder of our former Chairperson, we
reverberate our deafening cry: Justice for Munir! Justice for All!
Signed and
authenticated by:
 |
 |
|
MUGIYANTO |
MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO |
| Chairperson |
Secretary-General |
