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FEATURE ARTICLE:

The Death of Munir
The Cycle of Continuing Impunity1
by Usman Hamid


The mystery surrounding Munir's assassination has not yet been resolved. After more than seven months of investigation, the police have only been able to propose three suspects who have not been proven with a degree of certainty to be those who poisoned Munir. Without any seriousness from the Indonesian government, it is almost impossible to find the mastermind behind Munir's assassination. Nonetheless, Suciwati, Munir' widow, is still fighting to obtain the truth and justice for her, her children and of course, for Munir.
This writing will present the development of the investigation on Munir's case in the past seven months since the day of his death, 7 September 2004. It is not a scientific work but is simply a note of the writer's experiences and observations in following the investigation's development.

        Munir's assassination was not the first murder of an activist. In the early period of his fight, Munir defended Marsinah, a woman labor activist who was killed by the military. During the period of Suharto's downfall, Munir was defending the activists who disappeared involuntarily, were kidnapped, tortured and killed. He was persistent in fighting for those activists until the day he himself was killed.

II. Killed by Arsenic

        Munir was killed inside a plane on its way to the Netherlands, 6-7 September 2004. At approximately two hours and 30 minutes after the plane took off from Singapore, the passenger in seat 40G, Munir, complained of a stomach ache. He frequently went to the toilet and vomited. During that time, Munir asked one of the Garuda flight attendants to call another passenger whom he had just met during transit at Changi Airport, Singapore. This new acquaintance was Dr. Tarmizi, who sat in seat 1J and happened to be a medical doctor.

        Because the flight attendant was unable to call Dr. Tarmizi, Munir left his seat and came to Dr. Tarmizi to inform him about the pain he was having. Dr. Tarmizi then provided first aid and gave milk, salt water and diatab. Several hours later, Munir was in pain again. He was then given a drink but vomited. Dr. Tarmizi gave an injection and Munir calmed down again. Several hours later, around 0405 UTC (local time and approximately above the territorial area of Romania) or around three hours before landing, Munir Said Thalib, 38 years old, born in Malang on 8 December 1965, died.

        A month after Munir's death, the autopsy result from the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) identified a high and deadly level of arsenic in his body. It was then suspected that Munir had died of unnatural causes. This autopsy result immediately triggered reactions from various parties in and outside Indonesia.2

        The strongest reaction came from Munir's family. Suciwati, Munir's widow, was deeply disappointed with the government's lack of quick response in informing her about her husband's death. Suciwati received the information - that her husband was poisoned - from a colleague in the Netherlands who read it in a Dutch newspaper, Handelsblaad, on 11 November 2004.

        Regarding this issue, Suciwati then contacted the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Politics, Law and Security, and the Chief of State Police (POLRI). However, the answers that she received were simply bureaucratic legalese. On the evening of the same day, KontraS urged the government to immediately provide a copy of the autopsy result to Munir's family and conduct effective measures in order to find Munir's assassin3. On the following morning, 12 November 2004, Suciwati asked several activists, including me, to go to the State Police's Headquarters in order to request that a copy of her husband's autopsy result be given. Upon our arrival at POLRI's headquarters we directly went to Kabareskrim room and had to wait for a while.

        In the meeting, Kabareskrim Suyitno Landung simply read and showed us the copy of an introduction letter regarding the submission of a copy of the toxicology analysis result from the Netherlands Ambassador to Indonesia in Jakarta. The result of the toxicology analysis found arsenic in Munir's body in the following amounts: 650 mg/liter in the stomach, 3,1 mg/liter in heart blood and 4,8 in urine. Kabareskrim stated that three teams had been formed to meet with the Dutch Embassy in Jakarta, to go to the Netherlands in order to obtain the authentic copy of the autopsy results and to examine witnesses.

        When asked why the Indonesian government did not request the Dutch government to send the authentic document instead, the Police stated that they needed to learn more about the autopsy result by meeting with the Dutch forensic team. At the end of the meeting, Suciwati was still denied her copy of the autopsy result. Later, upon our return from the State Police Headquarters, Suciwati and Munir's colleagues held a press conference in KontraS' office to express their desire to obtain a copy of the autopsy result. Suciwati was very disappointed.

III. Getting Judicial Documents from the Dutch Authorities

        POLRI's delegation that was sent to the Netherlands had difficulties. The Netherlands' government was unable to give the documents to the Indonesian government without an official request from the Indonesian legal authority regarding legal cooperation. The necessary letter was then sent from Indonesia, written by the Attorney General; but it meant nothing. In order not to leave empty-handed, several days later the Indonesian government sent an important representative, the Directorate General (DG) for America and Europe of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Arizal Effendi. DG joined the delegation in negotiating with the Dutch Ministry of Justice and the result was quite positive.

        The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave some of the forensic documents to the Indonesian Embassy (KBRI) on 25 November 2004. On the following day, 26 November 2004, the Indonesian Embassy's Head of Politics, Mulya Wirana, handed those documents to POLRI's delegation, led by AKBP Dr. Anton Charliyan. During the hand over, Munir's family representatives were merely shown, but not given the copy of the autopsy result, except for a copy of the transfer dossier of the documents from KBRI to POLRI's delegation. To be noted, all those documents still had to be translated into English or the Indonesian language.

        Despite the early obstacles, the above trip had at least resulted in some small gains. From Netherlands, NFI stated that Munir's death was indeed caused by arsenic that worked rapidly, within hours. The level of arsenic in Munir's stomach was 460 mg/lt and 3,1 mg/lt in the blood. Meanwhile, Indonesian forensic experts stated that the NFI autopsy result had met the Indonesia forensic standards and could be used as legal evidence; therefore, the Police had no reason to conduct its own autopsy over this case in Indonesia.

        One of the causes of the above obstacles in obtaining the documents was the lack of understanding between the Indonesian government and the Dutch government regarding the transfer of evidence. In accordance with applicable European regulations, the Netherlands requested that the evidence not used to give a death sentence to the convicted suspect in Munir's case. This also applied to other judicial documents in the case that were not yet obtained, including the sample of Munir's internal organs and the recording of the verbal process between the Dutch Police and a number of passengers and crew of the Garuda flight who were examined when the plane landed at Schipol Airport.

        We originally thought that the difficulty in obtaining all the documents was for procedural reasons, the lack of legal requests from the Indonesian government to the Dutch government regarding the autopsy documents. We then realized that there was another problem since there was no response at all to the letter that was written and sent by the Attorney General containing a request for the authentic autopsy documents, and the desire to meet with legal institutions in Netherlands such as Parket Harleem, Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI), Openbaar Ministry, Ministry van Justitie, Marechaussee and the Dutch police.

        In order to fulfill the above procedural requirements, the said formal request letter from the Indonesian Attorney General was sent to the Dutch government on 23 November 2004. However, there was an important matter that had not been agreed upon by both governments: the Dutch government requested the Indonesian government not to apply a death sentence to the one convicted in Munir's case. Upon reaching this agreement, all judicial documents related to Munir's death would be handed over.

        This was a sensitive issue for both countries. At the same time, complete documents were needed to investigate the cause of Munir's death. Furthermore, the issue of obtaining related documents should not be placed solely on the Indonesian State Police's shoulders. It requires the Indonesian government's, especially the Attorney General's strategic role in the matter, despite the fact that the decision to determine the government's position in such agreement lies in the President's hands as the highest executive authority.

        Upon the agreement regarding the judicial cooperation, the Indonesian government will obtain all related judicial documents such as the Dutch Police's examination report, other proceeding documents as well as other physical evidence that are still in The Netherlands.

        In addition, the Indonesian government can also request for any necessary witnesses or expert witnesses. For example, the forensic experts at the Netherlands Forensic Institute would be valuable to explain the autopsy results and to complete it by serving as expert witnesses in the Indonesian court.

        This executive authority lies in the President's prerogative because it relates to the execution of a death sentence given by a court to someone who has been proven guilty of a crime. With his prerogative, the President becomes a determining party in the award of a pardon to a convict bearing a death penalty.

        Based on the above issues, at that time we requested the Indonesian Attorney General to take the initiative to reach an agreement in a bilateral judicial cooperation. Without the role of the Attorney General and diplomatic efforts made by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs from both countries needed for police investigation purposes, it would be difficult to obtain optimum results.

IV. Getting Support from the Dutch Parliament

        The three demands that have been on the lobbying agenda since the very beginning are: 1) for the family to receive a copy of the autopsy result; 2) for the parliament to urge the Dutch government to provide clarification regarding the autopsy result 3) for Indonesia to form an Independent Team that involves civil society elements to investigate Munir's assassination and to bring the case to court4.

        Several members of the Dutch Parliament from the opposition party as well as the government party have given positive responses. A prominent and distinguished politician, Farah Karimi (Groenlinks Party) promised to bring these demands to the parliament and government debate forum.5 Before Munir's case was brought to the debate forum, Karimi had already sent a series of written questions (formal notes) in a row to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ben Bot on the following dates: 8/11/2004 code 2040502910, 16/11/2004 code 2040503390, 17/11/2004 code 2040503450 and 19/11/2004 code 20305035906.

        In this forum, the Dutch Government stated that it had already told the Indonesian government during the second meeting between Indonesian and Dutch Ministers of Foreign Affairs on 28 October 2004. This information was shocking because it indicated that the Indonesian Government had already known about Munir's autopsy results before it came out in the newspaper and became a controversial issue.

        Regarding this development, on 2 December 2004 the Minister of Foreign Affairs Wirajuda stated that they never accepted any copies of Munir's autopsy result from the Dutch Government on 28 October. The Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs received a photocopy (not the original) on 11 November 2004 and it was then immediately given to the Police. The Department of Foreign Affairs then contacted Munir's wife about the copy. On 12 November 2004, the Department of Foreign Affairs also requested the Police to inform Munir's family. Furthermore, Yuri Thamrin (Spokesperson II of the Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs) stated that, for sure, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs (Bernard Bot), who visited Indonesia on 26 October, had a meeting with the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs and gave vague signals and oral information that The Netherlands already had the initial version of Munir's autopsy results and that an abnormal amount of arsenic was found but he did not definitively express the possibilities of poisoning or attempted murder.

        Up to this point, the pressure put by a number of the Dutch Parliament members has been working well. The Dutch Parliament, through Farah Karimi's initiative, again questioned the development of Munir's case to the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Justice7. There were at least eight points in the written questions to the Minister of Foreign Affairs B.R. Bot and the Minister of Justice J.P.H. Donner regarding the follow up of Munir's case - which, during the time of the emergency debate on Munir's assassination, was promised to be handled seriously and that an independent team would be formed.

        Interestingly, the factions within the Dutch Parliament stated that they no longer trust the Indonesian Government whom they think makes many promises but never keeps any of them. The factions suggested that development aid to Indonesia be stopped.8 The factions remembered the case in which a Dutch journalist, Sander Thoenes, was killed in East Timor (now Timor Leste) in 1999 and the Indonesian Government promised many things regarding the case at that time; however, until now the officers who are strongly suspected as being responsible in the case remain untouchable. Bot, who had just become the Minister of Foreign Affairs, opted to give the benefit of the doubt to the Indonesian Government. He reasoned that there is a new regime in power, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the moment and that he had received a guarantee that Munir's case will be handled seriously. The Parliament now questioned all of the above, coinciding around the same time with the evaluation of the first 100 days of SBY's regime.

        While the developments take place in Indonesia, a number of the Dutch Parliament members from the opposition group continue to bring up Munir's case. They have even submitted a motion to the Dutch Government.9

V. Getting Yes to "Non-Death Penalty".

        In Munir's case, the issue of the death penalty is a crucial one. The fact there has been no guarantee from the Indonesian Government not to apply death penalty has caused delay in the transfer of evidence from the Dutch Government to Indonesia. The Dutch Government requested this guarantee because the evidence in the form of a verbal record can point to a person and influence the success of the investigation.

        Since the beginning, the issue has lacked attention. It came up for the first time when the Indonesian delegation was in The Netherlands to request all the evidence. Even that was done quietly. The issue of death penalty was brought up openly in a debate forum in the Dutch Parliament, attended by the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Justice. When asked whether the Dutch Government had given all documents or evidence in Munir's case to the Indonesian Government, the Minister gave a rather long answer:

        After the definitive toxicology report from Nederlands Forensisch Instituut (NFI) was prepared, its copy was given to the Indonesian authority on 11/11/2004. Shortly afterwards, there was a meeting between an investigative delegation from Jakarta and representatives from the Justice Department and Buitenlandse Zaken (Dept of Foreign Affairs). In that meeting, the autopsy report, temporary section report, definitive section report, first toxicology report and authentic definitive toxicology report were given to the Indonesian delegation. Within that period, a meeting was also held between NFI toxicologists and experts from Indonesia. Through the transfer of the above data, the Indonesian authority has therefore been fully informed about the cause of Munir's death.

        However, the record of the verbal process was not given. This was related to the fact that the information within the recording can lead to a person. Considering the possibility of a death penalty and execution in Indonesia, there is a possibility that the information can be used as evidence with which a death penalty can be given and executed. The Netherlands, in relation to the Europees Verdrag tot Bescherming van de Rechten voor de Mens (European Treaty of Human Rights Protection), is not to participate and provide any legal aid before receiving a guarantee that if death penalty is given, it will not be executed.

        The agreement took a long time to be reached. Then on 14 March 2005, the Indonesian Attorney General wrote another letter to the Dutch authority regarding this matter. In the letter, the Attorney General, on behalf of the Indonesian Government, requested that all evidence be given immediately and promised not to execute death penalty to the convicted. The letter received a positive response from the Dutch Government and the transfer of evidence was immediately processed.

        However, before the transfer process was completed, the Dutch Government was shocked by the case of Astini, a female prisoner with a death penalty who was executed on 20 March 2005. The European Union and several groups in Indonesia criticized the execution and the Indonesian Government's double standard. Nonetheless, the transfer continued. At the moment, all evidence is in the hand of Indonesian legal authority. Until the time this article is being prepared, there has not been any development in the translation of the documents that are still in the Dutch language.

VI. Getting Suspects and Mastermind?

        There is a long way to go to find the most responsible actor in Munir's murder. The mastermind behind the killing must have eliminated the sleuth in this political killing. It is not easy to find out about this kind of political killing. The death of Marsinah (female worker), the death of Udin (journalist), the death of Theys Elluay (Papuan leader) and several killings against numerous human rights defenders have shown us how difficult it is. Will the case of Munir end like all these cases? No one knows. Nevertheles, the death of Munir is not a signal for the end of the fight for justice in Indonesia.

        Munir's assassination was not only about a killing; it is also about democracy and human rights that are always threatened in this country. The results of this case will not only be a measurement on how the new government under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (a military retiree) conducts its governance, but it will also determine the future of democracy in Indonesia.

        Suciwati, the mothers of the disapeared, victims and relatives, survivors and all those oppressed will continue to fight for everything they saw in the case of the late Mr.Munir. We do believe that Munir could easily be killed. And this is a big loss for all of us. But Munir's spirit of resistance will always be with all of us, who want a better Indonesia- an Indonesia, that is free from fear, terror, and all forms of oppression.

#Usman Hamid, is the present Coordinator of KontraS and a member of the Fact Finding Team in the case of Munir.

(Footnotes)
1 This report is prepared based on recommendation from KontraS Internal Meeting, Wed, 2 February 2005.
2 Name any group,, foreign countries, non-government organizations, civil community, religious community social and political communities and many more.
.3 An Open Letter from the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence (KontraS) on 11 November 2004.
4 Leaving on Wednesday and arriving on Thursday morning, Netherlands time. From Schipol Airport, I was with Ypie BBO and Kees ICCO, going to BBO in The Hague to prepare for a meeting with several Dutch Parliament members. See also joint demands in the "NGO Declaration."
5 They also promised to bring up the subject in the European Union Parliament's visit to Indonesia in January 2005.
6 "Dutch Parliament, Session on Munir's Case Tonight." www.detik.com, 30 November 2004.
7 See also complete news from detik.com "Dutch Parliament Questioned the Promise to Resolve Munir's Case," http://jkt1.detiknews.com/index.php/detik.read/tahun/2005/bulan/02/tgl/02/time/204023/idnews/284071/idkanal/10. See also previous news regarding the debate between Parliament-Foreign Affairs Minister in detik.com.
8 20 million Euro of development aid for fiscal year 2005-2009.
9 "Dutch Opposition Submitted a Motion Regarding Munir's Case " Suara Pembaruan, 2 December 2004. See also "Dutch Parliament Discuss Munir's Cas," Tempo Newspaper, 2 December 2004.