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Minority groups ask Yudhoyono to turn down religious freedom award
Call for change: People claiming to be victims of religious discrimination stage a peaceful rally in front of the Presidential Advisory Council in Jakarta on Friday
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Call for change: People claiming to be victims of religious discrimination stage a peaceful rally in front of the Presidential Advisory Council in Jakarta on Friday. They said the country was failing to protect religious minorities. (Antara/Yudhi Mahatma) (Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)
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span class="inline inline-none">Call for change: People claiming to be victims of religious discrimination stage a peaceful rally in front of the Presidential Advisory Council in Jakarta on Friday. They said the country was failing to protect religious minorities. (Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)
A coalition of minority groups, who have long suffered persecution, are calling on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to end their plight before accepting an award from a US-based group for upholding religious freedom.
A New York-based interfaith organization, Appeal of Conscience Foundation (ACF), is planning to present Yudhoyono with the World Statesman Award on May 30 in New York, when the President will be on a working visit, in recognition of his work in supporting human rights and religious freedom.
The coalition, which includes followers of the Shia and Ahmadiyah minority sects, members of indigenous faith Sunda Wiwitan, as well as congregations from the Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) and the Filadelfia Batak Christian Protestant Church, met with Albert Hasibuan, the presidential advisor on human rights, on Friday to convey their message to the President.
The coalition also staged a rally in front of the United States Embassy in Jakarta on Monday to protest the ACF's choice of Yudhoyono for the 2013 award. The coalition requested that the US Embassy relay their message to President Barack Obama and the ACF.
'Before you are given the award, you should be able to act decisively to uphold religious freedom in Indonesia as stipulated in the 1945 Constitution,' Bona Sigalingging of GKI Yasmin said as he read a statement to Albert in front of his office on Friday.
Local rights groups, including the National Alliance of Unity in Diversity (ANBTI), the Setara Institute and the Wahid Institute, also joined the move, saying the award was an insult to victims of religious persecution.
ANBTI coordinator Nia Sjarifudin called on Yudhoyono to be honest on the international stage. 'We would appreciate it if the President no longer turned a blind eye to our plight. The world has acknowledged the religious persecution in Indonesia. Settle the matter with dignity, not by accepting some international award,' she said.
The President, critics have said, has yet to be effective in addressing the growing intolerance in the country.
In his closing speech during a Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Office on Wednesday, Yudhoyono repeated his statement that the government wanted to intensify measures to handle such conflicts and he admitted that 'there are still social conflicts [in the country]'. However, he also said he wanted regional administrations 'to be at the forefront in handling such issues' and 'not to deny such responsibility'.
On Tuesday, Yudhoyono said he had instructed administrations to settle such incidents swiftly. 'Don't create an impression of omission; everyone must be responsible and take action until the problems are solved.'
The Wahid Institute, which promotes pluralism and peaceful Islam, revealed that religious intolerance in the country had grown steadily in the last four years. Its report shows that religious intolerance cases in 2012 stood at 274, up from 267 in 2011. In 2010, the institute recorded 184 cases and 121 cases in 2009.
In a separate report released in late February, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Yudhoyono had been inconsistent in defending religious freedom, and that the government had been complicit in the persecution of religious minorities by failing to enforce laws and issuing regulations that breached minority rights.
Building permit issues have been the most cited reasons to justify discrimination against religious minorities, while blasphemy has often been used against Islamic minorities, such as Shiites and the Ahmadis.
The Bogor administration ignored a Supreme Court ruling that stipulated that the building permit for GKI Yasmin's church was legal and ordered the Bogor administration to reopen the building.
Followers of nondenominational faiths have also said they could not obtain identity cards due to their faith and, therefore, could not apply for work.
'I will convey the message to the President soon,' Albert said.
