Home / News / Urgent Appeals / INDONESIA: The family receives death threats for demanding an impartial inquiry into the death of Munir
 

INDONESIA: The family receives death threats for demanding an impartial inquiry into the death of Munir

November 26, 2004

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

26 November 2004
---------------------------------------------------------------------
UA-164-2004: INDONESIA: The family receives death threats for demanding an impartial inquiry into the death of Munir

INDONESIA: Human rights defenders; Death threat to the victim's family; Need of urgent witness protection
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,

It has come to the attention of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that the family of Indonesian human rights activist Munir (38), who died of arsenic poisoning aboard a plane flight on 7 September 2004, has been receiving death threats for demanding that an impartial inquiry be held regarding his death.

Munir, a leading human rights activist, was critical of the Indonesian military and the state sponsored human rights abuses both in East Timor and currently in the country, and received frequent death threats. Your urgent action to pressure the Indonesian government to ensure that an in-depth and impartial investigation is held immediately into the causes of Munir's death and protection is provided to the members of the family of the victim.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
---------------------------------------------------------------

DETAILED INFORMATION:

On 20 November 2004, Munir's wife, Suciwati, received a death threat which was mailed to her house in Bekasi, West Java. A brown box filled with a severed chicken head, legs and intestines came with a typed message saying 'Do not connect the TNI to Munir's death. Want to end up like this!'  TNI is the acronym for the Indonesian Military, which Munir was critical of. Suciwati immediately reported the death threat to the police but they arrived at her house only four hours later. 

The threat came as Munir's family and human rights groups demanded a thorough investigation into Munir's suspicious death on a Garuda flight en route to Amsterdam on 7 September 2004. The Netherlands Forensic Institute said an autopsy performed on Munir found he died from excessive levels of arsenic in his body.

The Dutch Government handed a copy of the forensic report to Indonesia's Foreign Ministry on 11 November 2004. The report stated that most of the arsenic had been found in Munir's stomach. The concentration and location of the heavy metal indicated that it had been slipped into the food or drink he had consumed. However, as of November 20, Munir's family had not yet received a copy of the autopsy.  The Indonesian government said that the faxed, unofficial translation could not yet be released publicly. At a press conference on November 12, Suciwati argued that diplomatic etiquette should not deny her right to the information about her husband. 

According to Suciwati, she and her late husband used to receiving threats. "When my husband was still alive, we used to live with terror. We never told the public about it because we didn't want to give the threats importance," Suciwati said. It is also reported that two days after Munir's death, his family in Malang, East Java, had also received a disturbing letter: the message 'congratulated' the family for Munir's death as the writer branded Munir a traitor and wished that the spirits of the country's heroes would pardon him. However, Suciwati and other human rights activists said they would not be intimidated into silencing their calls for justice.

These threats suggest that Munir's death was politically motivated. However, it is essential for the police and other authorities to conduct a detailed and impartial investigation into Munir's death and the threats received by his family, rather than give in to speculations. The perpetrators must be prosecuted and punished accordingly, and protection should be given to Munir's family.


BRIEF INTRODUCTION OF MUNIR:

Munir is Indonesia's best known human rights lawyer. Early in 1998 he established the Commission for Disappeared Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), a group that exposed the abduction by the military of several human rights activists in Jakarta. Kontras probably did more than any other single group to unmask military impunity at that time. Since then Kontras has fought consistently for human rights victims in many parts of Indonesia.

Munir's legal aid career began in Surabaya in 1989 and included stints as director of the Semarang Legal Aid office and as chief of field operations for the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) in Jakarta. He represented many human rights victims and activists in high profile cases, and regularly spoke out for justice in the face of intimidation, which included death threats. His work encompassed the full range of human rights concerns in Indonesia, from abuses by the Indonesian military and police, to attacks on labor activists, to impunity for human rights crimes in Aceh, East Timor and Papua (Irian Jaya), to the rights of the Chinese ethnic minority.  In December 1998 he was awarded the prestigious Yap Thiam Hien human rights prize in Jakarta. Asiaweek named him one of 'twenty young Asian leaders for the new millenium' in 2000. He is also one of the winners of the Right Livelihood Award in 2000.


SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to the governmental authorities listed below and demanding that they provide immediate protection to Munir's family and expedite an impartial investigation into Munir's death and death threats made to the family.

Sample letter:

Dear ________,

Re: INDONESIA: The family receives death threats for demanding an impartial Inquiry into the death of Munir

Name of the victim: 1) Mr. Munir, a human rights lawyer (died on 7 September 2004 in suspicious circumstances), 2) Ms. Suciwati, Mr. Munir's wife, reside in Bekasi, West Java (received several death threats after calling for impartial inquiry into her husband's death)

I write to express my deep concern regarding the death threat to the family of a prominent human rights lawyer Munir (38), who died of arsenic poisoning aboard a plane flight on 7 September 2004. The family has been demanding an impartial inquiry into Munir's death.

According to the information I have received, Munir's wife Suciwati received a death threat mailed to her house in Bekasi, West Java on 20 November 2004. A brown box filled with a severed chicken head, legs and intestines came with a typed message saying 'Do not connect the TNI to Munir's death. Want to end up like this!'   I am not inclined to rush to the conclusion that TNI or the Indonesian Military is involved in the murder of Munir, but I still believe that a proper investigation is required to clarify this matter.

It also came to my attention that the autopsy report of the Netherlands Forensic Institute, which found that Munir had died from excessive levels of arsenic in his body, has not been informed to Munir's family, although the government of Netherlands passed it to the Indonesian Foreign Ministry on 11 November 2004. The family has the right to know under what circumstances he succumbed to his death.

In light of the above, I urge you order an immediate and thorough investigation into the death threats made against Munir's family and provide full protection to them. I also urge you to take appropriate action to expedite the investigation on the suspicious death of Munir. Impartial inquiry should be held regarding his death. I further request you ensure that the family receive the autopsy report on Munir's body without further delay.

Thank you for your attention into this matter.

Sincerely yours,


-------------------------


SEND A LETTER TO:

1. Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudoyono
President
Republic of Indonesia
Presidential Palace
Jakarta Istana Negara
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 384 5627 ext. 1003
Fax: +62 21 345 7782

2. Mr. Abdul Rahman Saleh
Attorney General of Indonesia
Attorney General's Office
Jakarta
INDONESIA
Fax: +62 21 720 8557

3. Mr. Hamid Awaluddin
Minister of Justice and Human Rights
Uahi Utoyo Usman S.H.,
Menteri Kehkiman,
JI. H.R. Rosuna Said Kav. 6-7
Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Fax: + 62 21 525 3095

4. Gen. Dai Bachtiar
National Chief of Police
Jl. Trunojoyo
No. 3 Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 7218001
Fax: + 62 21 720 7277

5. KOMNAS HAM [National Human Rights Commission of Indonesia]
Jl. Latuharhary No. 4B Menteng
Jakarta Pusat 10310
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 3925230 
Fax: +62 21 3151042/3925227
E-mail: info@komnasham.or.id

6. Ms. Hina Jilani
Special Representative for human rights defenders
Att: Ben Majekodunmi
Room 1-040, C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 93 88
Fax: +41 22 917 9006
E-mail: bmajekodunmi@ohchr.org

7. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Att: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016
c/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (general)
E-mail: lventre@ohchr.org


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-164-2004
Countries :
Issues :
Document Actions
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.