Christian Group Says Cikeusik Verdicts Give Extremists Green Light to Continue Hatred

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Christian Group Says Cikeusik Verdicts Give Extremists Green Light to Continue Hatred

July 30, 2011

Christian Solidarity Worldwide has expressed renewed concern about continuing violations of religious freedom in Indonesia following the sentencing of the perpetrators of violence against the Ahmadiyah community, new threats to Christians and developing tensions in West Papua.

CSW, in a news release, says it “regards these sentences as astonishingly lenient, and believes it calls into question the integrity of Indonesia’s judicial system.”

The organization met with survivors of the violence that claimed three lives in may.

One man told CSW, “When the attackers caught me, they stripped me naked on the road, dragged me through a river, beat me with sticks and machetes and tried to cut off my penis. They bashed stones on my head, and dragged me around the village. One man used a bamboo spear to hit my eye. They shouted that I was an ‘infidel’ and should be killed. I lost consciousness.”

In addition, the World Evangelical Alliance’s Religious Liberty Commission on Friday warned that the GKI Yasmin Church in Bogor, West Java, may face mass violence if continuing tensions are not addressed.

In a separate development, the Chairman of the Fellowship of Baptist Churches of Papua, Rev. Socratez Sofyan Yoman, has issued an “urgent report” claiming that churches in West Papua are coming under increasing threat from the Indonesian Military (TNI), the statement said.

On April 30, 2011 the Regional Military Commander, Maj. Gen.Erfi Triassunu, accused the Church of Papua Gospel Tent (KINGMI) of supporting the Free Papua movement, the statement continues.

“The churches claim that since 2004, military operations in Puncak Jaya have resulted in the destruction of churches and homes, and killing of civilians, including at least one pastor.”

Rev. Socratez describes these as “humanitarian crimes” making Puncak Jaya “the most cruel and inhuman place.”

He made an appeal to the international community to encourage the Indonesian government to stop the violence.

“We call and plead with governments, members of Parliament, … churches, non-governmental organizations … to support peaceful unconditional dialogue between the government of Indonesia and the Papuans, mediated by a neutral third party.”

CSW’s Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston says he was concerned by the developments in Indonesia, which has a proud tradition of pluralism, tolerance, and religious freedom and harmony.

“The shockingly lenient sentences imposed on the perpetrators of some of the worst anti-minority violence in recent years raises serious questions about the integrity of Indonesia’s justice system, and gives the extremists a green light to continue their campaign of hatred. It leaves religious minorities throughout Indonesia, not only in West Java, and not only the Ahmadiyah community, vulnerable and defenseless,” he said.

“Indonesia’s President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and his government must now take meaningful action to uphold the rule of law, strengthen the independence of the judiciary, provide protection to religious minorities, enter into dialogue with the Papuan people, and ensure that justice and human rights are protected for all.”

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/christian-group.../456168

Islamic Scholars React to Cikeusik Criticism

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Islamic Scholars React to Cikeusik Criticism

Ismira Lutfia | July 30, 2011

Indonesian Islamic scholars had mixed reactions to criticism launched by Western nations of the apparent light sentences handed down to Islamist extremists who killed members of the Ahmadiyah sect in Cikeusik, Banten.

The district court in Serang, Banten’s capital on Thursday handed down jail sentences of between three and six months for all 12 defendants.

The men were found guilty of “participation in a violent attack that resulted in casualties.”

They were involved in a Feb. 6 attack on a group of Ahmadis gathered at the home of an Ahmadiyah leader in Cikeusik, a village some 95 kilometers from Serang.

Three Ahmadis died in the videotaped attack while five others were seriously injured.

The attack allegedly involved some 1,500 Islamist militants and about 20 Ahmadiyah members.

The United States and European Union on Thursday expressed disbelief over the lightness of the sentences, while Human Rights Watch called it a “sad day for Indonesia.”

The US Embassy encouraged Indonesia “to defend its tradition of tolerance for all religions, a tradition praised by President [Barack] Obama in his November 2010 visit to Jakarta.”

The embassy called the sentences “disproportionately light.”

But Slamet Effendy Yusuf, of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), criticized Western nations for only seeing the verdict from their own perspectives.

“Western countries must respect another country’s judiciary system based on its own cultural and philosophical background,” Slamet said.

He pointed out that Anders Behring Breivik, the man charged with killing 76 people in terror attacks on July 22, would face harsher penalties in Indonesia.

In Norway, Breivik faces a maximum sentence of 21 years but in Indonesia, a terror suspect would be facing a death sentence for a similar crime.

“But we don’t criticize their law, even though we think what he did is unacceptable,” Slamet said. “Regardless of the case, they have to respect Indonesia’s judiciary system.”

However, Salahuddin Wahid, a scholar from Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Muslim Organization said that many Muslims in Indonesia also questioned the light sentences.

“But it is the court’s authority [to decide],” he said, adding it was within the other countries’ rights to express their disappointment.

“It is OK if they want to have a say as long as they are not applying any pressure,” he said.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/islamic-scholars.../456167

In Indonesia, Murders by a ‘Lynch Mob’ Go Lightly Punished

Posted by Emily Rauhala Friday, July 29, 2011 at 4:50 pm

Idris (R) An Indonesian Muslim accused attacking Ahmadiyah sits waiting for his verdict at the court room in Serang, Indonesia’s Banten province July 28, 2011. (Photo: Aulia Pratama / Reuters)

Less than six months after a hundreds-strong mob beat members of a minority sect with machetes, rocks and bamboo poles, killing three, the leaders of the barrage will walk free. The attack, which took place in a remote village in Banten province, was captured on video. Yesterday, at a heavily fortified courthouse outside the capital, the twelve men convicted in the case received sentences of just three to six months. Dani bin Misra, a young man filmed smashing the skull of a limp, bloodied body, got three months for public incitement. Both local and international observers have questioned the impartiality of the investigation, the trial and the sentences. But the government won’t back down.

On Friday, Indonesia’s minister of religious affairs, Suryadharma Ali, told TIME that he was “not in a position to judge the fairness of a court result,” but he believed the country’s judges were both willing and able to enforce the law. He also defended a decree, issued in 2008, that prohibits members of Ahmadiyah from practicing their faith in public or spreading their beliefs. Ahmadis believe their sect’s founder, a 19th century Indian named Mizra Ghulam Ahmad, was a prophet. Many Muslims, including the minister, consider this claim heretical. He said that although he supports freedom of religion, Ahmadis ought not use that freedom to “completely modify” Islam’s core beliefs.

Critics counter that the government’s stance, and the recent trial, privilege religious doctrine over basic rights, threatening the country’s proud tradition of pluralism. Human Rights Watch called it “a sad day” for Indonesian justice. The United States issued a statement saying it was disappointed by “the disproportionately light sentences.” It also called on Indonesia to “defend its tradition of tolerance for all religions.” The chairman of one of the country’s largest Muslim organizations, Muhammadiyah, also spoke out. “The punishment is too soft,” Din Syamsuddin told the Jakarta Post. “That hurts me.” No doubt it hurts the country, too.

Emily Rauhala is a writer-reporter at TIME. Find her on Twitter at @emilyrauhala. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.

Copyright © 2011 Time Inc. All rights reserved.
URL: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/07/29/in-indonesia.../

Cikeusik Verdicts Met With Disbelief

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Cikeusik Verdicts Met With Disbelief

Heru Andriyanto & Ulma Haryanto | July 29, 2011

Ujang, a defendant in the February 6 attack on Ahmadiyah followers in Cikeusik, Pandeglang, jokes with supporters during the trial at the Serang District Court in Banten. (JG Photo/Heru Andriyanto)

Serang, Banten. A wave of condemnation greeted the lenient sentences handed down on Thursday to 12 men found guilty of attacking members of the minority Ahmadiyah group in Cikeusik, Banten, leaving three dead.

The district court in Serang, Banten’s capital, cleared the defendants of the primary charge of inciting hatred and mob violence, but found them guilty of “participation in a violent attack that resulted in casualties.”

The court handed down sentences of between three and six months in jail for each of the men, even though the charge of which they were found guilty carries a jail term of up to seven years.

In all of the verdicts — read in separate hearings — the panel of judges maintained the same notion that it was the Ahmadiyah group the instigated the attack by ignoring calls by police to leave the scene and instead challenging the mob to a fight.

“The defendants did not know the victims and they just followed the crowd that was made up of thousands of people,” judge Cipta Sinuraya said.

The judges said the defendants’ actions had been spontaneous, “triggered by a situation after negotiations between Ahmadiyah members and the crowd collapsed, and that there was no conspiracy or collusion to commit murder.”

The defendants were mainly local villagers and students from Muslim boarding schools who joined the mob in the Feb. 6 attack on a group of Ahmadis who gathered at the home of an Ahmadiyah leader in Cikeusik, about 95 kilometers from Serang.

Three Ahmadis died and five were seriously injured in the attack, which was widely condemned by both local and international human rights organizations.

On Thursday, many of the same organizations expressed grave disappointment, with the Human Rights Watch saying it was a “sad day for Indonesia.”

“The way this investigation and trial was conducted is just appalling. Despite clear video evidence of people being beaten to death, the longest sentence is six months,” Elaine Pearson, deputy director of HRW’s Asia division, told the Jakarta Globe.

“It sets a new low for Indonesia’s justice system.”

The US Embassy expressed its disappointment at the “disproportionately light sentences,” and encouraged Indonesia “to defend its tradition of tolerance for all religions, a tradition praised by President [Barack] Obama in his November 2010 visit to Jakarta.”

The European Union reminded Indonesia about “the need to ensure that religious and other minorities are adequately protected by the justice and law enforcement systems, including through sufficiently dissuasive penalties for acts of violence directed against such minorities.”

Rumadi, a senior researcher from the Wahid Institute, feared the court ruling would set a dangerous precedent. “Now they can say you can be violent, you can kill, as long as you use religion as the motive — then you can get off with a light sentence,” he said. “And for those who want to protect their property, watch out: you can be criminalized.”

Some of the defendants were released because they have already served their sentences in detention, which began in February.

Endang Sujana, a member of the defense team, said it was still considering an appeal. “We are certainly fighting for their acquittal,” he said.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/cikeusik-verdicts.../455905

‘Sad Day for Indonesia’: Human Rights Watch

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‘Sad Day for Indonesia’: Human Rights Watch

July 28, 2011

Serang. An Indonesian court on Thursday sentenced religious fanatics who killed three members of a minority Muslim sect in a frenzied mob attack to between three and six months in jail.

Dani bin Misra, a 17-year-old who smashed a victim’s skull with a stone, received three months for manslaughter.

Idris bin Mahdani, who led the mob of more than 1,000 Muslims in the February attack, was convicted of illegal possession of a machete and received five months and 15 days in jail.

Twelve people stood trial but none faced murder charges in what human rights activists said was a travesty of justice in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

The unprovoked violence against the Ahmadiyah sect members in Cikeusik, western Java, was one of the most horrific in a long line of attacks on the minority group in Indonesia in recent years.

Ahmadiyah, unlike mainstream Muslims, do not believe Mohammed was the last prophet and are regarded as heretics and blasphemers by conservatives in places like Indonesia and Pakistan.

A secretly filmed video of the attack brought religious violence in Indonesia under the international spotlight, and provoked condemnation from the United States, Italy and international rights groups.

“When the Cikeusik video went viral, people around the world were shocked and appalled by the savagery of the mob kicking and slashing three men to death,” Human Rights Watch Deputy Director for Asia Phil Robertson said.

“But instead of charging the defendants with murder and other serious crimes, prosecutors came up with an almost laughable list of ‘slap-on-the wrist’ charges.

“The Cikeusik trial sends the chilling message that attacks on minorities like the Ahmadiyah will be treated lightly by the legal system. This is a sad day for justice in Indonesia.”

Agence France-Presse

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/sad-day...watch/455748