Well-known Indonesian human rights campaigner Munir died onboard a flight to the Netherlands on September 7. He was 38 years old. The following statement was issued by Tapol, the British-based Indonesia human rights campaign organisation.
Tapol mourns the death of Munir, a fearless activist. The death of Indonesia's most outstanding human rights activist, Munir, while still in the prime of life, is a profound loss to the NGO community, civil society and the people of Indonesia.
Munir stands out as a shining example of a man who confronted the forces of evil without fear of the consequences, setting an example to many. His contributions to the cause of human rights in Indonesia are incalculable.
He took up the cause of workers' rights when still a young lawyer in East Java, where he studied workers' conditions and came out in their support. This led him repeatedly to pour scorn on members of the political elite who felt intimidated by actions of workers which they saw as "acts of anarchy". He joined the ranks of LBH, the Legal Aid Institute, the foremost human rights organisation at the time, first in Surabaya, and later in Jakarta.
In the closing months of the Suharto era, he took up the cause of dozens of activists who had disappeared in suspicious circumstances and helped to restore many of them to freedom. This was a direct challenge to state violence which had held Indonesia in its grip for more than 30 years. To consolidate this work, he co-founded Kontras, the Commission for the Disappeared and the Victims of Violence, which became a beacon for the human rights movement, challenging the impunity which protected and still protects, members of TNI, the Indonesian armed forces.
After the collapse of the New Order in May 1998 when opponents of Suharto raised the banned of reformasi, he frequently exposed people who spoke in favour of reform. "They speak of reformasi while still harbouring the ideas of the New Order in their heads", he once said.
His activities provoked the fury of thugs acting on behalf of the military and often became the target of brutal physical attack. The headquarters of Kontras in Jakarta was a frequent target of gangs bent on intimidating its activists. The office was several times subjected to abuse and the threat of destruction. Witnesses report that on such occasions, the marauders made no secret of the fact that they were looking for Munir. On one occasion in 2001, his family home in Malang, East Java became the target of an intended bomb attack while he was there on vacation with his wife and son.
In 2000, he was given the Right Livelihood Award in Sweden, regarded as the alternative Nobel prize, "for his courage and dedication in fighting for human rights and the civilian control of the military in Indonesia". In the same year, Kontras was given the Yap Thiam Hien award, the highest award in Indonesia for services to human rights. He was named "Man of the Year" by the Muslim periodical Ummat.
At a time when the horror being visited on the people of East Timor under Indonesian occupation was a taboo subject in Indonesia, Munir visited the country several times and spoke out on his return about conditions there. In 1999, he was appointed member of the Commission to Investigate Human Rights Violations in East Timor (KPPHAM) set up by the National Human Rights Commission. The commission's report in 2000, for which he was largely responsible, led to judicial investigations into the conduct of senior army officers, including the notorious General Wiranto.
As a person, Munir was modest and unassuming, a devout Muslim, unaffected by the honours heaped upon him. He travelled everywhere in Jakarta by motorbike until friends warned him that this exposed him more easily to physical attack. He always had time to speak to and listen to people from across the social spectrum.
The human rights community in Indonesia has lost a devoted advocate whose contributions will live on in the annals of Indonesian history, long after those who feared his exposures have entered the ranks of ignominy.
From Green Left Weekly, September 15, 2004.
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