Tony Hotland and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The unresolved murder of noted human rights campaigner Munir continues to get international attention, while his widow, Suciwati, is preparing to address the United Nations Human Rights Commission about the case.
United States Ambassador to Indonesia B. Lynn Pascoe said Indonesia should bring Munir's killers to justice, after the acquittal of the only suspect in the case by the Supreme Court last week. Pascoe made the remarks in a meeting Wednesday with Suciwati.
"The United States regrets that there is currently no one who has been held accountable for that crime," the embassy said in a statement as quoted by AP. It said Washington would encourage Indonesia to vigorously pursue resolution of the case.
Suciwati is scheduled to fly Thursday to the United States to visit the UN and lobby members of the US Senate and House to pressure Indonesia to solve her husband's murder. The trip is being facilitated by the New York-based organization, Human Rights First.
The Supreme Court last week quashed the murder conviction of Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, citing insufficient evidence. The court cut his prison term from 14 years to two years, allowing his conviction on a related forgery charge to stand.
The verdict stirred controversy, particularly since two lower courts had found Pollycarpus guilty. No-one else has been implicated in the Sept. 7, 2004, murder, which took place aboard a Garuda Indonesia flight to Amsterdam. Pollycarpus used the forged document to board the plane and subsequently exchanged seats with Munir.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would not publicly announce the results of a presidential fact-finding team in the case, despite pressure from former team members to do so, his spokesman said Wednesday. "Why bother? Everybody already knows about the contents of the team's report, so why would the President make an announcement?" said Andi Mallarangeng.
He said there was no need for the President to publicly comment about the case because he had entrusted National Police chief Gen. Sutanto to revitalize the investigation. "How Sutanto puts the order into action is up to him. So if critics are speaking out now about the process, ask Sutanto about his choices," Andi said.
The fact-finding team concluded that the murder was the result of a conspiracy involving former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) members. During his life, Munir was a staunch critic of the armed forces and intelligence services for widespread human rights abuses.
The fact-finding team has said the President must announce its findings because he established the team and publicly endorsed the probe.
The Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the two largest major parties, voiced serious concerns over Pollycarpus' exoneration. But they have not yet decided whether to call for a special inquiry into the case by summoning those allegedly involved, particularly former BIN officers.
"We have no plan to bring the case to a House plenary session to seek approval for the use of an inquiry or interpellation rights to pressure the government to carry out a thorough probe of the case," said Happy Bone Zulkarnain, secretary of the Golkar Party faction.
Similarly, Trimedya Panjaitan of the PDI-P faction, who heads the House Commission on legal affairs, human rights and domestic security, said there was no plan to raise the issue soon due to conflicting political interests among members.
However, he asked Suciwati and former members of the fact-finding team to hand over the team's findings to the commission soon for discussion.
Soeripto, a legislator with the Prosperous Justice Party, said his faction would seek political support from major factions for a House inquiry into the case.