The Jakarta Post, November 01, 2006
Police wary of UN rapporteur in Munir probe
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The National Police said Tuesday that they would not allow a United Nations
representative to take part in the investigation of the murder of human rights
campaigner Munir, despite it being an international case.
It is not clear whether the decision could mean that Philip Alston, the UN special
rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, will be denied entry to Indonesia.
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto said that the UN's involvement was out of the
question because it would undermine the country's law enforcement process.
"This is our sovereignty ... we want no foreigners interfering in the process," he said at
police headquarters.
He said assistance would be preferred in the form of technical aid, such as DNA
testing.
Alston's announcement that he would press Jakarta to refresh the investigation came
after his meeting with Munir's widow, Suciwati, in Washington two weeks ago.
Suciwati traveled to the U.S. for 10 days U.S. to seek support from international
human rights bodies and Congress.
Alston said he planned to come to Indonesia after writing to President Yudhoyono for
approval.
The police have said they are now working to gather new evidence, although they have
not said what they are looking for.
Munir died aboard a Garuda Indonesia flight to Amsterdam on Sept. 7, 2004. An
autopsy found an excessive level of arsenic in his body.
The initial investigation lead to allegations that officials at the State Intelligence
Agency (BIN) were involved. Only one person has ever been arrested, Garuda pilot
Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto.
Pollycarpus was originally sentenced to 14 years in prison for forging papers and the
murder of Munir. The sentence was recently reduced to two years by the Supreme
Court, which upheld the forgery charge but quashed the murder conviction, amid much
controversy.
During her trip to the U.S., Suciwati received an award from non-governmental
organization Human Rights First and spoke about her husband's murder.
She also met with several U.S. Congressmen, who, according Usman Hamid, an
activist friend of Suciwati and Munir, said they would push Congress to consider the
murder.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda recently said that such statements would not
affect Indonesia's international position or its relationship with the U.S.
Munir was an outspoken critic of the military, and at the time of his death had been
speaking out about corruption at the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security
Affairs while the President, then the coordinating minister, had been in charge.
He also defended the victims of human rights violations and set up the independent
National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence.
President Yudhoyono, who set up a fact-finding team to investigate Munir's murder,
publicly promised that he would ensure that the perpetrators were brought to justice,
but has remained silent since the Supreme Court issued its controversial verdict.
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