Asia Times, July 7, 2005
Arresting decay in Indonesia
By Gary LaMoshi
DENPASAR, Bali - Four presidents and seven years since the fall of Suharto's
authoritarian regime in Indonesia, his New Order acolytes are still cast as the dalang,
the unseen master controlling the characters in Javanese shadow puppet shows. A
presidential fact-finding team's investigation into the murder of Indonesia's foremost
human-rights activist provides fresh fodder for conspiracy theorists. Reaction to those
findings highlights the staying power of New Order remnants and the impact of the
cabal, regardless of whether it exists or not.
Munir Said Thalib, a leading critic of New Order abuses, died on a flight from Jakarta
to Amsterdam aboard Indonesia's flag carrier, Garuda, last September. (See Asia
Times Online, An Indonesian murder mystery, November 16, 2004) He was on his
way to the Netherlands to begin scholarship studies for a law degree. At age 38,
Munir had distinguished himself as the nation's most forceful crusader against New
Order brutality, from activists' mysterious disappearances to shootings of students to
massacres in East Timor.
Those activities made Munir the target of death threats and mob rampages against his
office. His opponents apparently found their mark aboard flight GA 974. Munir became
violently ill on the leg of the flight between Singapore and Amsterdam and died. The
autopsy in the Netherlands revealed a massive, fatal dose of arsenic in his stomach,
almost certainly fed to him during the flight.
Intelligence links
The fact-finding panel headed by a police general, featuring legal experts and
human-rights activists, delivered its report to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
on June 23. The team's six-month investigation found evidence that officials of the
National Intelligence Agency (BIN by its Indonesian acronym) were "involved in a
conspiracy to murder Munir." The 100-page report was not made public, but team
members revealed key findings.
The team corroborated leading suspect Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto's claims of links
to BIN. Pollycarpus, a Garuda pilot, rode on the Jakarta-Singapore leg of GA 974
under the pretence of a phony assignment and gave his business class seat to Munir.
The presidential panel found more than 30 phone calls between Pollycarpus and BIN
numbers before and after the September 7 murder. They also heard testimony about
Pollycarpus' previous involvement with BIN operatives. Most damning, the team said it
uncovered documents linked to intelligence officials outlining four scenarios for
murdering Munir, including poisoning him aboard an aircraft.
Yudhoyono, a general under Suharto but a PhD rather than a dalang, accepted the
team's report and reiterated his commitment to bring the murderers to justice.
Yudhoyono's government has fried some big fish on corruption charges, including a
provincial governor, but it has steered clear of military stalwarts. The team's findings,
however, chart a collision course with Abdullah Makhmud Hendropriyono, a New
Order army general who headed BIN at the time of Munir's murder.
Still more equal than others
Ironically, the limited fruits of reformasi give new ammunition to its enemies.
Separation of power restrictions designed to prevent the return of Suharto's virtual
dictatorship help his supporters remain above the law. For example, Hendropriyono
refused to honor three summonses from the fact-finding commission, claiming he
wasn't subject to the authority of a body created by "merely a presidential decree".
In a bit of doublespeak worthy of a George Orwell novel, Hendropriyono explained his
defiance of the team's summonses: "This way, I'm showing everyone that the
authorities can no longer summon anyone without good justification. The authorities
should no longer scare people in this new atmosphere of democracy."
Despite Indonesia's progress along the road to reformasi , including the military
renouncing its formal political role, the armed forces - the backbone of Suharto's
regime - remain beyond civilian control and most loyal to their own membership, past
and present. The military is linked to many unpunished crimes: the 1998 student
shootings and mob violence that led to Suharto's resignation, massacres in East
Timor, outbreaks of religious violence and radical Muslim militias in the Malukus and
Central Sulawesi. Discussions of these events usually focus on possible New Order
loyalist involvement, rather than on the devastating impact of the violence.
Jose Manuel Tesoro covered Indonesia for Asiaweek from 1997 to 2000 and wrote The
Invisible Palace (See Asia Times Online, Reporter's murder a shadow puppet farce,
September 11, 2004), examining the 1996 unsolved murder of a newspaper reporter in
Yogyakarta whose articles had angered a powerful local official. Tesoro says looking
for conspiracy theories may be a pointless distraction from what really matters.
"[T]he networks and habits formed during the New Order didn't go away just because
Suharto stepped down. The lack of respect for human life, the arrogance that comes
with feeling untouchable by the law, the knowledge that nearly anyone or anything can
be bought - all this still exists in many places in the elite," Tesoro, now a student at
Harvard Law School, observes. "You'll see it in the minister's son who thinks nothing
of shooting a waiter for a supposed slight. Or the corrupt judge or cop who thinks
bribery and extortion come with the job. None of this has to be centrally directed by
Suharto or some general or whatever, but the effects are still there and still corrosive."
Arresting decay
Munir was one of the people trying to stop the corrosion that resonates throughout
Indonesian society and beyond its borders. As important as solving Munir's murder is
for Indonesia's fledgling freedom, it's just as important for its economy, for its
Association of Southeast Asian Nations neighbors and the world at large. As the
world's fourth-most populous nation located on the strategic Malacca Strait and at the
borders of Asia, Indonesia has geopolitical weight along with its symbolic significance
as the largest predominantly Muslim democracy. Indonesia has the potential to
flourish or to spiral downward toward economic and social chaos, orchestrated or
otherwise.
Rule of law is what will tip the balance. Equality under the law is still far away when a
tourist carrying 4.2 kilograms of marijuana gets 20 years in jail - and prosecutors
appeal the sentence as too lenient - while Tommy Suharto gets 15 years for hiring
thugs to kill a judge who ruled against him in a corruption case - reduced to 10 years
by the Supreme Court within days of the Munir report, and with release likely after
serving less than four years. Of course, it's progress that the former president's son
was convicted at all.
Particularly in civil cases, verdicts remain for sale to the highest bidder. Police,
though vastly improved since their separation from the military, and prosecutors can
still be induced to harass for the right price. That makes Indonesia a ridiculous place
to invest for foreigners and Indonesians alike and explains a good deal about why
Indonesia's economy has failed to recover from the regional crisis of 1997-98.
Persistent poverty and powerlessness are dangerous conditions for any nation. In
Indonesia those circumstances are giving radical Islam growing support and
disproportionate political influence. The threat is more terrorist violence in Indonesia
and a terrorist breeding ground for attacks globally. To counteract that threat,
Indonesia and its friends need police, military, and especially intelligence services
that are trustworthy and pursuing the government's agenda. Regardless of whether
BIN is proven to have been behind Munir's murder, the findings to date suggest how
far it is from being a reliable partner for anyone outside its elite circle.
Rule of law was at the heart of Munir's work. It would be a fitting tribute, and perhaps
his most lasting contribution, if bringing his killer(s) to justice marked a turning point
for rule of law in Indonesia.
Gary LaMoshi has worked as a broadcast producer and print writer and editor in the
US and Asia. Longtime editor of investor rights advocate eRaider.com, he's also a
contributor to Slate and Salon.com.
Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved.
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