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Justice is owed to not only Munir, but also posterity
We owe a grave debt of justice to the late activist as well as to posterity, both his and ours, to absolve our collective sin against human rights.
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Suciwati, the widow of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, holds a mask resembling her late husband during the Kamisan (Thursdays) silent protest on Sept. 6, 2018 at Merdeka Palace in Central Jakarta. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
“Our homework is to resolve past human rights violations, including the Munir case. This must be resolved too.”
So said President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo after a meeting with a group of legal experts and human rights activists in September 2016. Five years since he made that statement and 17 years on since Munir’s murder on Sept. 7, 2004, there has still been no progress in completing that “homework” and bringing to justice those responsible for the extrajudicial killing of the renowned rights activist.
Munir’s importance to promoting human rights in Indonesia cannot be overstated. He was a giant who has continued to inspire and influence rights defenders and activists across the country, if not the globe, even after his death.
Munir founded the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and played a significant role in uncovering evidence of human rights violations in Aceh, Papua and East Timor (present-day Timor Leste) that were perpetrated by members of the security forces and the military. He also campaigned staunchly for trying high-ranking officials for alleged human rights abuses. In September 1999, he was appointed to the national Commission to Investigate Human Rights Violations in East Timor (KPP HAM).
These and other achievements highlight the great loss Munir’s death incurred for the promotion and protection of human rights in Indonesia. His murder robbed Indonesia of a stout defender of human rights who would have been at the forefront of many rights issues to come, had he lived. Yet, with every day that goes by without a clear resolution to Munir’s case, the risk increases that the abhorrent nature of his extrajudicial killing will fade in the public consciousness, particularly among the younger generation.
Make no mistake: Munir’s death was not a random killing, but an assassination carried out by state actors.
Even before his death by arsenic poisoning, a series of threats had been made against his life. In 2002 and 2003, the Kontras office where Munir worked was attacked by mobs that destroyed office equipment and took files on ongoing human rights investigations. In August 2003, a bomb exploded just outside his home in Jakarta.
