Ezra Sihite, Jakarta – US Secretary of State John Kerry has called for the protection of all who work for peace, democracy, and human rights around the world, on the 10th anniversary of the murder of renowned Indonesian human rights activist Munir Said Thalib.

In a State Department press release issued on Saturday in Washington, DC, Kerry said Munir spent his life working to make his country more democratic, more free, and more humane, and that he was assassinated because people feared he might succeed.

Kerry's praise for the Indonesian human rights activist came on the eve of the anniversary of his Sept. 7, 2004, death on board a flight to Amsterdam.

Munir was poisoned by a Garuda Indonesia pilot widely believed to be an intelligence agent using arsenic-laced coffee at Singapore's Changi International Airport during a stopover from Jakarta. He died later in the air above Hungary.

Kerry said that justice for Munir's death had still not been served. "Full accountability for all those allegedly involved remains elusive," he said.

Kerry said that in 2004, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recognized that the credible resolution of Munir's murder case would be a key test of Indonesian democracy. "That is still true today. We support all efforts to bring those who ordered Munir assassinated to account," he said.

He described Munir as a voice of conscience and clarity, inspiring a generation of activists, scholars and public servants who today are transforming Indonesia. "So many today, including his widow Suciwati, serve his memory by carrying on his mission," Kerry said.

Teuku Faizasyah, Yudhoyono's spokesman for international affairs, said he understand Kerry's sympathy for Munir but denied that the Yudhoyono administration had done nothing to solve the case.

"The case can be reviewed if there are opportunities to do it in the future, for example with new evidence [implicating] others. But that doesn't mean the current administration didn't try to solve the case," he said on Monday. He added that with the perpetrator jailed, Yudhoyono had done what he was supposed to do.

Three people were convicted for their roles in Munir's death: Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, an off-duty Garuda pilot and suspected State Intelligence Agency (BIN) operative who spiked Munir's drink with arsenic; and two accomplices who played minor roles in arranging for Pollycarpus to be on the same flight as Munir.

But those who masterminded the murder, giving Pollycarpus his orders, remain beyond the reach of law enforcement. And activists blame this travesty on the reluctance shown by the Yudhoyono administration, which came into office the same year that Munir died, to bring those responsible to justice.

"At the beginning of his rule, SBY promised to resolve [Munir's] case and even said that it would be 'the test of our history,'" said Choirul Anam, the executive secretary of the Solidarity Action Committee for Munir (Kasum). "But now at the end of his administration the case is not fully resolved."

After two months of intense pressure from human rights activists and international media, Yudhoyono formed an independent fact-finding team on Nov. 23, 2004, to monitor the police investigation into the case and conduct its own inquiry.

Witnesses on board the flight noted Pollycarpus was seated next to Munir on the flight from Jakarta to Singapore, where it picked up more passengers. The passenger manifest indicated Pollycarpus disembarked in Singapore and didn't continue on to Amsterdam. But before leaving Changi airport, he was seen offering Munir a cup of coffee, which was spiked with arsenic.

Munir's health deteriorated from that point on. He died on board the plane hours before landing in Amsterdam.

The fact-finding team found Pollycarpus had communicated extensively with Muchdi Purwoprandjono, then-deputy BIN chief, prior to Munir's death. In court testimony, several intelligence officials said Pollycarpus often visited the BIN headquarters and met behind closed doors with Muchdi. In at least one of those meetings, Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono, the BIN chief at the time, was also present.

Pollycarpus is now serving a 14-year prison term after the Central Jakarta District Court found him guilty on Dec. 1, 2005, of murdering Munir.

The South Jakarta District Court, however, acquitted Muchdi of all charges on Dec. 31, 2008, despite the judges' ruling in Pollycarpus' trial that Pollycarpus acted on Muchdi's instructions. Police never questioned Hendropriyono for his alleged involvement in Munir's killing.

On Sunday, a new generation of socially conscious Indonesians took up the late Munir's fight through performance and visual arts. Munir and his lifelong fight for justice became a muse for musicians, poets and performers, pantomime artist, graphic designers and others who commemorated his death anniversary.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/us-secretary-state-honors-slain-activist-munir-said-thalib/