TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Yudhoyono is all talk, no action, says HRW
Indonesian women and religious minorities have faced heightened discrimination as a result of the governmentâs failure to enforce human rights protections in 2013, says Human Rights Watch (HRW) in its 2014 world report
Change Size
I
ndonesian women and religious minorities have facedheightened discrimination as a result of the government's failure to enforcehuman rights protections in 2013, says Human Rights Watch (HRW) in its 2014world report.
The Indonesian government, under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, should reverse its course and enforce laws protecting religious freedom, the New York-based non-governmental advocacy organization further said.
'President Yudhoyono is all talk and no action when he faces government officials and militant groups who are intent on curbing the rights of women and religious minorities,' HRW deputy Asia director Phelim Kine in a statement on Wednesday.
'Unless Yudhoyono takes decisive action in the final months of his presidency, his legacy will be marred by his failure to defend the rights of all Indonesians,' Kine added.
The HRW said Indonesia should amend or abolish hundreds of local bylaws that discriminate against women and religious minorities.
'The government should also release dozens of political prisoners, mostly Papuan and Moluccan activists, who were imprisoned for peaceful dissent,' it said.
In the 667-page world report, which is its 24th edition, HRW reviews human rights practices in more than 90 countries. It is said militant Sunni Islamist groups, such as the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), have frequently threatened or attacked religious minority communities with impunity.
