Munir's spirit
It was exactly one year ago that we were left in shock at the news of the death of Munir Thalib Said, one of the country's boldest and most consistent defenders of human rights.
The shock quickly turned to horror when it was quickly established that his death was caused by poisoning. An autopsy conducted by Dutch authorities found four times the lethal dose of arsenic in his body.
Munir fought against many unspeakable acts during the height of totalitarianism. The fate that eventually befell him was initially deemed unthinkable in the new, democratic Indonesia.
It became clear that he had been poisoned while flying on Garuda Airlines to the Netherlands where he had received a scholarship to pursue his studies.
In movies, cloak and dagger intrigue is fascinating to watch. In real life, such events only prove the impunity of the rights abusers in this country.
Munir was certainly a thorn in the side of the powers that be who considered themselves above the law. His tireless work can be traced back to the late 1980s when he began working for the Legal Aid Institute in Surabaya, East Java. Such was his tenacity that he eventually handled major cases in Jakarta in the mid 1980s at the Legal Aid Institute in Jakarta.
In 1998, he co-founded the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras). A year later, he was appointed as a member of the Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations in East Timor (KPP-HAM) set up by the National Human Rights Commission.
His tireless desire to uphold respect for human rights, even during the reformasi era, was again proven when he helped establish the human rights group Imparsial.
Until recently, his life-long dedication seems to have received more international recognition than it did from his beloved country. In 1998, Munir was honored with the prestigious Yap Thiam Hien human rights award.
It is almost incomprehensible, and downright detestable, that one year after Munir's murder on Sept. 7, 2004, that we still have failed to fully uncover the conspiracy behind the murder.
A district court is trying a Garuda pilot named Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto for the murder. But it is clear that he did not work alone.
The persons more dangerous than the man who "pulled the trigger" are the ones who ordered and planned the assassination.
Murder mysteries can be difficult to investigate. We understand that about homicide investigations, especially those that are politically motivated. But what is most upsetting is the way many institutions have showed an utter disrespect for the investigation, despite a direct presidential decree instructing all state institutions to fully cooperate with the investigators.
To this day, there remains limited followup on the government- sanctioned fact finding team's report, which revealed a highly suspicious link between Pollycarpus and the state intelligence agency (BIN).
No wonder team member Asmara Nababan remarked in desperation two months ago that the public should "conclude for themselves who should be held responsible" since "untouchables from a feared intelligence agency" apparently cannot be brought to justice.
We can now understand the kind of frustration Munir felt in defending the cause of human rights against recalcitrant state officials who believe themselves to be above the norms and rules of other Indonesian citizens.
But rather than defeat, we should take strength from Munir's own inexhaustible determination to pursue what is right and just. If he was able to endure in so many cases for such a long time despite extreme hazards, surely we owe it to him to prevail in this case.
Munir tried to bring peace and justice to so many afflicted Indonesians. It is time for us to return the favor by bringing closure to his case.
We must keep the spirit of his determination alive.