Open letter to the new Minister for Justice and Human Rights -
Criminal defama
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Paul Barber
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Nov 03, 2009 05:18 PST
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Please find below an open letter to the new
Minister for Justice and Human Rights from some
members of the UK-based Indonesia NGO Forum and
Watch Indonesia from Germany expressing concerns
about recent criminal defamation proceedings
against Indonesian human rights defender Usman
Hamid. See: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA21/019/2009/en
Dear Minister,
RE: CRIMINAL DEFAMATION PROCEEDINGS AGAINST
INDONESIAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER, USMAN HAMID
The undersigned members of the Indonesia NGO
Forum and Watch Indonesia from Germany would like
to take this opportunity to welcome you in your
new position and bring to your attention some of
our recent concerns regarding the situation of
human rights defenders in Indonesia.
The NGO Forum is an informal network of UK-based
organisations that work on issues ranging from
human rights and development to the environment
and humanitarian relief in Indonesia and
Timor-Leste. This letter does not necessarily
reflect the views of any other organisations that participate in the Forum.
We would like to bring to your urgent attention
the case of a prominent human rights defender in
Indonesia, Usman Hamid, the Coordinator of the
Commission for Disappeared and Victims of
Violence (better known by its acronym, KontraS).
Mr Hamid is the subject of criminal defamation
proceedings due to his involvement in the
campaign for justice for his late colleague,
Munir Said Thalib (known as Munir), who was
murdered by poisoning on 7 September 2004.
We urge you to ensure that the criminal
proceedings which have started against Mr Hamid
do not lead in law or in fact to a reversal of
the rule of law in Indonesia whereby human rights
defenders face attacks on their important work,
including criminal defamation suits, while those
responsible for gross human rights violations,
particularly at levels of command responsibility, escape accountability.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono referred to
the Munir case as ‘a test of our history’ in
the context of Indonesia’s democratic reform
process and appointed Mr Hamid in December 2004
to the independent Fact-Finding Team he set up to
investigate Munir’s murder. Although two people
have now been convicted of involvement in
Munir’s death, credible allegations have been
made that those responsible for the murder at the
highest levels are still at large.
Muchdi Purwoprandjono (known as Muchdi), a former
deputy of the state intelligence agency, was
acquitted of charges of soliciting and assisting
in the murder of Munir on 31 December 2008. But
his trial was criticized by local and
international human rights groups as violating
international standards of fairness and due
process. In a report submitted to the UN Special
Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights
Defenders in 2009, the Action Committee in
Solidarity with Munir, KASUM, said Muchdi’s
trial was “marked by the systematic retraction
of prior sworn statements by key witnesses, and
by the presence of organized groups seeking to
influence the trial”. It concluded that “the
Indonesian justice system is not yet able to
effectively prosecute senior officials with
powerful connections, due to weak prosecution
capacity and witness intimidation” and that
Muchdi’s acquittal “was a setback…for the
enforcement of human rights and the protection of
other human rights defenders more broadly”.
Following his acquittal, Muchdi announced that he
would file criminal defamation suits, which
formally carry a maximum sentence of over five
years imprisonment, against Mr Hamid and three
other human rights defenders, including Munir’s
widow Suciwati, who gave testimony during the
trial. To date, Muchdi has filed a complaint to
the police only about Mr Hamid, possibly in part
because according to media reports he strongly
criticised the verdict outside the court and
asserted that Muchdi was a murderer. On 3
September 2009, Mr Hamid received a summons and
on 9 September 2009, he reported to the Jakarta
Police Headquarters. The police investigation on his case is pending.
The rule of law is essential for any democracy.
International law recognizes limitations to the
right to freedom of expression as provided for in
Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, which Indonesia ratified in
2006. But these restrictions must be demonstrably
necessary for and proportionate to certain
permissible purposes. The permissible purposes
for such restrictions include respect of the
rights or reputations of others. However, it is
well established under international law that
public officials must tolerate more, rather than
less, criticism than private individuals.
Indonesia’s criminalization of defamation,
carrying as it does the possibility of
imprisonment formally for over five years of
human rights defenders and others, is a
disproportionate restriction of the right to freedom of expression.
We are concerned that the Indonesian legal system
is being used to intimidate human rights
defenders instead of being used to ensure that
they are able to carry out their important work
in line with the United Nations General Assembly
Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and their
right to freedom of expression guaranteed by the Indonesian Constitution.
In addition to Mr Hamid, at least six other
Indonesian human rights defenders, Emerson Yuntho
and Illian Deta Arta Sari, from Indonesia
Corruption Watch; Gatot from The Commission of
National Solidarity (KSN, Komisi Solidaritas
Nasional); Suryani from Glasnot Ponorogo; Dadang
Iskandar from Gunung Kidul Corruption Watch; and
Itce Julinar from Angkasa Pura Trade Union
currently face criminal defamation charges as a result of their work.
The investigation instigated by Muchdi marks the
second time Usman Hamid is facing criminal
defamation charges in his campaign for justice
for Munir. These public attacks on Mr Hamid five
years after the death of Munir send another
chilling reminder to human rights defenders in
Indonesia that their work is under threat and
that impunity for those who are responsible for
past human rights violations, including torture,
murder, and enforced disappearances of human
rights defenders, persists after a decade of reform.
Following her visit to Indonesia in June 2007,
the UN Special Representative of the
Secretary-General on the situation of Human
Rights Defenders, Hina Jilani, said she was
“disturbed at the large number of prosecution
[sic] of human rights defenders aimed at their
harassment for conducting activities that are
legitimately a part of their function for the
defence of human rights”. She recommended that
“legislation and procedures be instituted to
prevent such prosecutions”. She further
recommended a number of other measures that would
lead to greater protection for human rights defenders.
Ms Jilani expressed particular interest in the
Munir case. She reminded the Government that
“this case is generally seen as a test of the
Government’s will to protect defenders in the
country” and that “any lapses in the
conclusion of this case would make all human
rights defenders throughout the country
insecure.” She called on the Government to
release the report of the Fact-Finding team into
Munir’s murder and act on its recommendations.
We would like to ask you to use your authority in the appropriate way to:
Ensure that Mr Hamid and other human rights
defenders in Indonesia are not targeted through
criminal defamation suits because of their legitimate human rights work;
Ensure that further police investigations take
place to identify those responsible at the
highest level for Munir’s murder and publish
the report of the Fact-Finding Team into
Munir’s murder as a key step towards
establishing the truth about the murder;
Take measures to ensure that those responsible
for past human rights violations against human
rights defenders in Indonesia, including torture,
murder and extra-judicial executions, are brought to justice;
Ensure that provisions in the Criminal Code,
which allow formally for over five years
imprisonment for acts of defamation, are
repealed, and that the newly revised Criminal
Code does not contain provisions punishing with
terms of imprisonment individuals who publicly criticize public officials;
Support the creation of special mechanisms to
ensure the protection of human rights defenders in Indonesia.
Yours sincerely
Sam Zarifi
Asia-Pacific Programme Director
Amnesty International
Paul Barber
Coordinator TAPOL
Steve Kibble
Africa/Asia Coordinator
Progressio
Dini Widiastuti
Programme Manager - East Timor and Indonesia
CAFOD
Carolyn Marr
Coordinator
Down to Earth
Hugh Dowson
Independent campaigner
Alex Flor
Watch Indonesia
Working to protect human rights worldwide
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