7th September, 2018

AFAD Remembers its Former Chairperson Munir Said Thalib on his Death Anniversary and Seeks Justice for Him

Today, the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) fondly remembers its former Chairperson, Munir Said Thalib, who was killed on this day, fourteen years back in 2004. Munir was one of the most prominent human rights defenders in , who served as the Chairperson of AFAD from August 2003 till is death.

Munir was a fearless and brave human rights defender who openly criticized the Indonesian government for its crack down on human rights activists that led to hundreds of disappearances during Suharto’s regime in 1997/98. He played an instrumental role in establishing the involvement of the Indonesian military in the human rights violations in , and Timor-Leste. In 1998, Munir founded the Commission for the Disappeared Persons and Victims of Violence, also known as KontraS. He was a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, 2000. Posthumously, he was awarded the Train Foundation's , which recognizes "extraordinary heroes of conscience” and Human Rights Defender Award by Human Rights First in 2006.

Munir’s work on human rights earned him many opponents who wanted to sabotage the work he was building on. He received numerous death threats as a consequence of his work. In 2002 and 2003, the office of KontraS was raided by the government. In 2003, a bomb was hurled at this house, although it caused no damage. But Munir wanted to constantly improve his understanding of human rights work and thus he took admission in Utrecht University in the Netherlands for a degree in International Law and Human Rights.

Munir died while on-board a flight to Amsterdam in the Indonesian state owned Garuda Airlines. Munir’s post mortem report stated that he was killed of arsenic poisoning. A fact finding team was constituted by then then Indonesian President Yudhoyono, which indicted senior intelligence officers and Garuda Airlines officials. The report of this fact finding team was never made public. President Jokowi made promises of ensuring justice to Munir and his family but the promise was never fulfilled. It is important to note that in the month of his death, Munir was supposed to participate in the final session of the UN Inter-sessional Working Group to Draft a Legally- Binding Normative Instrument for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. Instead, because of his brutal assassination, on that same month that the final text of the Convention was adopted by the former UN Commission on Human Rights, the Article 24.7 of the Convention, providing victims’ rights to form associations, is dedicated in his honour.

Fourteen years have passed since the murder of Munir but justice remains elusive. The successive Indonesian governments have made no effort to punish the killers of Munir. In fact, in 2008, General Muchdi, Purwopranjono one of the officials of the state intelligence agency was acquitted of assisting Munir’s assassination.

20 years have passed since the United Nations adopted the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. But the situation of human rights defenders has not improved. In fact, human rights defenders work in highly precarious situations that worsen with each passing day. In 2013, Adilur Rahman Khan, Secretary of Odhikar, a member organization of AFAD from Bangladesh, was picked up by persons claiming to be from the Detective Branch (DB) of Police, for publishing a fact finding report on extrajudicial killings committed by Bangladeshi security forces during their crackdown on a religious group. In 2016, Khurram Parvez, the Chairperson of AFAD was detained under the Public Safety Act for 76 days, to prevent him from attending the 33rd Session of the UNHRC. The patterns of persecution of human rights defenders remain the same and there is no check on it.

AFAD urges the Indonesian government to ensure that the murders of Munir are brought to justice and to ensure that human rights defenders are able to carry on their work of protecting and promoting human rights without fear and hindrances.

KHURRAM PARVEZ MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO Chairperson Secretary-General