Immanuel Kant posited that not all humans are considered people. He argued that being a human was not sufficient to be considered a person. A human being is considered a “person” when he or she possesses more than rationality, but more importantly a community in which they have a place to experience consciousness, reason, motivation, communication and presence of self.
Arguably, in Indonesia, being a member of minority groups, based on faith, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and political affiliation often places one in a difficult position where they can be considered a “discounted” person, even a “discounted” human being.
The recent clash between the poverty-stricken Chinese-Indonesian community called Cina Benteng, which is an assimilated minority group, in Tangerang, Banten, with the authority evicting their homes on the basis of a 2000 bylaw on cleanliness, orderliness and beauty by erecting undertaken by the government of Indonesia toward minority groups, especially people from China.
Another incident in March, the government has been allowing violence acts on those belonging to the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and queer) minority group. The recently canceled The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) conference in Surabaya is a strong indication of Indonesian government’s impotence, ignorance and unwillingness to protect this minority group, among others.
By allowing the police to bow down to the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) by allowing violent acts and declaring the conference did not have a permit — which is not required by law as quoted from Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, the government has failed minority rights, human rights and humanity.
Both incidents underscore Indonesian government’s ignorance on equality before the law and equal rights for the minority. Human rights should adhere to all humans, regardless of their acceptance by other groups as “persons” or not.
Assuming the allegation of “orchestrated eviction” can be proven, the clash between the government authority with the Cina Benteng minority group is a form of direct (active) persecution because it is done by the government or a government body.
According to Article 7 of The Rome Statute of The International Criminal Court, “persecution is defined as the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law, which is committed against an identifiable group by reason of its politics, race or culture.” Persecution is a form of crime against humanity.
Three important elements of “persecution” are: A serious attack on human dignity, not isolated incidents but undertaken or condoned by government authority, and widespread systematic practice.
These three variables can be found in the Cina Benteng incident, assuming the allegations can be proven. In a weak democracy such as Indonesia, it is a challenge to prove the wrongdoings of government and its officials, especially pertaining to human rights.
In March, in the incident of canceling the ILGA conference in Surabaya, the hands of the government were not directly involved, instead they simply condoned the violence performed by the FPI. This incident, thus, is a form of persecution, not merely a “hate crime”.
Many people confuse “hate crime” with “persecution”. There is a fine line between the two.
Hate crime occurs when the motive of a violent or not-too-violent crime is hatred toward the victim’s membership in racial, religious, political, sexual, and other orientation(s) groups. A hate crime is an isolated incident and is not approved, condoned, or performed by the government or governmental bodies. A hate crime is not a systematic practice, but done to satisfy the doer’s satisfaction.
Thus, in a robbery targeting victims of a particular group, then it is a “hate crime”. However, whenever the visible or the invisible hands of government take part in a particular incident, then it is a “persecution”.
Alas, in Indonesia, “hate crime” is something foreign, and “persecution” is often considered “normal” due to Soeharto’s administration that had been systematically persecuting minority groups using legal and non-legal measures.
We should educate ourselves to identify and stop spreading forms and seeds of persecution and hate crime.
One of the most common forms of ignorance by the majority is “rational discrimination”. According to Dinesh D’Souza in The End of Racism, “rational discrimination” is based on generalized group conducts, not biological inferiority. Examples of “rational discrimination” can be found in usage of certain terms in the media when referring to individuals belonging to certain minority groups, such as identifying a person as a Chinese-Indonesian.
“Rational discrimination” should be distinguished from racism, because one is possible to become a racist without being discriminatory. What we disapprove is “rational discrimination”, in which membership of belonging to a particular group is used to generalize, hence persecute.
In Indonesia, all humans are people. No one is better than the other.
The writer is an Indonesian-born author and columnist based in Northern California.
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