Ahmadiyah Decree Triggers Violence: Amnesty Int’l

NEWS

Ahmadiyah Decree Triggers Violence: Amnesty Int’l

Elisabeth Oktofani & Putri Fitria | April 7, 2011

An Ahmadiyah congregation performing Friday prayers At al-Hidayah Mosque in Sawangan, Depok, earlier this month. The mosque was sealed off by a mob of residents on March 19. (Antara Photo)

Amnesty International called on the government on Wednesday to revoke the decree that bans Ahmadiyah members from proselytizing, saying the regulation was one of the primary causes for an increase in religious violence in the country.

Saman Zia-Zarifi, director of the Asia-Pacific program at the Amnesty International, said the time had come for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to get serious about tackling religious violence in the country.

“I had an open and frank discussion with the National Police chief, Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah and church groups in Indonesia,” Saman said. “We urge Indonesia to fulfill its obligation to protect its citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs, in line with the Indonesian Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“The 2008 joint ministerial decree needs to be revoked. The country should not intervene in people’s religious choices.”

The police, Saman added, needed to publicly reiterate their commitment to protecting the rights of all Indonesians, regardless of their religious beliefs.

“The Indonesian police must ensure the trials of those who commit violence in the name of religion are free from intimidation toward victims, witnesses and their lawyers,” he said.

Last month, the Religious Affairs Ministry held a national dialog on the minority Islamic sect, where the 2008 joint ministerial decree featured in discussions.

The Indonesia Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) declined to attend the event. They complained they had too little time to prepare and only received four seats at the conference.

The results of the dialog are expected to be used by the government to decide on the fate of the sect and the controversial 2008 decree.

Meanwhile, a regional leader of one of the groups accused of leading attacks on Ahmadiyah followers, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), said he did not condone violence against the group.

“Ahmadis are human beings. They have families,” Bambang Teddy, head of the FPI in Yogyakarta, said on Tuesday. “The way to diminish the influence of Ahmadiyah is not with violence.”

However, Bambang said, Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono was running out of time to issue a decree banning the activities of Ahmadiyah in the province. As a special region, Bambang said, the sultan should be able to make a decision independent of the central government.

If the sultan did not respond soon, he said, the local branches of the FPI would coordinate with FPI headquarters, led by Habib Rizieq, who has previously advocated violence against the sect.

“I’m worried that a war could break out against Ahmadiah in Yogya. I don’t want Yogya to be unsafe,” Bambang said.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/ahmadiyah.../433932

RI moving in wrong direction: Amnesty

HEADLINES Thu, 04/07/2011 8:00 AM

RI moving in wrong direction: Amnesty

Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The rising number of attacks against minority groups in Indonesia is a sign that the country, which aims to play a greater role on the global stage, is moving in the wrong direction, Amnesty International says.

“The Indonesian government still has not accomplished its promise to deal with the prolonged problems related to the persecution of minorities. I just heard that the Ahmadis in Lombok continue to be dismissed from their homes. This is not the direction Amnesty is hoping for. This country is going in the wrong direction,” Saman Zia-Zarifi, the Asia-Pacific director of Amnesty said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

“We are here to call on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to fulfill his responsibility to ensure that all citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs, benefit from the human rights enshrined in the 1945 Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Indonesia ratified in 2005,” he added.

London-based Amnesty was delivering a joint statement along with a number of Indonesian human rights groups, namely the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Imparsial, Elsam, the Wahid Institute, the Setara Institute and the Bhinneka Tunggal Ika National Alliance (ANBTI).

Zia-Zarifi cited documentation collected by local NGOs showing that attacks against Ahmadiyah communities across the country had increased sharply in 2011 compared to the previous two years.

A particularly alarming development was the involvement of the Indonesian Military and police officers in intimidating and forcing the conversion of Ahmadis in villages in West Java in the last two months.

“Indonesia is one of the most diverse countries and becomes a model for international communities. However, the central government’s inability or lack of desire to address this issue is potentially catastrophic,” Zia-Zarifi said.

During his short visit to Jakarta, Zia-Zarifi met with National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Nanan Soekarna and visited Indonesia’s two largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, and the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) a few days earlier.

“We had very open discussions and we share similar concerns that attacks and violence cannot be justified,” he said.

Zia-Zarifi also said the 2008 Joint Ministerial Decree forbidding Ahmadis from propagating their beliefs could justify vigilantism and lead to increasing violence.

“Regulations like this, especially if they are implemented differently by administrations at regional and district levels, could instead provide green lights to extremist forces to attack religious communities targeted by the regulations,” he said.

According to the coalition, there are already 20 regional regulations and decrees banning followers of Ahmadiyah from practicing their religion publicly.

Last month, 27 US congressmen signed a letter to President Yudhoyono to revoke “prosecuting” bylaws.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos from Setara said Yudhoyono’s reluctance to address the issue was linked to his party’s political preparation ahead of the 2014 elections.

“Yudhoyono will not contest again and his charismatic figure will no longer help the Democratic Party gain an enormous amount of votes. That is why the party’s politicians really take what radicals want into account because they are wary about losing votes from hardline Muslim communities,” he said.

On Tuesday evening, five houses belonging to Ahmadiyah followers in Ciaruteun Udik village in Bogor, were severely damaged due to a series of mob attacks. Those attacks were the third in the last two month.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/04/07/ri-moving...

West Java Ahmadiyah Mosque Attacks Expose Deep Institutional Shortcomings

Opinion

August 2, 2010

West Java Ahmadiyah Mosque Attacks Expose Deep Institutional Shortcomings

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Last week’s attacks on Ahmadiyah Muslims in West Java reveal once again the terrible consequences citizens suffer when the state interferes in religious disputes.

The Kuningan district head’s order to close down Ahmadiyah mosques was, of course, against our Constitution.

However, it was arguably in line with a 2008 government decision that effectively banned Ahmadiyah from worshiping in public or proselytizing, while stopping short of outlawing the sect completely.

Yet like any other Muslim, an Ahmadiyah follower is obliged to spread the light of Islam through speech and actions — and that means proselytizing.

Therefore, the government’s decision, made under pressure from religious groups, is an oxymoron: it directly interferes with the right of a follower of Ahmadiyah to practice his or her faith.

As a blatant affront both to the Constitution and Pancasila, the national doctrine of unity, it should never have been passed and should be scrapped immediately.

Moreover, the parties responsible for curbing Ahmadiyah’s religious freedom should face serious charges in court.

Leaders like Aang Hamid Suganda, the Kuningan district head, should be seriously reprimanded for inciting violence by meddling in religious affairs.

If only we could only trust our courts to fairly dispense justice, we could drag such leaders before a panel of judges to face charges of treason against Pancasila and the Constitution.

Charging an official with treason and bringing a district head to court might sound rather harsh. It is not unreasonable, however.

Stern measures are required because the government needs to send a clear message about its position regarding religious tolerance in our pluralistic society.

At the time of independence in August 1945, our founding fathers wisely rejected calls from Islamists for every Indonesian Muslim to be obliged to follow Shariah law, as stated in the Jakarta Charter.

Instead, our leaders settled on the state ideology of Pancasila, which respects many religions and formally elevates none above others.

Unfortunately, however, a compromise was made with established Islamists in the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and ever since we have been paying dearly for that folly.

Although there has never been a transparent audit to reveal which institution is the nation’s most corrupt, the Ministry of Religious Affairs is certainly high on the list.

Because it organizes the hajj pilgrimage and people can compare ticket and accommodation prices, everyone can see how the ministry has cruelly hiked up hajj costs to squeeze money from pilgrims who have saved their pennies for a lifetime just to make the trip to Mecca.

What worse representation of Islam could our state support?

This means it is futile to suggest that the government uphold the Constitution on this issue, let alone scrap the Ministry of Religious Affairs anytime soon.

However, we can still hope that in the future we may have people in government who are confident enough in their own commitment to the Islamic faith to dismantle this useless ministry and deal evenhandedly with all religious groups in Indonesia.

Our founding president, Sukarno, was an eloquent and progressive Islamic polemicist in his youth.

But during his time in office he never hesitated to uphold Pancasila when facing armed attempts to create an Islamic Indonesian state under the banner of Darul Islam, the descendants of which remain active to this day.

Sukarno’s successor, Suharto, who had a background in Muhammadiyah, manipulated Islamists to purge the communists and sailed into power on the sea of blood they created, only to later cruelly suppress political Islam until his own interests obliged him to court it again.

Significantly, the late President Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, who was himself a respected Islamic scholar as head of Nahdlatul Ulama, has been our best champion of peaceful Islam and our sanest bastion against violent Islamism to date.

Apparently, leaders who feel insecure in their own Islamic faith fear being perceived as not sufficiently devout. Thus, they overcompensate in their efforts to appear “more Muslim than thou.”

On the other hand, Gus Dur never hesitated to stand up against those who would do away with Pancasila and implement a harsh version of Shariah law here, even when he was accused of being a pawn in a “Jewish conspiracy” to destroy Islam.

We should be grateful that Gus Dur’s brave pluralist spirit is still present today.

As extremists attack Ahmadiyah in West Java, Nuruzzaman, the head of the Cirebon chapter of the Ansor Youth Movement, NU’s militia organization that is known to be loyal to the ideals of Gus Dur, has vowed to mobilize thousands of its men to protect Ahmadiyah from attack.

Nuruzzaman’s willingness to defend the Constitution against violent mobs who falsely claim to represent mainstream Islam is certainly noble, but it exposes a darker problem.

The state itself has been too slow in reacting to these and other blatant attacks.

When civilians feel obliged to come forward to uphold Pancasila with force, this opens further divisions that can easily disintegrate into still more sectarian conflict.

Radical Islamists who use violence to enforce their will are enemies of all sane Indonesians, whether they attack Christian churches, Ahmadiyah mosques or gay and lesbian activists.

But it should be the police who stand up to them, not the Ansor Youth Movement or other civilian bodies.

However, the police are preoccupied with attempts to mask their own corruption and incompetence.

Thus, much ado is made about frivolities like homemade celebrity porn. The dismal reality is that citizens cannot depend on law enforcers for security.

Lasting peace among religious groups here demands clean and honest institutions and not just courageous individuals.

Bramantyo Prijosusilo is an artist, poet and organic farmer in Ngawi , East Java.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/west-java-ahma...rtcomings/389065

Pakistan’s persecuted Muslims

---The Whig Standard, Canada

Pakistan's persecuted Muslims [Editorial]

Posted By GEOFFREY P. JOHNSTON

Friday, December 18, 2009

Now that the ice and snow are upon us, many Kingstonians are out in the cold, enjoying the skating rink at Market Square or hitting the local cross-country ski trails for a winter workout. Others, however, dream of the warmth and sunshine of Canada’s all-too-brief summer – a season that allows those living in the Limestone City to demonstrate their respect for other cultures and religions.

For example, if you regularly visit Rotary Park during summer, you may encounter a Christian youth group enjoying a picnic. Other times, you will see Muslims praying toward Mecca before tucking into a barbecued meal. Such scenes of religious diversity make Canada attractive to so many newcomers.

Contrary to overblown allegations of Islamophobia, Canada respects the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of religion, belief or conscience. And Canada consistently ranks at or near the top of the annual international survey of religious freedom conducted by Freedom House, a U. S.-based think tank.

Ironically, the worst violators of Muslims’ religious rights are Muslim-majority countries, including Pakistan, which blatantly oppresses Ahmadi Muslims. According to Amnesty International, Ahmadis, who adhere to a unique interpretation of Islam, are viewed by orthodox Muslims as heretics.

The Ahmadi consider themselves to be Muslim, explains Knox Thames, a policy analyst with the nonpartisan United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. However, a despicable amendment to Pakistan’s constitution in 1974 deemed the Ahmadi to be “non- Muslims.”

“It is inappropriate for governments to be speaking to the question of what faith is or is not true,” Thames says. But that is precisely what is happening in Pakistan.

“The constitution basically bans them [from participating in society],” Thames explains. “They can’t vote. They have difficulty attending public schools. They have great difficulty worshipping openly.”

Amnesty International has repeatedly called for the abolition of Pakistan’s laws that “effectively criminalize any exercise of the right to freedom of religion by Ahmadis.” Members of the minority sect, estimated to have three to four million adherents in Pakistan, are prohibited by law from referring to their houses of worship as mosques. In addition, Ahmadis are banned from preaching in public, proselytizing or producing religious literature.

Pakistan’s anti-Ahmadi laws “really force them into the margins of society and leave them very vulnerable to extremist attacks,” Thames says. And over the years, reports Amnesty International, there have been “numerous targeted killings of Ahmadis, usually carried out with impunity.”

According to Human Rights Watch’s 2009 annual report, two Ahmadis were murdered last year after “a popular talk-show host … declared Ahmadis appropriate targets for murder under Islamic law.” The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom alleges that Sunni Muslim extremists are often responsible for attacks on Ahmadis. It also alleges that the government sometimes collaborates with the attackers.

When the central government isn’t turning a blind eye to religiously motivated murder, it is actively harassing the Ahmadi. For instance, the U. S. Commission on International Religious Freedom reports that in May of 2008, Ahmadis in the town of Rabwah openly “celebrated their faith through distinctive clothing, badges with religious slogans, lighting displays, and fireworks.” The police responded by charging the whole community under the anti-Ahmadi laws.

Curiously, the Muslim world has remained silent about the oppression of the Ahmadi. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, however, has publicly acknowledged and condemned the persecution of the Ahmadi in central and south Asia.

In the summer of 2008, the prime minister travelled to Calgary to take part in the opening of the Baitun Nur mosque, built by the city’s Ahmadi community, which numbers an estimated 5,000 people. In his address, he noted that the Ahmadis are renowned for their devotion to “peacefully co-existing with people of all faiths, languages and cultures.” And in the Ahmadis, said Harper, Canadians will see “the moderate, benevolent face of Islam.”

As long as Muslim countries like Pakistan persecute the Ahmadis, Canada should attempt to rescue as many as possible by fast-tracking their immigration and refugee applications. And in return for sanctuary, Ahmadi newcomers could provide a much-needed antidote to radical Islamist ideology that is poisoning the minds of some Canadian Muslims and colouring the country’s perception of Islam.

Defending the individual’s right to freedom of religion is one of the hallmarks of Canadian democracy, ensuring that Kingston’s Rotary Park and other parks like it across Canada are open to different faith groups whose members only wish to enjoy fellowship in a green space. After all, what could be more Canadian than dreaming of a summer picnic in the dead of winter?

Geoffrey P. Johnston is a local writer.

URL: www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2227342