President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Republic of Indonesia
Jl. Veteran No. 16
Jakarta Pusat
Indonesia
Fax: +62 21 2314 153
E-mail: presiden@ri.go.id
With copy to:
Coordinating Minister for Political, Justice and Security Affairs
Mr Djoko Suyanto
Fax: +62 21 345 0918
Minister of Law and Human Rights
Mr Amir Syamsudin SH
Fax: +62 21 525 3095
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Directorate of Human Rights, Humanitarian Affairs
Mr Muhammad Anshor, SH
Fax: +62 21 385 1193
Indonesian Police
Gen. Timur Pradopo
Fax: +62 21 7220 669
E-mail: info@polri.go.id
Attorney General
Mr Basrief Arief Fax: +62 21 350 1867
London, 3 May 2013
Request to reopen investigations into the murder of Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin (“Udin”)
Dear President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
We write to express our deep concern about the failure of the Yogyakarta police to identify and help prosecute the persons responsible for the murder of Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin, also known as Udin.
Udin was an investigative journalist of ten years for the daily newspaper Bernas. On 13 August 1996, he was attacked at his house by two unknown assailants, who severely beat him with a metal rod. He died as a consequence of his injuries on 16 August 1996.
Until this day, those responsible for Udin’s death have not been brought to justice. The police botched the investigations and the trial of one alleged suspect has been widely considered as a sham. The signatory organisations therefore call upon the Government of Indonesia to ensure that proper investigations into Udin’s death are conducted and to ensure that those responsible are prosecuted before the statute of limitations for this crime under Indonesian law expires on 16 August 2014.
We would like to remind the Government of Indonesia in this context that, as an ASEAN Member State, it is obliged to respect the principle contained in Article 2 sub 2(i) of the ASEAN Charter, which requires “respect for fundamental freedoms, the promotion and protection of human rights, and the promotion of social justice.” In addition, the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration specifically protects the right to freedom of expression (Article 23) and the right to life (Article 11).
We furthermore remind the Government of Indonesia that as a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it is legally bound to respect, guarantee and uphold the right to freedom of expression protected by Article 19 of the Covenant, which includes the obligation to ensure that any attacks on journalists are vigorously investigated in a timely fashion, the perpetrators are prosecuted, and the victims, or, in the case of killings, their representatives, receive appropriate forms of redress.
Finally, we would like to remind the Government of Indonesia that allowing a culture of impunity to thrive by acquiescence, i.e. by failing to prosecute those responsible for attacks on journalists like Udin, can amount to a violation of the Government of Indonesia’s obligation to protect the right to life as guaranteed by Article 6 of the ICCPR when such attacks lead to the death of the victims.
We call upon the Government of Indonesia to reopen investigations into the murder of Udin and to dedicate all necessary resources to identify and prosecute his killers before the statute of limitations on his murder runs out in August 2014. No reasonable efforts should be spared to bring to justice those responsible for this reprehensible crime.
Yours sincerely,
[column col=”1/2″]LBH Pers
Nawawi Bahrudin, Executive Director
Lbhpers@yahoo.com[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Media Legal Defence Initiative
Nani Jansen, Senior Legal Counsel
nani.jansen@mediadefence.org[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Lembaga Bantuan Hukum
(LBH) Pers Padang
Rony Saputra, S.H., Executive Director
padanglbhpers@gmail.com[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Commission of the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS)
Haris Azhar, Executive Coordinator
kontras_98@kontras.org[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Southeast Asian Press Alliance
Gayathry Venkiteswaran, Executive Director
gayathry@seapa.org[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Surabaya Legal Aid Institute for the Press – Indonesia
Athoillah, Director
atok@lbhperssurabaya.org[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Institut Studi Arus Informasi (Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of Information)
Irawan Saptono, Executive Director
isaptono@isai.my.id[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia
Eko Maryadi, President
itemic@gmail.com[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Jakarta
Umar Idris, Chairman
ajijak@cbn.net.id[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Imparsial
Pungky Indarti, Director
poengky@imparsial.org[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute for the Press (Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Pers Yogyakarta) – Indonesia
Aloysius Budi Kurniawan, Director
alloys_w1@yahoo.co.id[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Pewarta Foto Indonesia (PFI) Padang
Iggoy El Firta, Director
iggoy_elfitra@yahoo.com[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Demos Indonesia
Inggrid Silitonga, Director
inggrid@demos.or.id[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Yogyakarta
Hendrawan Setiawan, Chairman
hendrawan.setiawan@gmail.com[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]LBH Jakarta
Febi Yonesta, Director
febionesta@gmail.com[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]IKOHI (Ikatan Keluarga Orang Hilang Indonesia)
Mr Mugiyanto, Coordinator
mugiyanto@gmail.com[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Elsam
Indri D. Saptaningrum, Executive Director
indrids@gmail.com[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation
Alvon Kurnia Palma, Director
alvon@ylbhi.or.id[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Pers Makassar
Fajriani Langgeng, Director
lbhpersmakassar@gmail.com[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Committee to Protect Journalists
Robert Dietz, Asia Program Coordinator
bdietz@cpj.org[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Reporters Without Borders
Benjamin Ismaïl, Head of Asia-Pacific Desk
asie@rsf.org[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Article 19
Agnes Callamard, Executive Director
agnes@article19.org[/column]
[column col=”1/2″]Media Defence – Southeast Asia
HR Dipendra, Director
dipendra3000@gmail.com[/column]
