Jakarta – The international community continues to focus on the Indonesian government’s handling of the murder of human rights activist Munir. The Indonesian government, particularly the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), needs to accelerate the handling of the case by submitting a judicial review of the Supreme Court’s appeal decision.

This was conveyed by Solidarity Action Committee for Munir (Kasum) Executive Secretary Choirul Anam in Jakarta on Tuesday March 9. Anam said that the Executive Director of the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) Rafendi Djamin will be presenting a report to the United National Human Rights Commission hearing this week. “[We] will be submitting developments in the Munir case”, he said.

According to Anam, who is also the HRWG’s deputy executive director, in mid February 2010, Djamin met with US President Barack Obama in Washington. “Rafendi asked President Obama to pay attention to the Munir murder case because the case is important as part of the process of democratisation and law enforcement in Indonesia”, he said.

As reported, Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Coordinator Usman Hamid was at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday afternoon. Hamid said he was there to hand over key materials related to the Munir case that would be used in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s discussions with President Obama in late March in Jakarta (Kompas, 9/3).

The Supreme Court’s appeal decision, said Anam was to reject the request for an appeal by the AGO. This means that the Supreme Court’s appeal decision was the same as that of the South Jakarta District Court, which had earlier decided to release former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy Muchdi Purwoprandjono.

Anam added that during a meeting with Jimly Asshiddiqie from the Presidential Advisory Board last week, the HRWG proposed three options in handing the Munir case, namely a judicial review with new evidence and Supreme Court jurisprudence, that the judicial process be reviewed in accordance with recommendations by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) and the a new investigation be conducted by the police. “Pak Jimly agreeded that the three options are more logical,” he said. (FER)

[Translated by James Balowski.]