Fearless investigator of rights abuses<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
An outstanding human rights campaigner may not have fully
\nrealized his pivotal role in the recent inquiry into the death of
\ncolleague, Munir Thalib Said.<\/p>\n
Asmara Nababan's membership of the now-dissolved, government-
\nsanctioned, fact-finding team (TPF Munir) has raised public
\ncuriosity about who might have been behind the plot to kill
\nMunir.<\/p>\n
Although just a member of the team, he often had to act as
\nspokesman or even in a leadership capacity to ensure that people
\ncooperated with the team.<\/p>\n
\"We worked closely with the press to publicize progress in the
\ninvestigation and, despite intense intimidation, I inspired the
\nteam and encouraged its members and supporting staff to work as
\nbest they could,\" he told The Jakarta Post at his office here
\nrecently.<\/p>\n
Asmara remained calm and said little when asked about the
\nresult of the team's inquiry into the matter, saying only he was
\nclear about actual and potential suspects in the case.<\/p>\n
\"Let the public conclude for themselves who should be held
\nresponsible for the murder of Munir because law enforcers appear
\nunable to bring untouchables from a feared intelligence agency to
\njustice,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, the initial and main suspect in
\nthe case, will go on trial soon, but high-powered officials from
\nnational flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia and the National
\nIntelligence Agency (BIN), suspected to have been behind the
\nmurder, are still free.<\/p>\n
Pollycarpus is being held as a suspect, as he spoke a lot via
\nhis cell phone with Munir before the latter's departure to the
\nNetherlands; also, he was onboard the Garuda aircraft that
\ntransported Munir on the date of his death, Sept. 7, 2004.<\/p>\n
Asmara said his team had not encountered any difficulty in
\ncarrying out the inquiry because its remaining task was to follow
\nup on findings by the Dutch forensic authorities regarding an
\nexcessive level of arsenic in Munir's body.<\/p>\n
The TPF, he said, was unable to complete its inquiries because
\nit was denied access to relevant documents at BIN and information
\nfrom Gen. (ret) Hendropriyono (who led BIN at the time of the
\nmurder) and other relevant BIN officials.<\/p>\n
\"The team has collected information that could be used as
\nmaterial evidence to bring BIN officials to justice but it has no
\nauthority to do so. The last hope lies with the police who have
\nthe necessary investigative authority to grill suspected BIN
\nofficials and ex-officials,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Citing an example, he said that before and after Munir's
\ndeath, Pollycarpus made many phone calls to deputy chief of BIN
\nfor propaganda affairs Muchdi P.R.<\/p>\n
The fact-finding team does not exist anymore. Its results have
\nalready been submitted to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
\n(SBY), but they have not yet been made public.<\/p>\n
Asmara was proud of his team and its persistence during the
\ninquiry; the team has now left the ball firmly in the court of
\nboth the President and the police.<\/p>\n
\"SBY's credibility is being tested with this case, and the
\npolice have to confirm whether they are either able or willing to
\ncarry out a thorough and proper investigation.<\/p>\n
\"The police would be able to investigate the case thoroughly
\nif they and the government were willing,\" he said, citing that
\nhis team had recommended the police further interrogate former
\ntop officials in the two government institutions, especially
\nHendropriyono and former president director of Garuda Indra
\nSetyawan.<\/p>\n
Asked why he was so determined and challenged to work on the
\ninquiry, Asmara said the case had a high international profile;
\nthe modus operandi was so simple but it had all become so
\ncomplicated that it was hard to deal with it transparently.<\/p>\n
\"To me, Munir's mysterious death is a humanitarian debt we
\nhave to pay. The state and the government have incurred many
\nhumanitarian debts that remain unpaid, for example the past gross
\nhuman rights abuses in Papua, East Timor and Aceh.\"<\/p>\n
Solidarity, empathy and honesty are merely cliches to many
\npeople in the modern era, but not so for him, as he has shown
\nthese qualities at one inquiry after another in the past.<\/p>\n
Asmara first joined the fact-finding team of the National
\nCommission on Human Rights to investigate mass killings in Aceh
\nin 1994 and those in Timika, Papua, in 1995.<\/p>\n
He felt a direct challenge upon learning of military brutality
\nduring his fact-finding teams' inquiries into the bloody takeover
\nof the Indonesian Democratic Party's headquarters on July 27,
\n1996, the bloody riots in Jakarta and other cities on May 12
\nthrough May 15, 1998, and the post-ballot East Timor riots in
\n1999.<\/p>\n
His solidarity with and empathy for vulnerable groups, justice
\nseekers and the have-nots have grown despite the fact that he and
\nhis family have frequently been intimidated and condemned by
\nthose implicated in human rights abuses.<\/p>\n
\"I have, on several occasions, been offered a huge amount of
\nmoney and luxury gifts but I returned them immediately because
\nthey were from those implicated in rights abuses I was
\ninvestigating.\"<\/p>\n
He has ensured his family is aware of the extreme risks he has
\ntaken on.<\/p>\n
\"My life and fate depend not on human rights abusers but lie
\nin the hands of Almighty God. I am prepared to lose my life if
\nGods wants me to die here and now,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Asmara was born on Sept. 2, 1946 in Siborongborong, North
\nSumatra, to Protestant parents. His father worked as a
\nschoolteacher, while his mother was very active in church-related
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
Asmara, now executive director of the Center for Democracy and
\nHuman Rights Studies (Demos), was active in human rights
\ncampaigns during his studies at the law school of the University
\nof Indonesia in the 1960s.<\/p>\n
He, along with former Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung and
\nbusiness tycoon Arifin Panigoro, was a member of the Angkatan 66
\n(1966 generation), active in the anticommunist and anticorruption
\nstudent movement at the university.<\/p>\n
\"Several times during my childhood, I accompanied my mother to
\nattend the funeral of unidentified people in Medan and I was told
\nby my parents not to take discriminatory action against those of
\nChinese descent. All this has inspired me to focus on human
\nrights and democracy campaigns.\"<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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