M Adi Fajri, Jakarta – The Solidarity Action Committee for Munir (KASUM) held a protest action to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the assassination of renowned human rights defender Munir Said Thalib in front of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) building in Jakarta on Monday December 8.
This action was attended by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and other civil society networks from various regions.
The protesters demanded that Komnas HAM speed up declaring the Munir's case as a gross human rights violation. They believe that the investigation process is progressing slowly and had not yet touched on the alleged involvement of the intellectual actors.
Kontras representative Andrie Yunus stated that accountability in the investigation was very important because Munir's murder was suspected to have used state facilities. He emphasised that this case should not be considered an ordinary criminal case.
"We are still demanding accountability in the investigation of the gross human rights violations in the Munir case", said Yunus.
He said state facilities was suspected of being used in the murder. According to Yunus, law enforcement has so far only touched perpetrators in the field and has not reached the main planners behind the murder.
"Munir Said Talib was murdered using state infrastructure, from BIN [the State Intelligence Agency] to Garuda Indonesia [Airlines], which was suspected of being involved in the murder conspiracy", he said.
Kontras emphasised that they have submitted a legal opinion to Komnas HAM in 2020 containing a recommendation that Munir's case be declared a gross human rights violation. They also demanded that Komnas HAM take responsibility for a follow-up investigation.
Two weeks ago, Komnas HAM was also said to have questioned Muchdi Purwopranjono, who was the deputy chief of BIN at the time of the murder. However, the protesters believe that the questioning was not sufficient to reveal all the involvement of the intelligence services.
"What about other BIN members who are strongly suspected of being intellectual actors in Munir's murder?", Yunus asserted.
They also highlighted a series of arrests of environmental activists and human rights defenders in recent months. This situation is considered to be the result of the unfinished Munir case and weak state guarantees.
Yunus said that the commemoration of International Day for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders on December 9 should be a momentum for the state to provide real guarantees of protection. He believes that the state is still failing to ensure that attacks against human rights defenders do not reoccur.
"The perpetrators were never brought to court, there was no legal responsibility from the state", said Yunus.
KASUM also asked Komnas HAM to reveal the latest information about the work of the ad hoc investigative team into the case. They believe that the public has the right to know the developments and obstacles in resolving a case that has dragged on for more than two decades.
The action closed with a demand that Komnas HAM immediately explain the progress of the investigation. The crowd stressed that resolving the Munir case was important to ensure the protection of human rights defenders and to prevent the recurrence of similar attacks.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "21 Tahun Kasus Munir, Komnas HAM Dituntut Buka Hasil Penyelidikan".]
Source: https://mediakaltim.com/21-tahun-kasus-munir-komnas-ham-dituntut-buka-hasil-penyelidikan/
