Rights campaigner Munir dies<\/p>\n
Born in the Central Java town of Malang on Dec. 8, 1965,
\nMunir's small, aggressive demeanor rose to prominence in the late
\n1990s amid a rash of kidnappings and disappearances during the
\nlast years of former president Soeharto's rule. His co-founding
\nof the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence
\n(Kontras), not long before the May riots, on April 21 1998,
\nchallenged the dismissing of acts such as kidnapping, torture and
\ninvoluntary disappearances as ordinary crimes.<\/p>\n
People began to talk of \"state violence\" as Kontras provided
\nlegal counsel for victims, investigated individual cases and made
\npublic the results of its investigations, which often implicated
\nthe security forces. Not long after Kontras was established,
\nMunir and his colleagues received a number of threats, including
\na bomb threat targeted at his family home in Malang, East Java.<\/p>\n
Munir almost immediately was recognized internationally for
\nhis work, and was honored with awards such as the Yap Thiam Hien
\nHuman Rights Award and the Right Livelihood Award 2000, or the
\n\"alternative Nobel\", from the Swedish government.<\/p>\n
He was involved in various high profile investigations,
\nincluding the violence in East Timor both before and after the
\n1999 referendum. He reflected later that the national rights
\nbody, which set up a team on East Timor, was much more effective
\nthan when it investigated the Tanjung Priok case of 1984, even
\nthough the national rights body was backed by legislation.<\/p>\n
The father of two and husband of Suciati, a former labor
\nactivist, also became a hero to the Acehnese as his presence in
\nthe war-torn province emboldened a populace used to fear. But as
\ncommunal violence spread in Indonesia, Kontras was overwhelmed,
\nand he was criticized for neglecting thousands of victims such
\nthose in Maluku.<\/p>\n
In 2002, Munir cofounded Indonesian Human Rights Watch
\n(Imparsial).<\/p>\n
Of the truth and reconciliation commission, the bill for which
\nwas finally endorsed on Tuesday, he once said that the prolonged
\nplan to set up the commission was nothing more than \"an excuse
\nfor impunity.\" --JP<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rights-campaigner-munir-dies-1447893297",
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