Munir's wife pushes for UNHCR involvement
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Munir's wife, Suciwati, has won the support of international human rights groups in her struggle to bring those responsible for her husband's assassination to justice, and is pushing for the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights (UNHCHR) to monitor the investigations into the case.
"Delegates, the people of Geneva, and several Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), have expressed their full support. I hope that this support will put pressure on the UN to monitor the investigation and the trial. The UN should push for the trial to reveal and punish the masterminds of this evil scheme," she told The Jakarta Post by telephone from Geneva on Friday.
Suciwati delivered her testimony at the 61st session of the UNHCHR at Geneva, telling delegates that a gross human rights violation had taken place in Indonesia against a defender of human rights, and that the world should pay attention to the case.
"Distinguished Chairperson and delegates, I wish to raise the matter of my husband's death, Munir, an Indonesian human rights defender who died aboard a Garuda Airline's aircraft. He was poisoned ... he was killed because of his activities in striving for the promotion and protection of human rights," she told the commission on Wednesday.
"This is why I am bringing this case to this UN session. I am demanding that the international community, especially the members of this commission and the UNHCHR, continuously monitor and put pressure on the Indonesian government to reveal the case in an honest and transparent manner," she told delegates from 53 countries in her closing statement.
She also held a meeting with Makarim Wibisono, an Indonesian diplomat who chaired the commission, discussing the apparent involvement of national intelligence agents in her husband's murder.
"He said that he would do his best to prevent anyone from halting the ongoing investigations or the trial. Let's just wait and see," Suciwati said.
Rafendy Djamin, a coordinator for the Coalition for International Human Rights Advocacy, said in a press release that Makarim's support was expected as a commitment to improve human rights in Indonesia.
"We asked Makarim Wibisono to support the investigation into Munir's death and to put it on his political agenda to promote human rights in Indonesia," Rafendy said.
Makarim was elected as the chairman of UNHCHR on Jan. 17 of this year. His appointment is widely expected to help improve the human rights condition in Indonesia.
Munir, one of Indonesia's top human rights campaigners, was killed on board a Garuda aircraft en route to Amsterdam on Sept. 7, 2004. He was poisoned with arsenic. Indonesian authorities, who so far have only named one suspect, have been strongly criticized for the slow progress of the investigation. (006)