Rights award to be named after Munir

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Relatives and close friends of the late rights campaigner Munir have established a new award called the Munir Courage Award, and will present it beginning next year to exemplary human rights activists.

Speaking after the presentation of the 2004 Yap Thiam Hien Award on Friday, lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said the award was named after Munir as a form of recognition of his outstanding work with regard to human rights issues.

"One of Munir's prominent traits, which we all appreciate, was his courage in criticizing the government on human rights violations and in advocating for those who were abused and mistreated," said Todung, who is also the chairman of the Human Rights Study Center.

The award will be presented to activists who are under 30 years of age and whose lives are dedicated to human rights protection.

The committee will also look at how their work was able to influence and transform society toward greater freedom of speech and a better understanding of human rights.

"We have yet to decide, though, whether the annual award will be presented on Dec. 10, which is Human Rights Day or on Dec. 9, which is Munir's birthday," said Rachland Nashidik, the director of local rights monitor, Imparsial.

Munir's widow, Suciwati, said that the end of the struggle in defending human rights was not when an award was presented, but when freedom from abuse and violations was finally achieved.

"Some people may not see the purpose of what we're fighting for now, but I truly believe that they will see it one day. This is all for our children, who will live in a civilization where human rights are respected," she said.

Munir died in September aboard a Garuda Indonesia flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam, where he was set to do a master's degree in human rights at Utrecht University.

An autopsy by Dutch authorities discovered three times the fatal level of arsenic in his body, raising suspicions that he was assassinated.

Police have questioned dozens of people, but have not yet named any suspects.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had initially agreed to set up an independent team to investigate Munir's death, but later reneged, saying that there was no urgency in establishing such a team.

Munir rose to prominence in 1998, when he publicly spoke out about the abductions of activists by the powerful Indonesian Military (TNI).

The activist, who founded both Imparsial and the Commission of Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), has been known as a staunch critic of the military, which, in many cases, has been accused of orchestrating violent acts throughout the country.