Maryadi, Jakarta – A visit by Munir’s widow, Suciwati to the United States on October 14-20 has produced results. The United Nations, the US Congress and the Senate have declared their support to quickly find Munir’s murderer.

At a press conference on Saturday October 28 at the offices of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) offices on Jl. Borobudur in Jakarta, a member of the Solidarity Committee for Munir (Kasum), Usman Hamid, announced that the UN Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial Executions, Professor Philips Alston, is prepared to become involved in investigating the Munir case. The first step will be to send a letter to the Indonesian government asking for the Munir case to be quickly resolved.

Next, members of US Congress and Senate are ready to again write to the Indonesian government about the importance for both countries of solving the Munir case. A letter will be send before the end of the year. Support has also come from the US government through the Acting Secretary of State, Scott Marciel. Hamid said that aside from the US, support has also come from the Netherlands, which is ready to cooperate to help resolve the Munir case.

Munir’s widow, Suciwati, has warmly greeted these expressions of support. “This convinces [me] that the steps I have taken [were right]. It turns out there are many who support [me]”, she said accusingly. Suciwati also warned the Indonesian government not to play around in investigating Munir’s murder saying she hopes that Indonesia can find a resolution to the case without going through the International Court of Justice. (mar/mar)

[Translated by James Balowski.]