Amnesty International Takes Novel Baswedan Case to U.S. Congress
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25 July 2019 19:36 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The acid attack on Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan will be presented before the United States Congress on July 25, at 10:00 local time or at 21:00 Jakarta time. Francisco Bencosme, the Asia Pacific Advocacy Manager at Amnesty International USA will be testifying.
"The attack on Novel Baswedan is one of several cases of human rights violations discussed at the Human Rights in Southeast Asia forum: A Regional Outlook 'at the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Nonproliferation House Foreign Affairs Committee," Amnesty International Indonesia spokesman Haeril Halim said wrote on Thursday, July 25.
Efforts to bring Baswedan's case to international attention began since the beginning of 2019. Amnesty International Indonesia brought the case to the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, Switzerland in February 2019. During the meeting, Amnesty revealed how the investigation has taken too long.
Francisco Bencosme visited the KPK in April 2019. After meeting Novel and representatives of the KPK Employee Center, he promised to bring the case to the American congress so they can urge the Indonesian government to solve the case.
"We have access to policymakers in the United States through Congress channels, parliamentary channels, to mainstream what has occurred in the situation faced by the KPK and Novel Baswedan in Indonesia," he said when visiting the KPK building, Jakarta, Friday, April 26.
At the time, Novel expressed his hopes that support from the international community will pressure the government to prioritize the solving of his case and other terror attacks against members of the KPK.
"Allowing terrors to happen is the same as allowing other acts of terror that will occur in the future," he said.
President Joko Widodo has given the police three months to investigate and solve the attack on Baswedan.
M Rosseno Aji