Stockholm, September 2004 
 
STATEMENT

We, the undersigned, Laureates of the Right Livelihood Award and the Council and Board of the Right Livelihood Award Foundation, were shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the death on 7 September of our fellow-Laureate from Indonesia, the highly respected human rights activist, Munir, who died on a flight from Indonesia to The Netherlands. Munir had received the Right Livelihood Award, which is often referred to as the Alternative Nobel Prize, in 2000 “for his courage and dedication in fighting for human rights and the civilian control of the military in Indonesia." Having now learnt that the autopsy undertaken by the Dutch Forensic Institute discovered lethal levels of arsenic in his body, we are confronted with the dreadful fact that Munir was the victim of an assassination. After the execution of Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa in Nigeria in 1995, this is the second time a laureate of the Right Livelihood Award has been murdered for the work he was doing.

We wish to convey our deepest sympathy to Suciwati, Munir's wife, and wish her the strength to face this terrible loss. Munir's assassination is an evil crime that strikes not only at the victim and his loved ones but is also a warning to the human rights community in Indonesia, a crime intended to make human rights activists throughout Indonesia fear for their own safety, whether at home or on their travels abroad. We wish to express our solidarity with, and support for, the human rights community in Indonesia and wish them the fortitude to cope with the possible dangers they now confront. The struggle for human rights has been accepted by the international community as a legitimate activity the world over, ever since the adoption by the United Nations on 10 December 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and nothing should be allowed to obstruct men and women who devote themselves to this righteous cause. We call on the Indonesian Government under its leader, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to conduct a thorough investigation into this crime and make every effort to bring the perpetrators to justice as quickly as possible. The world will be watching to see whether the Indonesian authorities are dealing with this matter with all the seriousness that it demands.

Signed:

Swami Agnivesh, Bonded Labour Liberation Front (India)
Dr. Martin Almada, Fundacion Celestina Perez de Almada (Paraguay)
Rachel Avnery, Gush Shalom (Israel)
Uri Avnery, Gush Shalom (Israel)
Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, General Manager Environmental Protection Authority (Ethiopia)
Walden Bello (Philippines)
Dr. Rosalie Bertell, International Institute of Concern for Public Health (Canada)
Prof. Theo van Boven, University of Limburg (Netherlands)
Carmel Budiardjo, Tapol, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign (UK)
Stephen Corry, Survival International (UK)
Jim Duehring, husband of the late Cindy Duehring (USA)
Prof. Hans-Peter Duerr, Max-Planck-Institute for Physics (Germany)
Asghar Ali Engineer, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (India)
Prof. Samuel Epstein, School Of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago (USA)
Anwar Fazal, Citizens International (Malaysia)
Prof. Cary Fowler, Agricultural University of Norway
Wes Jackson, The Land Institute (USA)
Prof. Johan Galtung, TRANSCEND: A Network for Peace and Development (Norway)
Dr. Juan E. Garcés, Lawyer (Spain)
Prof. John Gofman, University of California at Berkeley (USA)
Edward Goldsmith, Founding Editor The Ecologist (UK)
Kerstin Grebäck, Kvinna till Kvinna (Sweden)
Anna Lidén, Kvinna till Kvinna (Sweden)
Ida Kuklina, The Union of Soldiers Mothers Committees of Russia
Felicia Langer, Lawyer (Germany)
Birsel Lemke (Turkey)
Alison Linnecar, International Baby Food Action Network (Switzerland)
Fernando Vallone, International Baby Food Action Network (Argentina)
Marta Trejos, International Baby Food Action Network (Costa Rica)
Elisabeth Sterken, International Baby Food Action Network (Canada)
Hisayo Kidokoro, International Baby Food Action Network (Japan)
Pauline Kisanga, International Baby Food Action Network (Swaziland)
Ray Maseko, International Baby Food Action Network (Swaziland)
Olinda Mugabe, International Baby Food Action Network (Swaziland)
Nonkululeko Mduli, International Baby Food Action Network (Swaziland)
Isatou Jallow, International Baby Food Action Network (Swaziland)
André Nikiema, International Baby Food Action Network (Burkina Faso)
Annelies Allain, International Baby Food Action Network (Malaysia)
Dorothee Haller, International Baby Food Action Network (Switzerland)
Dr. Arun Gupta, International Baby Food Action Network (India)
Marcia Annandale, International Baby Food Action Network (New Zealand)
Mohamed Marwan, International Baby Food Action Network (Egypt)
Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute (USA)
Hunter Lovins, Natural Capitalism Inc (USA)
Lara Lutzenberger, Fundação Gaia (Brazil)
Tapio Mattlar, The Finnish Village Action Movement (Finland)
Dr. Raúl Montenegro, FUNAM (Fundación para la defensa del ambiente) (Argentina)
Pat Mooney, ETC Group (Canada)
Frances Moore Lappé, Small Planet Institute (USA)
Harrison Ngau Laing, Lawyer (Malaysia)
Gerard Pantin C.S.Sp, Servol (Trinidad and Tobago)
Sister Ruth Montrichard, Servol (Trinidad and Tobago)
Nicanor Perlas, Center for Alternative Development Initiatives (Philippines)
Dr. Hermann Scheer, Member of Parliament (Germany)
Mycle Schneider, International Consultant on Energy and Nuclear Policy (France)
Sulak Sivaraksa (Thailand)
Prof. Michael Succow, Greifswald University (Germany)
Dr. Hannumappa Sudarshan, Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra (India)
John Turner, Tools for Community Regeneration (UK)
Prof. George Vithoulkas, International Academy of Classical Homeopathy (Greece)
Alla Yaroshinskaya, Ecological Center (Russia)
Angie Zelter, Trident Ploughshares (UK)
Jakob von Uexkull, Founder and Chairman, Right Livelihood Award Foundation (UK)
Prof. Paul Ekins, RLA Board, Policy Studies Institute (UK)
Monika Griefahn, RLA Board,Member of Parliament (Germany)
Birgitta Hambraeus, RLA Council, former Member of Parliament (Sweden)
Sven Hamrell, RLA Council, Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation (Sweden)
Wolfgang von Nostitz, RLA Board, Attorney at Law (Germany)

(68 signatories from 30 countries)