JP/6/eds24

Unresolved

In the past, journalists reporting on baffling cases had come to depend on the wisdom of rights activist Munir, who would discuss with them his suspicions or findings.

Thus, from sheer habit, the initial reaction last September was to turn to the slight, inquisitive and passionate young man -- or his ghost -- for insight into the murder en route to the Netherlands.

Munir's colleagues have continued with his work, an assignment taken on in the last years of Soeharto's rule: to investigate disappearances, torture and murder cases. Included now is the death of their friend, and joining them in the investigation, though reluctantly, is a government-sanctioned fact finding team.

Their reluctance was fast proven as they came across hurdle after hurdle in gathering evidence and testimonies, in spite of being able to wave around the signature of the President. The verbal instruction of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to the National Police and National Intelligence Agency (BIN) that they fully cooperate in the investigation did not help either. The President may indeed be sincere, "but he should know that the police and BIN are ignoring him," said Munir's widow, Suciwati.

The unfortunate words of the former chief of BIN, AM Hendropriyono, attested to this when he expressed offense at the team's summons -- which he chose to ignore -- while reminding everyone that Susilo was formerly his subordinate.

The fact finding team at last reiterated suspicions raised early in its inquiry, reporting this week to the President that BIN "is believed to have been involved in a conspiracy to murder Munir."

Its members have rightly refused suggestions that its six- month mandate, which ended on Thursday, be extended, saying that the police should take over and act on the team's recommendations, mainly to further investigate the role of BIN and all related officials.

Obviously the glaring question here is -- is this May 1998 all over again? For the story of the riots in Jakarta and other cities virtually ended with the announcement of the deductions of a government-sanctioned fact finding team. None of the recommendations were followed up; no one has been prosecuted for the deaths, nor the suffering of surviving victims.

Not surprisingly, in the Munir case, members of the fact finding team faced the arrogance of big shots, rather than respect for the group instructed by the President himself to determine the circumstances of the activist's death.

Arrogance prevails because experience has shown that no one needs to be accountable for their actions if they have the power to fend off irritating nobodies with irritating questions. Some of them being basic queries: how does a passenger get arsenic in his meal? And why would anyone be afraid of Munir -- he was just going to study in the Netherlands? Or, who was feeling discomfort when Munir exhibited his knowledge of past and contemporary cases -- the shooting of students in 1998, the possible masterminds of communal conflicts and the like?

This case must not be one of several thrown in the closet, where we keep all the other skeletons for fear of prodding sleeping, powerful dragons.

What our fine general Hendropriyono -- and the other figures whose involvement has been implied -- may be missing is that instead of feeling sure of their innocence, we have become sick of their self-confidence. We have grown weary of their grins and their talk-show soliloquies; while they show no hint of being law-abiding citizens and thus responding appropriately to the summons of the fact finding team.

Munir's death will remain a test case for Susilo's administration. Can the President make a significant contribution to breaking down the wall put up many years ago around what has become a comfortable cushion of impunity. It is not enough for our former chief security minister to express anger and deep sorrow over Munir's death; it is far from enough for him to "lament" the failure of his former boss to cooperate in the investigation.

Munir was a rare Indonesian who only sought to ensure that all his fellow citizens and their children, including his own, could live in freedom from fear. Putting the fact finding team's report on the shelf and leaving it there would spread the message that in spite of all our talk of democracy, we remain a nation where those who live in freedom from fear include the untouchables with a license to kill.