JUSTICE FOR MUNIR! JUSTICE FOR ALL!

Press Statement on MUNIR's 1st Death Anniversary

Today, September 7, 2005 is exactly one year after Munir passed away. He died on a Garuda plane on his way to Netherlands from Jakarta. The official cause of his death was poisoning due to an extreme amount of arsenic found in his body. The death of Munir was politically motivated.
His assassination is a threat to human rights and democracy in Indonesia.

Although the investigation and judicial process on Munir case has been conducted, it is still far from complete. Up until now, the trial has only identified perpetrators but not the masterminds who remain at large. It is important that both direct perpetrators and the masterminds should be punished to give justice to Munir, his family, the Indonesian people and the international human rights community he served.

Therefore, to commemorate Munir’s 1st Death Anniversary, we would like to repeat our call to Indonesian government to act on this case judiciously. The Indonesian government should ensure a fair, impartial and independent trial on the case of Munir. The whole truth should be made known and justice meted out.

This treacherous act of murder to a human rights defender should be resolved at the soonest possible time. Justice delayed is justice denied. The government is seen to manipulate this case through the passage of time and might be shelved and forgotten. But the human rights community in Indonesia and the rest of the world remain vigilant. The crime committed against Munir will never be forgotten. This utter violation of the basic right to life of active human rights defender of Indonesia is despicable. The cycle of impunity going on in Indonesia should be put to an end, once and for all.

Today, we call the support and sympathy of the Korean public to help us strengthen and reinforce the pressure to the Indonesian government to act on Munir’s case. The City of Gwangju is famous for its ideals of democracy and human rights. We believe that the spirit of the May 18 Gwangju Uprising is alive and could be spread out to other places such as Indonesia where violations of human rights is rampant. We hope that it will inspire us in our struggle in achieving our own dream of democracy.

We will be distributing cards to be signed at strategic places in Gwangju City where people usually gather. Please show your support by signing those cards. We will send all of the signed cards to the President of Indonesia, Mr. Bambang Soesilo Yudhoyono to inform him that the Korean people are one with us in the demand to give Justice to Munir!

Justice for Munir! Justice For All!

Gwangju, September 7, 2005

IKOHI – Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared, Indonesia
KontraS – Commission for Disappearance and Victims of Violence, Indonesia

SUPPORTED BY :
The May 18 Memorial Foundation, Republic of Korea
COM – Community Organizers Multiversity, Philippines
Advocacy Forum, Nepal
Peking University Human Rights Research Center, China

(press statement made by Agnes Gurning of IKOHI)

Pictures of the campaign:


Chonam University















Downtown, In front of Post Office (Close to the Provincial Hall)



















The Magnificient Team all smiles after a hard day's work and they will keep demanding: JUSTICE for MUNIR, JUSTICE for ALL !