Recommendations to the International Community
September 7, 2004
One of
Indonesia’s leading human rights lawyers, Munir Said
Thalib, becomes sick and dies on the second leg of a
Jakarta-Singapore-Amsterdam flight.
October 2004
Recently
elected Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
meets Munir’s widow
Suciwati and according to presidential spokesman
Andi Mallerangeng, Yudhoyono promises to "do
everything necessary to conclude the case."
November 1,
2004
After a Dutch autopsy reveals
arsenic poisoning, newly elected President Susilo
Bambang
Yudhoyono promises to create an independent
fact-finding team. ()
December 3,
2004
U.S.
NGOs
write Indonesian President to urge action on
the murder of human rights activist Munir.
May 11, 2005
A group of 30
international human rights groups, including ETAN,
write President
Yudhoyono
about concerns with the lack of progress
in the investigations of Munir’s murder and fears
about political interference.
June 23, 2005
Fact-finding team
hands report to President recommending investigation
of senior intelligence officials and charges against
Garuda Airlines officials. Phone records show 41
calls between a suspect Pollycarpus Budihari
Priyanto, a Garuda pilot, and a senior intelligence
official, a retired Special Forces (Kopassus)
general named Muchdi Purwoprandjono.
Report is
never officially released.
October 27,
2005
68 members of the U.S.
House of Representatives send
a letter to the
Indonesian President calling for action on the case
of Munir Said Thalib.suc
December 20,
2005
Pollycarpus is convicted of premeditated murder and
forgery related to a falsified work roster used to
travel on the flight and is sentenced to 14 years.
Judges note that Pollycarpus is part of a larger
plot and urge authorities to investigate further.
Both sides appeal.
March 27, 2006
Appeals Court
upholds
Pollycarpus conviction and sentence.
September 18, 2006
US Senator Leahy
(D-VT)
issues
statement on anniversary of Munir’s death. He said
that “the
Indonesian government has failed to properly
investigate and prosecute those responsible.”
October 4,
2006
Indonesian Supreme Court
votes to reverse
premeditated murder conviction of Pollycarpus due to
lack of evidence. The document forgery conviction is
upheld, with a sentence of two years (including time
served). Pollycarpus is later granted a Christmas
sentence remission and released.
November 3,
2006
Key members of Congress
write President Yudhoyono to
express “deep concern” that no one has been held
accountable for Munir’s murder.
March 28,
2007
The Special Rapporteur
on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions at
the UN
issues statement calling for Indonesia to
investigate the members implicated by the report on
the murder of Munir Said Thalib.
April-May,
2007
Attorney General’s office
prepares request to Supreme Court to review its
decision to reverse Pollycarpus’ conviction.
April 14, 2007
Garuda’s former
director Indra Setiawan and staff member Rohainil
Aini are
arrested and then charged in connection
with the murder.
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| Suciwati. Photo: TEMPO/ Cheppy A.
Muchlis |
May 3,
2007
Munir’s widow Suciwati
wins a civil suit against Garuda. The court orders
that the company pay Suciwati 600,000,000 rupiah.
However, the ruling reduces damages and throws out
key plaintiff demands, such as an audit of Garuda’s
actions and an apology from the airlines.
August-September,
2007
Supreme Court holds
hearings on whether to accept the request for review
of its decision in the Pollycarpus case. The
evidence dossier includes evidence linking the State
Intelligence Agency (BIN) to the murder; for
example, a former BIN agent Sentot reports that he
was tasked with planning scenarios for Munir’s
assassination, and that he saw Pollycarpus at BIN
headquarters.
The
Supreme Court did not deny there was evidence of a
widespread conspiracy to kill Munir and of BIN’s
involvement with Pollycarpus.
October-
November,
2007
At trial, Setiawan
says he received a letter from the BIN Deputy
Chief instructing him to assign Pollycarpus to
aviation security, allowing him to travel on Munir’s
flight. Setiawan says the letter was later stolen
from his car. Both Setiawan and Aini were convicted
and imprisoned for one year.
January 25,
2008
The
Indonesian Supreme Court reverses the October 2006
acquittal of Pollycarpus. After a case review, the
five-judge panel voted unanimously to return
Pollycarpus to prison for 20 years, citing new
evidence. The long-awaited decision in the
Pollycarpus case removes a possible obstacle to
charging additional suspects, up to and including
senior intelligence officials, as law enforcement
officials had used the pending Supreme Court
decision as a justification to hold off on charging
new suspects.
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| Posters for 12th anniversary of Munir's
murder #menyimakmunir. |
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August 21,
2008
Muchdi Purwoprandjono
trial for abusing his powers and conspiring to
poison Munir begins.
September 15, 2008
U.S. Senator
Russell Feingold (D-WI)
remembers Munir, saying
“Those who committed human rights abuses must be
identified and brought to justice, both to provide a
sense of closure for victims who suffered these
atrocities as well as to set the important precedent
that human and political rights play an important
role in today's Indonesia.”
December 31,
2008
Muchdi Purwoprandjono
is acquitted by the South Jakarta District Court due
to lack of evidence and after key witnesses recanted
their accounts against him. Muchdi
files complaint
against activist who continues to call him
responsible for Munir’s death.
February 20, 2010
Indonesian
activist asks Obama to pressure Indonesia
on Munir Case. The activist who was participating in
a human rights summit in Washington, DC,
reportedly told Obama pay attention to the case
“because the settlement of this is very important to
the democratization process, law enforcement and law
reform, and protection of human rights in
Indonesia,”
March
2011
A coalition of human
rights organizations
submits
a request
to the Attorney General’s office to compel them to
release evidence including phone records that point
to Muchdi Purwoprandjono’s guilt in the case.
November 2012
UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights Navi Pillay
requests that the
Indonesian government re-open and re-investigate the
case. The Indonesian government ignores this
request.
July 31, 2013
The Human Rights
Committee, a UN monitoring body consisting of 18
independent experts, analyzes Indonesia’s human
rights record based on Indonesia’s report on
implementation of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights. The committee
recommends
Indonesia to take urgent action to halt repression
of human rights defenders and used Munir’s case as
an example.
October 7,
2013
Pollycarpus’
sentence
is reduced from 20 to 14 years by the Supreme Court.
May 2014
Presidential candidate
Jokowi Widodo submits a 41-page policy proposal
document to the National Election Commission (KPU)
before the Presidential Elections in Indonesia. The
document includes a call to bring justice to the
unresolved Munir case.
September 5,
2014
Human Rights First
urges the U.S. government to put pressure on
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to
hold the people responsible for Munir’s death
accountable.
September 6, 2014
On the 10th
anniversary of the murder of Munir, Secretary of
State John Kerry
issues a statement honoring Munir’s
life and work. He calls Munir “a
voice of conscience and clarity” and urges
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to solve the
Munir case and bring to justice those responsible.
Ten years after Munir’s death, the initial
investigation results have still not been publicly
released and only two low-level players have been
convicted of their involvement in the crime.
October 2014
Joko Widodo takes office. He
appoints
Hendropriyono as an adviser in his transition team.
Hendropriyono is a former general who was chair of
the state intelligence agency when Munir was
murdered. Leaks claim that he headed meetings
discussing Munir’s murder.
Hendropriyono
admits
"command responsibility" in Munir’s assassination.
In interviews with Allan Nairn, published on October
27, Hendropriyono agreed to stand trial for his
involvement in “three major atrocities the Munir
murder, the 1999 terror campaign that devastated
occupied East Timor, and the 1989 Talangsari
massacre.”
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AM Hendropriyono.
Photo:
Okezone |
|
November 29, 2014
Pollycarpus
leaves
prison on parole signed by Law and Human Rights
Minister Yasonna Laoly after serving two thirds of
his sentence. Pollycarpus is required to report to
parole offices and is prohibited from traveling
abroad.
KontraS
calls on President Widodo to overturn the order
paroling Pollycarpus saying it is within his power.
December 1, 2014
The National
Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM)
sets up a private legal team to determine
whether the assassination on Munir can be classified
as a crime against humanity. The team, comprising of
several top Komnas HAM officials, stated they would
spend up to three months assessing the case,
reviewing court documents and collection witness
information. If the murder were to meet the criteria
of a crime against humanity, a
pro-justicia
investigation would be recommended. Nothing came of
the investigation.
December
3, 2014
National Police Chief Gen. Sutarman says that the
police will not reopen the investigation of the 2004
assassination of Munir. On January 17,
President Joko Widodo
announces the dismissal of National Police Chief
Gen. Sutarman. The president did not state a reason,
but it is believed to be unrelated to the Munir
case.
April 11, 2015
The Hague
officially names a bicycle path after Munir.
The
path is located within a complex of streets named
after famous human rights campaigners such as Martin
Luther King and Nelson Mandela.
February 21,
2016
The
Omah Munir
(Munir Museum)
releases a human rights curriculum to be used in
junior high school classes. The museum was
established on Dec. 8, 2013 in Batu, East Java,
Munir’s hometown.
August 2016
Hendropriyono, allegedly involved in Munir’s murder,
is
appointed chair of the Indonesian
Justice and Unity Party, or PKPI.
recommendations to the international community
When President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stepped down
as president in 2014, his administration had failed
it own “test of its history.” Justice for Munir and
his family remains elusive as ever. In 2014, one of
current President Jokowi’s campaign slogans was:
“Jokowi is us.” Jokowi ran on his advocacy for the
poor and for human rights. If he truly believes in
human rights, he should hold those accountable for
Munir’s death and not allow those to live in
impunity. Instead Jokowi appointed Hendropriyono –
who allegedly led a meeting on the conspiracy to
murder Munir and was involved in other serious human
rights -- as part of his transition team.
To ensure justice for Munir
and improve the security of all Indonesian human
rights defenders, the international community
should:
1. Urge President Joko
Widodo to officially release the report of the
independent fact-finding team, as specified in the
presidential decree that created it.
2. Urge President Widodo to
establish a new independent commission with a
stronger mandate, in order to identify who planned
and ordered the killing of Munir. Emphasis should be
placed on holding State Intelligence Agency
officials accountable.
3. Urge President Widodo to
establish a police audit to determine why the police
have failed to investigate intelligence officials
implicated by the evidence to date.
4.
Urge the Indonesian Parliament to use its full
powers, including its right to question the
president, to push for meaningful progress in the
case.
5. Urge the U.S. government,
including Secretary of State John Kerry, to take an
active role in pursuing justice in this and other
Indonesia human rights cases.
East Timor and Indonesia
Action Network
www.etan.org;
etan@etan.org,
@etan009
See also
ETAN
Urges Justice for Munir
on 12th Anniversary of Assassination
(September 7, 2016)
Andreas Harsono/HRW:
New path in The Hague is a reminder of Indonesia’s
shame
(May 6, 2015)
Jakarta Post:
Pollycarpus gets Parole (November 28, 2014)
Breaking News: Gen. Hendropriyono Admits "Command
Responsibility" in Munir Assassination. Says
Talangsari Victims "Committed Suicide." Agrees to
Stand Trial for Atrocities; Legal Implications for
As'ad, Wiranto, CIA. Hendropriyono: Part 1 by
Allan Nairn (October 2, 2014)
Jakarta Globe:
Solving Munir’s Murder: A Test for Indonesia’s New
President
(September 9, 2014)
Amnesty International:
A decade of injustice – time to find Munir’s real
killers (September 8 2014)
Human Rights First: No
Justice Ten Years After Munir’s Assassination
(September 5, 2014)
Kompas: Commemorating
10 Years of Death Her husband, Munir's wife of Bill
Promises SBY (August 22, 2014)
Human Rights First:
Culture of Impunity in Indonesia Lives on Nine Years
After the Assassination of Munir (September
9, 2013)
Action Committee in
Solidarity with Munir (KASUM):
Summary of the Munir Case:
Prepared for Margaret Sekaggya, Special
Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders
(PDF)M (January 18, 2009)
Forum Asia:
Indonesian authorities fail to bring to justice the
masterminds behind Munir Said Thalib’s murder
(November 5, 2006)
BBC:
Munir murder conviction quashed
(October 4, 2006)
HRW:
Indonesia: A Year Later, Munir’s Killers Evade
Justice (September
7, 2005)
