Munir, one of Indonesia's most respected and courageous – yet also most humble – human rights activists, passed away Tuesday (7/9/04), apparently due to cirrhosis of the liver, while on a flight from Jakarta to the Netherlands, where he had planned to pursue a masters degree in law. He was 38.
Diminutive in stature and soft-spoken, the mustachioed Munir was widely regarded as the most fearless and dedicated member of Indonesia's younger generation of human rights activists, who had zealously campaigned against the state-sponsored violence of former dictator Suharto's military regime.
He is best known as the founder of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), which was formed in response to the abduction of two dozen pro-democracy activists over late 1997 and early 1998. Many of the activists are still missing, presumed killed by their alleged military abductors.
Following the fall of Suharto in May 1998, Munir remained at the forefront of efforts to end political violence by promoting peace and reconciliation.
In June 2002, Munir and 16 other prominent human rights advocates founded the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial) to oppose the state's intimidation of and violence against civil society.
Munir's friends in the human rights and legal aid community were shocked by the news of his death, as he had appeared in good health on September 3 at a farewell party in West Jakarta.
But Imparsial researcher Batara Ibnu Reza on Tuesday said Munir, a heavy smoker, was last year admitted to Jakarta's St Carolus Hospital and diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver.
Many people think cirrhosis of the liver is synonymous with chronic alcoholism, but Munir was certainly not a boozer. There are in fact many other causes of cirrhosis of the liver, including chronic hepatitis (B, C and D), inherited diseases, diabetes and blocked bile ducts.
Forensic scientists point out that certain drugs and toxins can be administered as poisons to cause fatal cirrhosis of the liver.
Reza said Munir's doctor had ordered him to follow a strict diet and reduce his workload. "But as we know, Munir was a hard worker and very reticent about going to the doctor," he was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal.
"Several of Munir's friends who took him to the airport last night were not suspicious about the state of his health. His was in good condition at that time. But at 11am today the Imparsial office received a phone call informing of us of his death," he said.
Munir is survived by his wife Suciwati and two children Sultan Alif Allende and Syifa Su Kyii Larasati. His children are named after some his idols. Sultan Alif stands for the Prophet Muhammad, who emancipated slaves and fought for civil rights. Allende is from the Chilean democracy leader Salvador Allende, who was assassinated by dictator August Pinochet's forces in a US-backed military coup. The daughter's middle name is from Myanmar's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Larasati is the revolutionary heroine of story by acclaimed Indonesian author Pramoedya Ananta Toer.
Brief biography
Munir was born on December 8, 1965, in Malang, East Java province. His relatively affluent parents, both of Arabic descent, raised him to be a studious Muslim.
He studied law at Malang's Brawijaya University, graduating in 1989. It was while researching his thesis on labor issues that his interest in human rights began to develop. Witnessing the difficult lives and economic exploitation of farmers and laborers, he was inspired to become a volunteer with the local branch of the Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), the country's main advocacy group for the poor and powerless.
Munir later joined the LBH branch in Surabaya, the capital of East Java, despite the real dangers of working for such an organization during the Suharto era.
In late 1995, he was appointed director of the LBH office in Semarang, the capital of Central Java. He held the position for only three months before being sent to Jakarta in 1996 to work for the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation Institute (YLBHI), which is responsible for the coordination of LBH offices across the country.
After the military and its civilian militia proxies launched a deadly attack on the Jakarta headquarters of then-opposition figurehead Megawati Sukarnoputri in July 1996, Munir started to change his focus from labor issues to state-sponsored violence.
YLBHI joined forces with 11 other non-government organizations to investigate human rights violations in the period surrounding the 1997 general election and 1998 presidential election. Representatives of this coalition of NGOs officially founded Kontras in March 1998, by which time at least 24 pro-democracy activists had abducted for their opposition to the Suharto regime.
With Munir as the coordinator of its working committee, Kontras intrepidly exposed the cases of the abducted activists and campaigned vigorously for the perpetrators to be unmasked and punished. It also carried out political education programs to raise public awareness of the connection between the military's sociopolitical role and state violence.
Nine of the abducted activists eventually resurfaced with harrowing accounts of torture and abuse they suffered at the hands of their military abductors.
In December 1998, 11 Kopassus personnel were court-martialled for their role in the abduction of the nine released activists, while Kopassus chief Prabowo Subianto, who was Suharto's son-in-law, was discharged from the armed forces.
Much to the outrage of Kontras, authorities refused to charge any soldiers over the abduction of the other 15 activists. One of them was found dead, while the remaining 14 were presumed to have been murdered and their bodies either incinerated or dumped at sea.
On December 4, 2001, Munir resigned from YLBHI, expressing disappointment over the organization's failure to implement internal reforms and democratization. He said the dominance of YLBHI's board of trustees had emasculated efforts initiated by himself and board of directors head Bambang Widjojanto to democratize the foundation.
Often under attack
Munir's work made him many enemies and he often received death threats from anonymous telephone callers. In 2000 a grenade exploded outside the Kontras office, damaging several cars but causing no injuries.
On August 20, 2001, while Munir visiting his parents in Malang, a bomb was placed outside the family's house. After receiving an anonymous phone call, Munir found the bomb in a plastic bag placed outside his mother's room and alerted police, who later defused the explosive. Also in 2001, a car belonging to Munir's colleague Jhonson Panjaitan was shot at outside the Kontras office.
On March 13, 2002, an angry mob attacked the Kontras office, smashing eight computers and four printers, and looting boxes of food and water that were to have been donated to flood victims. Members of the mob criticized Kontras for attempting to have former military chief Wiranto prosecuted for massacres of pro-democracy activists.
On May 27, 2003, the Kontras office was again attacked by thugs, who accused Munir of being unpatriotic because of his criticism of the deadly military offensive in Aceh province.