• helped Munir’s wife Suciwati gain access to the autopsy report prepared by the Dutch Forensic Institute.

• convinced the Indonesian government to create an official fact-finding team.

• pressured Garuda Airlines to cooperate with the team after it was implicated in a complex plot to kill Munir.

Each of these steps helped move the struggle for accountability forward. The fact-finding team handed its final report to President Yudhoyono on June 23, concluding that intelligence officials were most likely involved in Munir’s death.

On Tuesday, September 7, the first witnesses appeared in the murder trial of pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, the only person charged so far with the activist’s death. Outside the courthouse, protestors in Munir masks held aloft a banner reading “Uncover the masterminds – we don’t need scapegoats!”

However, neither the fact-finding team nor the intelligence agency was ever mentioned in the indictment, raising fears that powerful men thought to be behind the murder will go unpunished.

Action is urgently needed. Please call on the Indonesian Government to release the report of the fact-finding team immediately. Indonesians can then debate its findings and act on its recommendations, including the creation of a commission with a strong mandate and the full backing of the president.

For more information see Human Rights First’s new White Paper in the investigation and trial.

Sample Letter:

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Office of the President
Istana Merdeka
Jakarta 10110
Indonesia
c/o Embassy of Indonesia: (202) 775–5365

Dear President Yudhoyono:

When you created a fact-finding team last December to investigate the murder of Munir, your spokesman stated, “The President will do whatever it takes to solve this case.” You appeared to follow the investigation closely, meeting periodically with the team to discuss its progress. Now, on the one year anniversary of Munir’s death, your action is needed.

I am closely observing the trial of Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto. While the trial has just begun and should be allowed to run its course, there are already worrying signs. The police and the prosecutors have not included the findings of the fact-finding team you created anywhere in the dossiers submitted to the court.

This omission raises fears that powerful men thought to be behind the murder will go unpunished. Even Pollycarpus’ prosecution is at risk, as his motive and means are being challenged by the defense in the absence of the evidence of his links to the intelligence agency.
We have watched as Indonesia held three successful national elections last year and then carried out local elections in 2005. However, if the murder of Munir is allowed to go unpunished, gains in democracy and human rights will surely be at risk.

As a first step, I urge you to release the report of the fact-finding team so that its conclusions and recommendations can be debated openly. Presidential Decree No. 111 of 2004 states that “It is the government that will subsequently announce the results of the team’s investigation to the public.” I would then urge the Indonesian government to begin acting on the recommendations of the team. Most importantly, the government should create a new commission with a strong mandate and your full backing to explore the evidence wherever it may lead.

Munir devoted his life to finding the truth and exposing abuses of power. Now his own death is the subject of a fact-finding report, and it is essential that your government fulfill its pledge and release it as planned.

Thank you for your attention to this most urgent matter,