Govt pledge in Munir case queried

Govt pledge in Munir case queried

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

One year after leading human rights activist Munir was murdered
onboard a flight from Jakarta to the Netherlands, the government
has failed to properly investigate and prosecute those behind his
death, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a
statement on Tuesday.

In its statement, the HRW called on President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono to set up a high-level committee to audit the
performance of the police investigation into Munir's killing and
establish why key recommendations and findings of the government-
sanctioned Fact-Finding Team (TPF), which has implicated senior
intelligence officers in the murder, have apparently been
ignored.

"Munir's murder represents a return to the bad old days in
Indonesia when independent activists faced the risk of personal
injury or even death," said Brad Adams, Asia director for the
HRW. "Solving this case and bringing the killers and their
sponsors to justice is a big test for President Yudhoyono's
government and its commitment to the rule of law."

Munir, cofounder the National Commission for Missing Persons
and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and human rights group
Imparsial, died on Sept. 7 on a Garuda flight, just hours before
the flight arrived at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.

Two months later, the Dutch Forensic Institute said its
autopsy found lethal levels of arsenic in Munir's body. A Garuda
pilot is standing trial for adding the arsenic to a drink offered
to Munir on the first leg of the flight from Jakarta to
Singapore.

In December 2004, Susilo formed the TPF, which was tasked with
assisting the police to investigate Munir's death. The TPF ended
its six-month mandate on June 23 and produced a lengthy report
with detailed findings and recommendations.

The HRW called on the government to make public the report and
the recommendations of the TPF and to order the full cooperation
of all state agencies, including the National Intelligence Agency
(BIN), with the police and any other official bodies
investigating the murder.

"Munir was an extraordinary man," said Adams. "This case is an
extraordinary case that needs extraordinary measures to resolve
it."

The HRW also asked the government to investigate threats and
intimidation against TPF members and others seeking justice for
Munir's murder and to provide protection for those facing
threats.

Rights activists have prepared a series of events to
commemorate Munir's death. The programs will begin on Wednesday
with a march from the BIN office on Jl. Kalibata in South Jakarta
to the presidential palace in Central Jakarta. A moment of
silence and candle lighting will be held later in the evening
beside the Proclamation Statue in Central Jakarta.

The events' committee chairman, Ori Rahman, said there would
be a film screening in several towns across Indonesia to recall
Munir's struggle for the country's recognition of human rights.

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