Patricia Spier

On August 31, 2002, Patsy Spier was among a group of schoolteachers ambushed by sustained gunfire as they were returning from a picnic to their residences in Papua Province, Indonesia. Spier's husband, Rick, was killed during the attack, along with two colleagues. Several others were seriously wounded, including Spier, who suffered gunshot wounds to the back and foot and wounds from numerous pieces of shrapnel. 

Within a short time after the attack, the Indonesian National Police (INP) issued a report, which received widespread media attention, concluding that there was a strong possibility the attack had been perpetrated by members of the Indonesian military (TNI). At the same time, the U.S. Congress was considering resuming funding to the TNI through the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program. 

Spier began flying to Washington, D.C., from her home in Colorado to lobby members of Congress and officials at the Departments of State and Defense to block the resumption of IMET funding to TNI. At the heart of her efforts was a fundamental question of justice: How could the U.S. Government resume IMET funds to the TNI if the TNI might have been responsible for the death of Americans? 

Throughout her dogged 4-year pursuit of justice, Spier twice successfully lobbied Congress for action and twice obtained personal commitments from the president of Indonesia concerning the case. At every stage, Spier's determination and perseverance helped to facilitate the successful investigation, capture, and trial of those responsible for the murders. 

The prosecutors only sought a 20-year sentence for Anthonius Wamang, a member of a Papuan separatist group who led the attack, so Spier filed a letter with the court expressing her desire that a life sentence be imposed for Wamang. Her letter was so moving that it inspired the widow of the only Indonesian citizen killed in the attack to write her own letter to the court, which also asked for a life sentence for Wamang. Spier's determination and perseverance ultimately led to the November 2006 convictions in an Indonesian court of those involved, including a life sentence for the leader of the attack. 

Pasty Spier was nominated by Jeffrey Taylor, U.S. Attorney, District of Columbia, Washington, D.C.