Indonesia: Obama Should Press Rights Concerns

Indonesia: Obama Should Press Rights Concerns November 15, 2011

The Obama administration’s deepening relationship with Indonesia means being frank about Indonesia’s serious human rights challenges. Indonesian government indifference to mob violence against religious groups and brutality by soldiers against peaceful protesters are good places to start. Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch

(Washington, DC) – US President Barack Obama has an important and timely opportunity to raise human rights issues with the Indonesian government when meeting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono this week in Indonesia, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Obama. He will travel to Bali for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit on November 19, 2011.

Obama should address key human rights challenges in Indonesia, including attacks on religious minorities, restrictions on freedom of expression, and the lack of accountability of Indonesian security forces for human rights abuses, especially in the easternmost province of Papua, Human Rights Watch said.

“The Obama administration’s deepening relationship with Indonesia means being frank about Indonesia’s serious human rights challenges,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Indonesian government indifference to mob violence against religious groups and brutality by soldiers against peaceful protesters are good places to start.”

On his last visit to Indonesia in November 2010, Obama made a point of praising Indonesia’s religious tolerance. However, in the last year, religious violence has become more frequent and deadly as Islamist militants have repeatedly mobilized mobs to attack religious minorities in their homes, places of worship, and community centers.

“Obama needs to temper his past praise of religious tolerance in Indonesia with some tough talk on religious freedom,” Pearson said. “He should press President Yudhoyono to end discriminatory laws and actively protect the country’s religious minorities.”

Human Rights Watch urged Obama to criticize the lack of accountability of security forces for continuing abuses, including extrajudicial killings and torture, in Papua and other areas. He should also raise concerns about Indonesian officials using vague and overbroad laws to prosecute the peaceful expression of political, religious, and other viewsin Papua and the Moluccas Islands. More than 100 activists are behind bars in Indonesia for peaceful acts of free expression. They include the former Papuan civil servant Filep Karma, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison after publicly calling for Papuan independence in December 2004.

“Obama should point out that as long as soldiers who commit torture get a few months in jail while peaceful activists get sentenced for years, Papuans are unlikely to have faith in Indonesian rule,” Pearson said. “He should urge Yudhoyono that to begin to win Papuans’ trust he should unconditionally release all political prisoners.”

URL: www.hrw.org/news/2011/11/15/...press-rights-concerns

Letter to President Barack Obama Regarding his Visit to Indonesia and Human Rights Issues

Letter to President Barack Obama Regarding his Visit to Indonesia and Human Rights Issues November 15, 2011

Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Via facsimile: +1-202-456-2461

Re: Visit to Indonesia and Human Rights Issues

Dear President Obama,

Your administration has placed great emphasis on its deepening relationship with Indonesia. We believe your trip to Bali for the East Asian Summit on November 19, 2011, is an important opportunity for you to raise human rights issues with the Indonesian government, both publicly and privately, including matters concerning freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and accountability of the military for human rights abuses.

Freedom of Religion

Last November, when visiting Jakarta, you visited the Istiqlal Grand Mosque and later made a speech at Universitas Indonesia in which you praised Indonesia’s “religious tolerance,” noting that the Istiqlal Mosque was built by a Christian architect.

In the last year, however, increasingly violent attacks on religious minorities by Islamist militants, combined with bans issued by provincial authorities, have severely undermined Indonesia’s record on this front.

Incidents of religious violence have become more deadly and more frequent in 2011, as Islamist militants have repeatedly mobilized mobs to attack religious minorities in their homes, places of worship, and community centers. According to the Setara Institute, which monitors religious freedom, religious attacks have increased from 135 incidents in 2007, 216 incidents in 2010 to 184 cases in the first nine months in 2011. Most attacks were committed with complete impunity. Police and prosecutors have failed to adequately investigate and prosecute cases, sending a chilling message that members of minority religious groups are not provided the same protections as other Indonesian citizens. Even the most deadly cases have resulted only in short prison terms for a handful of offenders.

Some Indonesian ministers, including the minister of religious affairs, Suryadharma Ali, have made multiple public statements that appear to legitimize religious discrimination and violence. President Yudhoyono has not demanded that officials retract or clarify such remarks.

Recently, the Ministry of Religions submitted a draft law on “religious harmony.” There are concerns, however, that rather than promoting tolerance, the law will simply compile existing discriminatory decrees into a single law and strengthen discrimination against religious minorities.

The government has failed to overturn several decrees that discriminate against minority religions and foster intolerance. A 2008 national government decree prohibits the Ahmadiyah, a group who consider themselves Muslim but who some Muslims consider to be heretics, from practicing their faith. At least 17 provinces and regencies in Indonesia have issued local decrees banning the Ahmadiyah faith in Indonesia. As recently as October 13, 2011, the mayor of Bekasi, near Jakarta, issued a decree banning all “Ahmadiyah activities” in the city, effectively closing down its six Ahmadiyah mosques.

Ahmadiyah have suffered some of the worst of the recent violence. In one of the worst religiously-motivated attacks in 2011, more than 1,500 Islamist militants attacked a house in Cikeusik, in western Java, in February, killing three and seriously wounding five Ahmadiyah men. The incident was recorded on video. Public outrage prompted the authorities to promise to investigate the attack. But in July the Serang district court sentenced 12 men to between just three and six months’ imprisonment for the crimes of disturbing public order, incitement, and assault. Police did not conduct thorough investigations, and prosecutors did not call key eyewitnesses to the attack. The prosecutors sought reduced sentences, contending that the Ahmadiyah provoked the attack. In August, the Serang district court convicted one of the Ahmadiyah members seriously injured in the attack, Deden Sudjana, for assault and disobeying police orders, sentencing him to six months’ imprisonment.

Other religious minorities have increasingly expressed fears about the rise in attacks since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took office in 2004. In February of this year, militants attacked three churches in Temanggung, Central Java. The Semarang district court later convicted eight of the perpetrators, sentencing them to short sentences of between five months and one year in prison. In April, an Islamist suicide bomber attacked a police mosque in Cirebon, West Java, killing himself and injuring at least 28 people; the bomber had previously been involved in violent protests over a blasphemy trial and an anti-Ahmadiyah attack in Cirebon in 2010. In September, another Islamist suicide bomber attacked a Christian church in Solo, Central Java, killing himself and wounding 14 churchgoers.

Minority congregations have also reported that local government officials arbitrarily refuse to issue permits required under a 2006 decree on building houses of worship. Those who attempt to worship without a permit often face harassment and violence from local populations or police.

Given your past statements on religious tolerance, we believe you are uniquely placed to register these issues with President Yudhoyono and call on him to take urgent steps to address growing religious tensions. In particular, you should call on President Yudhoyono to use the influence and stature of his presidency to speak out against religious violence. He should also revoke the 2008 decree on the Ahmadiyah, order provincial authorities to repeal similar local decrees, review or revoke the 2006 decree on building houses of worship, and consider amending or repealing the 1965 blasphemy law, which designates six official religions in Indonesia. You should also urge him to ensure that Indonesian prosecutors and police are tasked to fully and fairly investigate and prosecute individuals and groups implicated in attacks, threats, and harassment of religious minorities, anywhere in the country.

Impunity for Abuses by the Military

Impunity for members of Indonesia’s security forces remains a serious problem, undermining the development of the rule of law in Indonesia. The military insists on policing itself, but military tribunals rarely charge soldiers even for serious abuses. When they do file charges, the proceedings lack transparency and the charges frequently fail to reflect the seriousness of the abuses committed. We have long recommended that civilian courts be given jurisdiction over soldiers who commit serious human rights abuses, but the military and the Indonesian government have refused. This greatly exacerbates the difficulty in bringing soldiers to justice.

On July 22, 2010, then-US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates formally announced the resumption of US military relations with Indonesia’s special forces, Kopassus, the last significant barrier to full-fledged US-Indonesian military ties. Secretary Gates articulated the standards agreed to by the US and Indonesian governments and militaries:

The Ministry of Defense has publicly pledged to protect human rights and advance human rights accountability and committed to suspend from active duty military officials credibly accused of human rights abuses, remove from military service any member convicted of such abuses, and cooperate with the prosecution of any members of the military who have violated human rights.

However, 18 months later, the Indonesia military has failed to live up to the pledges made by the Defense Ministry. Past problems persist: the Indonesian military still shows no inclination to adequately and transparently investigate soldiers and especially officers responsible for abuses, involve civilian authorities in their investigations, or ensure the safety of witnesses.

While a handful of military tribunals have been held in Papua, the charges have been inadequate and soldiers that committed abuses continue to serve in the Indonesian military.

For instance, in January, a military tribunal in Jayapura, Papua, convicted three soldiers from Battalion 753 and sentenced them to between eight to twelve months’ imprisonment for the extremely brutal torture of two Papuan farmers. Despite video showing the involvement of six soldiers, the tribunal tried only three of the six soldiers, and on lesser military discipline charges instead of torture. The soldiers have not been discharged.

In August, the Jayapura military tribunal convicted three soldiers from the same battalion after soldiers shot and killed Reverend Kinderman Gire on the suspicion he was a Papuan separatist. At the trial, the defendants claimed Gire led them to believe he was a member of the rebel Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM) and tried to grab a rifle from one of them, who then shot him in the chest. They dumped the body in a river, after trying to cut off his head. Again, the tribunal convicted them of a lesser offense of “disobeying orders” and sentenced them respectively to just six, seven, and fifteen months in prison.

In August, internal military documents, mainly from Kopassus, were made public, exposing how the Indonesian military monitors peaceful activists, politicians, and religious clergy in Papua. The documents show the deep military paranoia in Papua that conflates peaceful political expression with criminal activity. Several of those named in the documents as targets have faced arbitrary arrest, imprisonment, harassment, or violence.

Recently, on October 17, the Indonesian police, backed by a detachment of military forces in armored personnel carriers, attacked a peaceful demonstration of the Papuan People’s Congress in Jayapura, killing at least three of the protesters and arresting approximately 300, including several of the event’s leaders (some of whom have traveled to the United States in the past and attended events with State Department officials and members of Congress). According to witnesses, police and army forces fired military assault weapons over the crowd and later pistol-whipped or beat the participants with rattan canes and batons, resulting in 96 injuries according to Indonesia’s Human Rights Commission. Hundreds of the protesters fled into a nearby forest, where at least three were killed under unclear circumstances –two died of gunshot wounds. We urge you to ask the Indonesian government what efforts are being made to investigate the deaths and injuries, and alleged excessive use of force by security forces at the demonstration.

We ask that you use the US’s deepening ties with the Indonesian government to press the military on its failure to hold its personnel to account for serious abuses. If the current situation prevails, the United States will increasingly be called to task for its uncritical support for the Indonesian military.

It would be very helpful if publicly and in your meeting with President Yudhoyono you were to raise concerns about recent military tribunals in Papua and the failure to bring those implicated in serious abuses to justice. The US should ask the Indonesian government for full disclosure of all military tribunal cases involving alleged abuses against civilians. Until the Indonesian government takes steps to hold perpetrators accountable, in line with the Leahy law, which prevents the US from cooperating with abusive military units, the US government should not participate in joint endeavors with military personnel or units implicated in abuses against civilians.

Intelligence Law

A new law on intelligence-gathering approved by Indonesian parliament on October 12 contains vague and overbroad language that the government could use to repress dissent and peaceful acts of free expression. The law also lacks a strong and transparent accountability mechanism. We urge you to raise concerns about the law with President Yudhoyono, and urge that it be revised to meet rule-of-law requirements and international due process standards. The president should immediately order an interim measure to limit any opportunity for the law’s misuse by setting up an independent oversight mechanism for the State Intelligence Agency (Badan Intelejen Negara, BIN).

Threats to Free Expression

In the years immediately after President Suharto was forced from power, Indonesia made huge strides in opening space for free expression and the media. But recent years have seen some troubling developments. Indonesian officials continue to enforce a number of laws that criminalize the peaceful expression of political, religious, and other views. These laws include offenses in Indonesia’s criminal code such as treason (makar) and “inciting hatred” (haatzai artikelen), which have been used repeatedly against peaceful political activists, particularly those from the Moluccas and Papua.

More than a hundred such activists are currently behind bars in Indonesia for peaceful acts of free expression. For instance, Filep Karma, a civil servant, made a speech in December 2004 in Jayapura that was critical of the government’s policies in Papua. He is currently serving a 15-year sentence in Abepura on charges of treason. Ruben Saiya, a farmer from the Moluccas, joined a protest dance in front of President Yudhoyono in an Ambon stadium in June 2007. He was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for treason. And as noted above, several Papua leaders were recently arrested after holding an event in Jayapura.

Human Rights Watch takes no position on claims to self-determination in the Moluccas Islands and Papua. Consistent with international law, however, Human Rights Watch supports the right of all individuals, including independence supporters, to express their political views peacefully without fear of arrest or other forms of reprisal. Indonesian laws, however, consider these non-violent acts as “treason” with the maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

We urge that you raise your concerns on the right to free expression in Indonesia with President Yudhoyono, and particularly urge that you ask Indonesian authorities to unconditionally release Filep Karma, Ruben Saiya, and all prisoners held for the peaceful expression of their views. The Indonesian government should also amend or repeal laws that criminalize peaceful political expression and repeal laws that criminalize defamation and “insulting” public officials, which are subject to misuse by authorities and individuals seeking to silence criticism.

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to working with the White House, the State Department, the Defense Department, and the US Embassy in Jakarta to address these concerns.

Sincerely,

Brad Adams
Executive Director
Asia Division

URL: www.hrw.org/news/2011/11/15/...human-rights-issues

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

Indonesia: Verdicts a Setback for Religious Freedom

Indonesia: Verdicts a Setback for Religious Freedom Investigate All Involved in Deadly Attack on Ahmadiyah Community July 28, 2011

A still shot from a video showing the assault of Ahmadiyah muslims by a group of assailants in Banten province in Western Java on Sunday, January 6.
Source: Private

Indonesian authorities should be making all-out efforts to bring to justice those who kill people because of their religious beliefs. The Cikeusik trial sends the chilling message that attacks on minorities like the Ahmadiyah will be treated lightly by the legal system. Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch

(Jakarta) — The light sentences imposed on Islamist militants for a deadly attack on a religious minority in Indonesia reflect the authorities’ weak efforts to prosecute the case, Human Rights Watch said today. The verdicts, announced on July 28, 2011, are a setback for religious freedom in Indonesia, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch said both police and prosecutors failed to present a fully compelling case against the 12 defendants for their role in an organized attack on the Ahmadiyah community in Cikeusik village, Banten province in western Java on February 6 that left three people dead and five seriously injured. Police did not conduct thorough investigations, and prosecutors did not call key eyewitnesses to the attack. The prosecutors also sought reduced sentences, contending that the Ahmadiyah provoked the attack.

“Indonesian authorities should be making all-out efforts to bring to justice those who kill people because of their religious beliefs,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Cikeusik trial sends the chilling message that attacks on minorities like the Ahmadiyah will be treated lightly by the legal system.”

The Serang district court in Java found 12 persons guilty on a mixture of charges, including public incitement, illegal possession of sharp weapons, destruction of property, maltreatment of others, individual assault, participating in an assault, involvement in an attack, and attacking others causing serious injuries or death. The court sentenced the accused to between 3 to 6 months in prison. Assault resulting in death can bring a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison.

None of the defendants were charged with murder or manslaughter.

Much of the attack on the Ahamadiyah home, which involved some 1,500 Islamist militants against about 20 Ahmadiyah members, was captured on video and posted on the Internet.

At the trial, which began on April 26, prosecutors only recommended sentences of up to seven months, saying that the sentences should be reduced since the Ahmadiyah members partly provoked the attack and filmed and distributed videos of the attack. By contrast, in a separate trial against an Ahmadiyah member, Deden Sujana, for his alleged role in provoking the attack, the prosecutors have charged him with incitement, disobeying police orders, and maltreatment. One of those charges, disobeying police orders, provides a maximum sentence of four years.

“It’s outrageous that the prosecutors asked for a reduction in sentences on the basis that the Ahmadiyah filmed and distributed a video of the attack on their community,” Pearson said. “It is telling victims of serious crime that they should keep quiet rather than come forward.”

Arif, an Ahmadiyah present during the attack, made the recording of the violence, which was later posted on YouTube. The police and prosecutors used the 28-minute video in their investigation. The 12 defendants were identified from the video footage and can be seen beating Ahmadiyah members.

The three Ahmadiyah members killed – Warsono Kastolib, Roni Pasaroni, and Tubagus Chandra – died of multiple injuries sustained during the attack, forensic reports said. In the footage, a 17-year-old defendant, “D.,” whose name was withheld because he is a child, hits Kastolib, who is sitting next to a hedge, on the head with a large stone. According to the prosecution, D. then struck the fallen Kastolib six times in the head with a wooden stick. The prosecutors also said that D. later struck Pasaroni, who was lying motionless, with a wooden stick. The prosecutors said that Chandra was killed when the crowd caught him next to the Ahmadiyah house.

Police investigations of the attack were woefully inadequate, Human Rights Watch said. Police interviewed Arif and two of the five Ahmadiyah who were seriously injured, but failed to question other Ahmadiyah who were injured or present during the attack or to ask them to testify.

“An extremely well-organized group of attackers targeted a religious minority group, yet the authorities have made no apparent effort to uncover the people behind the attack,” Pearson said. “The police shouldn’t rest until those who orchestrated the violence are arrested.”

One of those seriously injured, Muhamad Ahmad, told Human Rights Watch that he was not given an opportunity to testify at the trial.

“I might not recognize them, one by one, but I could describe the situation,” he said. “We were just trying to defend our properties. Hundreds of Ahmadiyah properties were destroyed and the government did almost nothing.”

Sujana, the Ahmadiyah being tried on charges of provoking the attack, was the only Ahmadiyah member asked to testify. He was berated by a judge about his faith and his motivations in going to Cikeusik that day, a scene videoed and available on YouTube. Responding to a question from the judges, prosecutors claimed they could not find the addresses of other witnesses, although two of them later testified at Sujana’s trial.

“The Cikeusik trial should have been a way to show vulnerable groups in Indonesia that when they are targets of violence, the state will protect them,” Pearson said. “Instead, these sentences will embolden militants who will see that using deadly violence brings few consequences.”

Background
The Ahmadiyah, a religious community founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, identify themselves as Muslims but differ with other Muslims about whether Muhammad was the “final” monotheist prophet. Consequently, some Muslims perceive the Ahmadiyah as “heretics.” Approximately 200,000 Indonesians follow the faith.

Indonesian law facilitates discrimination against the Ahmadiyah. A June 2008 decree requires the Ahmadiyah to “stop spreading interpretations and activities that deviate from the principal teachings of Islam,” including “spreading the belief that there is another prophet with his own teachings after Prophet Muhammad.” Violations of the decree can result in prison sentences of up to five years.

At the time the 2008 decree was signed, officials said it was necessary to help stop further violence. Yet since the decree, violence against the Ahmadiyah has increased dramatically, from three incidents in 2006 to 50 in 2010, according to the Setara Institute, a nongovernmental group that monitors religious freedom.

Few cases of violence against religious communities make it to court in Indonesia. When cases are brought to trial, the sentences for those convicted rarely match the seriousness of their crimes. In a trial that began in January in Bogor district court, three defendants were tried for setting fire to an Ahmadiyah mosque, a school, and more than a dozen houses in an October 2010 attack in Cisalada village, western Java. Three Ahmadiyah were injured in the attack. On April 14, the defendants were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms of between four and six months, while an Ahmadiyah man who tried to defend himself from attack was sentenced to nine months in prison.

Earlier in 2011, more than a dozen provincial governors and regents issued anti-Ahmadiyah regulations, contradicting Indonesia’s Autonomy Law, which prohibits regional governments from regulating religious matters. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly called for the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to rescind the 2008 decree, as it violates the fundamental right to freedom of religion. The Home Affairs Ministry should also annul all regional regulations on religions.

Prohibiting the Ahmadiyah from practicing their religion violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Indonesia in 2005, which protects the right to freedom of religion and the right to engage in religious practice “either individually or in community with others and in public or private.” The treaty also protects the rights of minorities “to profess and practice their own religion.”

URL: www.hrw.org/news/2011/07/28/indonesia-verdicts-setback...

‘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

Youth Gets Three Months’ Jail for Brutal Ahmadiyah Attack

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Youth Gets Three Months’ Jail for Brutal Ahmadiyah Attack

Jakarta Globe | July 28, 2011

Indonesian Police are putting on a massive display of force as the trials of 10 defendants charged in the brutal violence against members of the minority Ahmadiyah religion in Banten conclude with the verdicts on Thursday morning.

One verdict has already been passed, with one youth, Dani bin Misra, 17, being jailed for three months. Dani is the teenager made infamous when a video of him striking one of the Ahmadis in the head with a large stone as he lay on the ground was broadcast around the world.

He was found guilty of assault, public incitement, property destruction and an attack that caused death, according to Andreas Harsono from Human Rights Watch.

Considering the amount of time already served, Dani should walk of jail any day.

Police in the provincial capital Serang said 1,200 officers had been deployed both in and outside the court “to anticipate unwanted things.”

Serang Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Krisnandi told the Jakarta Globe that three layers of security had been applied.

“Officers are deployed inside the courtroom, the court parking lot and the street in front of it,” Krisnandi said.

Police snipers were also in position, he said.

Police are concerned that violence will erupt if supporters of the defendants are unhappy with the verdicts.

The defendants, charged with crimes ranging from provoking violence to assault, received sentence demands in the five to seven-month range — far below the maximum of six years for the lesser charge of provocation.

Prosecutors have said the sentencing requests were light because they believe the group of 25 Ahmadis played a part in provoking the attack in Cikeusik on Feb. 6.

Three Ahmadis were killed in the attack by an enraged mob who believe Ahmadis are members of a deviant sect. Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims.

The attacks — and other religious-based violence — have brought international condemnation and concerns that many in Indonesia are becoming more and more intolerant.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/youth-gets.../455728

Rights Group Calls on Clinton to Address Injustice During Indonesia Trip

NEWS

Rights Group Calls on Clinton to Address Injustice During Indonesia Trip

Lauren Zumbach | July 20, 2011

Human Rights Watch has called on US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to focus on military abuses, freedom of expression and religious minorities’ rights during her visit to Indonesia from Thursday to Sunday.

In a statement released to Clinton on Tuesday, the rights group’s deputy Asia director, Elaine Pearson, criticized the United States for failing to promote action to address “military atrocities” despite the fact that closer military ties between that country and Indonesia were to be “a reward for better behavior by Indonesian soldiers.”

The plan to increase military cooperation was announced last year during a visit to Indonesia by then-US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

“This is an important opportunity for Clinton to speak publicly about the need for genuine reform,” Pearson said in the statement, which described cases like the May 2010 torture of two farmers in Papua. Though soldiers were captured on video kicking the victims and touching one’s genitals with a piece of burning wood, none of the soldiers were charged with torture, instead receiving eight- to ten-month sentences for “disobeying orders.”

In addition to concerns over military abuses, the letter asked Clinton to address Indonesian laws inhibiting free expression and the continued imprisonment of over 100 activists.

Pearson added that laws against dissent and attacks on religious minorities were “getting worse,” citing attacks on Ahmadiyah mosques in the wake of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s 2008 decree restricting the Islamic sect’s activities.

“If the US really wants to support Indonesia as a rights-respecting democracy, then Clinton should not shy away from stressing the importance of rolling back practices that undermine freedom of religion and speech,” Pearson said.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/politics/rights-group-calls.../454059

Indonesia: Clinton Should Raise Human Rights Concerns

Indonesia: Clinton Should Raise Human Rights Concerns Address Military Impunity, Freedom of Religion and Expression July 19, 2011

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
© 2011 Reuters

This is an important opportunity for Clinton to speak publicly about the need for genuine military reform. Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch

(New York) — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should raise military accountability for abuses, freedom of expression, and the rights of religious minorities during her visit to Indonesia on July 21 to 24, 2011, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Secretary Clinton released today.

Clinton is to arrive in Bali a year after Robert Gates, the US defense secretary at that time, formally announced the resumption of US military relations with Indonesia’s special forces, Kopassus, which removed the last significant barrier to full-fledged US-Indonesian military ties.

“Closer US military ties with Indonesia were a reward for better behavior by Indonesian soldiers, yet one year later atrocities by the military still go unpunished,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This is an important opportunity for Clinton to speak publicly about the need for genuine military reform.”

On July 22, 2010, Secretary Gates announced that the Indonesian Defense Ministry “publicly pledged to protect human rights and advance human rights accountability and committed to suspend from active duty military officials credibly accused of human rights abuses, remove from military service any member convicted of such abuses, and cooperate with the prosecution of any members of the military who have violated human rights.”

However, the Indonesian military has failed to live up to its pledges to the US government to improve accountability, Human Rights Watch said. In one example, in January, three soldiers received light 8-to-10 month sentences for “disobeying orders” in the May 2010 torture of two farmers in Papua. None were charged with torture despite video evidence showing the soldiers kicking the victims, threatening one with a knife to his face, and repeatedly jabbing the second in the genitals with burning wood. Yet, a US Defense Department official characterized the prosecution of this case as “a success.”

Human Rights Watch also urged Clinton to raise concerns about several laws that criminalize the peaceful expression of political, religious, and other views. Clinton should call on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to release immediately the more than 100 activists currently behind bars in Indonesia for peaceful acts of free expression, Human Rights Watch said.

Longstanding impunity for violence against religious minorities in Indonesia has fostered larger and more brutal attacks by Islamist militants. Since President Yudhoyono issued a decree restricting activity by the Ahmadiyah religious community in 2008, more than 180 attacks against Ahmadiyah mosques and other properties have been recorded. The Ahmadiyah, who consider themselves Muslims, have long been the targets of violence and persecution in Indonesia because some Muslims view them as heretics. Clinton should urge Yudhoyono to withdraw the 2008 anti-Ahmadiyah decree and take other actions to protect religious freedom in the country, Human Rights Watch said.

“Laws stifling dissent are used against peaceful critics, and violent attacks on religious minorities are getting worse,” Pearson said. “If the US really wants to support Indonesia as a rights-respecting democracy, then Clinton should not shy away from stressing the importance of rolling back practices that undermine freedom of religion and speech.”

URL: www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/07/19/indonesia-clinton-should...

Indonesia: Monitor Trials of Deadly Attack on Religious Minority

Indonesia: Monitor Trials of Deadly Attack on Religious Minority Investigate Mob Attack Further to Find Instigators June 16, 2011

Ujang M. Arif, a Muslim cleric, stands trial for his role in the February attack of an Ahmadiyah house in Cikeusik, western Java.
© 2011 Private

Indonesia has often failed to successfully prosecute crimes targeting religious minorities, exacerbating a culture of violent persecution. The Judiciary Commission should monitor these trials to strengthen justice in response to anti-Ahmadiyah attacks. Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch

(New York) — Indonesia’s Judiciary Commission should monitor the trials of those charged in the deadly February 2011 attacks on the Ahmadiyah community in western Java, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the Judiciary Commission released today. Having Commission representatives monitor the trials would acknowledge the importance of the case for the rights of religious minorities in Indonesia as well as concerns about the conduct of the proceedings, Human Rights Watch said.

“Indonesia has often failed to successfully prosecute crimes targeting religious minorities, exacerbating a culture of violent persecution,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Judiciary Commission should monitor these trials to strengthen justice in response to anti-Ahmadiyah attacks.”

On February 6, a mob of 1,500 people attacked 20 members of the Ahmadiyah community in Cikeusik district, Banten province. Three Ahmadis were killed and five were seriously wounded in the attack, captured on film by an amateur videographer.

Trials for 12 defendants accused of the attack began on April 26. Police have so far acted professionally to maintain security in the courtroom, given the large numbers of protesters gathering at times outside the court. The defendants are charged with various crimes, including assault causing death, incitement, maltreatment of others (less serious assault), participating in assault, and illegal possession of sharp weapons. Assault resulting in death brings a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison. None were charged with murder or manslaughter.

Human Rights Watch also called on the police to conduct full investigations into all those involved in the attack. Courtroom testimony from witnesses on June 9 suggest that the Umbulan village head Johar (who uses only one name) and the secretary of the local Islamic Ulema Council, Ahmad Baghawi, played a role in determining February 6 as the date to forcibly remove the Ahmadiyah from Cikeusik.

“It is deeply troubling that police investigations into the brutal beating deaths of three people for their religious beliefs did not uncover who was behind the attacks,” Pearson said. “For justice to be complete, investigations should not stop at the 12 defendants, but include all those playing a role in this horrific attack.”

Violence against the Ahmadiyah community and other religious minorities is common in Indonesia, yet the Indonesian government has failed to seriously address the problem, Human Rights Watch said. Despite the high-profile nature of the case, the conduct of the trial so far has raised concerns that the religious beliefs of the victims might affect the outcome of the trials.

An eight-minute video clip of the trial uploaded to YouTube raises concerns about judicial impartiality as a judge berates an Ahmadiyah witness, Deden Sujana, about his religious faith and the motivations of the religious community. Defense lawyers have asked inappropriate questions of some witnesses - such as probing Sujana’s religious faith – in an apparent effort to intimidate them, with no interference from the judges. Outside the courtroom, a defense lawyer told reporters that Sujana must be “bullied till he shits” (“digencet hingga mencret”), but has suffered no rebuke from the court.

The Serang district court is separately hearing a case against Sujana on allegations that he had a role in provoking the attack. Prosecutors have called for a six-year prison sentence on charges of incitement, disobeying police orders, and maltreatment (less serious assault). Human Rights Watch urged the Judiciary Commission to monitor Sujana’s trial along with the others.

The Ahmadiyah, who consider themselves Muslims, have long been the targets of violence and persecution in Indonesia because some Muslims view them as heretics to Islam. Following a 2008 national decree that requires the Ahmadiyah to stop proselytizing their faith, attacks have increased dramatically - from 3 incidents in 2006 to 50 in 2010, according to the Setara Institute, a nongovernmental group that monitors religious freedom.

“If Indonesia’s courts deal properly with these cases, it could go a long way toward protecting religious minorities in the country,” Pearson said. “The Judicary Commission should send representatives to monitor the trials to ensure justice is done for all parties involved.”

URL: www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/16/indonesia...minority

Indonesia: Act on Human Rights Commitments

Indonesia: Act on Human Rights Commitments Strengthen Freedom of Religion, Expression, Assembly June 8, 2011

Indonesia’s election to the Human Rights Council should be an impetus for rights reform at home. If Indonesia wants to be a global leader on human rights, it should start by protecting religious minorities and allowing peaceful protests by political dissidents. Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch

(New York) - Indonesia should use its election to the United Nations Human Rights Council to implement reforms on the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and religion, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. While Indonesia has in recent years moved toward being a rights-respecting democracy, unaddressed human rights concerns could seriously undermine its stability and democratic reforms, Human Rights Watch said.

“Indonesia’s election to the Human Rights Council should be an impetus for rights reform at home,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “If Indonesia wants to be a global leader on human rights, it should start by protecting religious minorities and allowing peaceful protests by political dissidents.”

Indonesian laws and policies that obstruct the right to free expression have been used repeatedly against peaceful political activists from the Moluccas, Papua, and other regions. Other laws contribute to religious violence by criminalizing religious practices that deviate from the central tenets of the country’s six officially recognized religions. Longstanding impunity for religious violence has fostered larger and more brutal attacks by Islamist militants against religious minorities, particularly the Ahmadiyah, who consider themselves Muslims but are seen by some other Muslims as heretics. Human Rights Watch also urged Indonesia to address impunity for abuses by the security forces.

To demonstrate its commitment to human rights, the Indonesian government should follow through on the pledges it submitted ahead of its election to the UN Human Rights Council on May 20, 2011, Human Rights Watch said. These include responding without delay to outstanding requests to visit by UN human rights experts such as the special rapporteur on religious freedom, and ratifying core human rights treaties, including the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

“Indonesia has proudly expressed its commitment to human rights as a member of the Human Rights Council,” Pearson said. “Indonesia should now back those commitments with real reform at home.”

URL: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/08/indonesia...commitments

Indonesia: Ensure Security in Religious Killings Trial

Indonesia: Ensure Security in Religious Killings Trial Fair Proceedings and Witness Protection Critical for Improving Minority Rights April 19, 2011

A still shot from a video showing the assault of Ahmadiyah muslims by a group of assailants in Banten province in Western Java on Sunday, January 6. Source: Private

For the Cikeusik trial to be a step toward ending religious violence in Indonesia, the police need to ensure the security of everyone in the courtroom. Witnesses brave enough to testify, as well as judges and prosecutors, should not have to face intimidation. Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch

UPDATE: The opening of the trial has now been postponed to April 26.

(New York) - Indonesian authorities should ensure the safety of all those attending the trial of 11 men charged in the deadly February 2011 attacks on the Ahmadiyah community in the village of Cikeusik in western Java, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch said that the trial, which begins April 21, in Serang district, Banten province, can help reduce anti-Ahmadiyah violence in the country if it meets international fair trial standards and provides full protection for victims, witnesses, and court officials.

Longstanding impunity for religious violence in Indonesia has fostered larger and more brutal attacks by Islamist militants against religious minorities, and may have contributed to an April 15 suicide bombing of a police mosque in Cirebon, West Java province, Human Rights Watch said.

“For the Cikeusik trial to be a step toward ending religious violence in Indonesia, the police need to ensure the security of everyone in the courtroom,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Witnesses brave enough to testify, as well as judges and prosecutors, should not have to face intimidation.”

On February 6, a mob of about 1,500 people attacked 21 members of the Ahmadiyah religious community in Cikeusik, in Banten province, killing three people and seriously wounding five others. About 30 police officers were present but did little to stop the attack. A videographer recorded the violence, and the video was later posted by various individuals and organizations on YouTube. Since the attack, Ahmadiyah members in the village have found it difficult to return home due to tension and continued harassment from government officials and other villagers. Only an Ahmadiyah widow and her daughter remain in the village; others have moved to larger cities.

Few cases of violence against religious minorities reach trial in Indonesia, and such trials on Java, Indonesia’s majority-Muslim main island, have often been disrupted by Islamist militant threats and violence.

In a trial that began in January in Bogor district court regarding an October 2010 attack on an Ahmadiyah mosque in Cisalada village, more than 1,000 Islamist militants attended the hearings at times. Over the course of the trial, they threatened and harassed witnesses, judges, and prosecutors both in and outside the courtroom. On April 14, three defendants were found guilty of attacking the Ahmadiyah mosque and sentenced to prison terms of between four and six months; prosecutors had sought nine-month sentences.

In 2008, numerous activists from the Islamic Defender Front (FPI) attended the trial of an FPI member charged with violence at a June 2008 interfaith rally supporting the Ahmadiyah at the National Monument (Monas) in Jakarta. A witness said FPI members assaulted her outside the courtroom.

Human Rights Watch called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to review the increasing violence against religious and other minorities in Indonesia, and to revoke national and provincial decrees that ban Ahmadiyah practices. Over the past three years, there have been more than 180 anti-Ahmadiyah attacks, according to the Setara Institute, a nongovernmental group that monitors religious freedom.

A June 2008 national decree requires the Ahmadiyah to “stop spreading interpretations and activities that deviate from the principal teachings of Islam,” including “spreading the belief that there is another prophet with his own teachings after Prophet Muhammad.” Violations of the decree can result in prison sentences of up to five years.

The Ahmadiyah identify themselves as Muslims but differ with other Muslims as to whether Muhammad was the “final” monotheist prophet. Consequently, some Muslims perceive the Ahmadiyah as heretics.

On April 15, 2011, a suicide bomber, Mochamad Syarif, detonated a bomb at the mosque in the Cirebon police precinct, West Java, leaving 26 wounded. Syarif had been previously implicated in anti-Ahmadiyah attacks in Manis Lor, West Java, in July 2010, and harassing witnesses in a religious trial on blasphemy in Cirebon in 2010. Footage from Metro TV shows Syarif participating in demonstrations against the Ahmadiyah, banging on a vehicle holding the prosecutor and the blasphemy suspect, and attacking a police barricade at Manis Lor village.

“President Yudhoyono should rein in Islamist militants before they claim more lives, and that starts with revoking policies that promote religious intolerance,” Pearson said. “The government should be aggressively prosecuting all those responsible for scores of attacks against religious minorities in recent years.”

In a positive development, on February 16, the Nahdlatul Ulama, an independent Islamic organization, released a statement calling on all Muslims to respect the law and avoid religious violence.

Established in Indonesia in the 1920s, the Nahdlatul Ulama is one of the largest Islamic organizations worldwide. The statement says that “differences of religion and belief cannot be a justification to commit violent or arbitrary acts,” and urges the government “seriously fulfill its constitutional obligation to enforce the law and provide protection to all citizens regardless of religion or belief.”

“A major Muslim organization is telling the government to get serious about ending religious violence and protecting Indonesians of all beliefs,” Pearson said. “The government needs to start listening and taking action to prevent future crimes against minorities like the Cikeusik killings and Cirebon bombing.”

URL: www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/19/indonesia...trial

Indonesia: Revoke Provincial Decrees to Ban a Faith

Indonesia: Revoke Provincial Decrees to Ban a Faith

Religious Affairs Minister Should be Removed for Promoting Discrimination

March 15, 2011

Repeated calls by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali to ban the Ahmadiyah fan the flames of violence against the group. President Yudhoyono should signal that such discrimination has no place in a society that promotes religious tolerance and remove Suryadharma Ali from his post. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia should void decrees recently adopted by two provinces that ban activities by the Ahmadiyah religious community, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch repeated its call for the president to revoke the national anti-Ahmadiyah 2008 decree, which bars public propagation of the Ahmadiyah faith.

On February 28, 2011, the provincial government in East Java, which has a population of 37 million, banned the activities of the Ahmadiyah community, outlawing the display of their mosque and school signs and the use of “electronic media” to extend their teachings. On March 3, the government in West Java, Indonesia’s most populous province, with 43 million people, also banned the Ahmadiyahs’ activities. Both provincial governments based their laws on the June 2008 national decree by the Yudhoyono administration, violations of which can result in prison sentences of up to five years. Jemaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia, the religious group’s leadership, reports that 16 provinces and regencies in Indonesia have issued anti-Ahmadiyah decrees since 2006.

“Indonesian national and provincial authorities risk being complicit in anti-Ahmadiyah violence by stripping this religious community of their basic rights,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These decrees place officials on the side of militants who increasingly have been carrying out attacks on the Ahmadiyah.”

The Ahmadiyah movement was founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. The Ahmadiyah identify themselves as Muslims but differ with other Muslims as to whether Muhammad was the final monotheist prophet. As a result, some other Muslims perceive the Ahmadiyah as heretics. Approximately 300,000 Indonesians follow the faith.

On February 6, a mob of 1,500 people attacked 21 Ahmadiyah members in Cikeusik, a village in the Banten province in western Java, killing three people and seriously wounding five others. About 30 police officers were present but did little to stop the attack. A videographer recorded the brutality, and the video was later posted by various individuals and organizations on YouTube. Widespread national and international condemnation of the attack ultimately prompted the Indonesian police to investigate the attack and arrest 12 suspects.

Additional attacks on Ahmadiyah communities soon followed. On March 11, villagers attacked four Ahmadiyah houses in Ciareuteun village, in Bogor. The police took no action against the assailants but arrested and questioned seven Ahmadiyah members and forced them to sign a document to renounce their faith. On March 13, in the nearby Bogor village of Cimanggu, assailants attacked four Ahmadiyah houses, causing the residents to flee. Local police later assigned guards around the Ahmadiyah properties in Cimanggu.

Since the February 6 attack, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali has repeatedly urged the cabinet to issue a total ban on the Ahmadiyah, claiming justification in a 2005 fatwa issued by the Indonesian Ulemas’ Council and the 2008 national anti-Ahmadiya decree. Ali has also recommended that the government declare the Ahmadiyah faith a new religion that is not permitted to make use of Islamic symbols such as the Quran, its rituals, and the Prophet Mohammed. He also has frequently urged Indonesia to follow the “Pakistan road,” to ban and criminalize Ahmadiyah activities.

“Repeated calls by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali to ban the Ahmadiyah fan the flames of violence against the group,” Robertson said. “President Yudhoyono should signal that such discrimination has no place in a society that promotes religious tolerance and remove Suryadharma Ali from his post.”

At least one senior Indonesian military officer has similarly called for restrictions on the rights of Ahmadiyah. On March 9 the West Java military commander, Major General Moeldoko, openly asked his soldiers in Bandung to support banning the Ahmadiyah and urged Muslims “to invade” and “to occupy” Ahmadiyah mosques. Soldiers under his command and police officers went to an Ahmadiyah mosque in Bandung during Friday prayers on March 11 and demanded that the Ahmadiyah imam, Ahmad Sulaeman, be replaced by Asep Zaenal Ausof of the Indonesian Ulemas’ Council’s Bandung branch.

“Indonesia’s top army commander, General George Toisuta, should order all officers to respect the rights of all religious communities and take immediate action against those harassing the Ahmadiyah or other faiths,” Robertson said.

Indonesian law facilitates discrimination against the Ahmadiyah. The June 2008 decree, the “Joint Ministerial Decree on Warning and Ordering the Jemaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia and Others,” requires the Ahmadiyah to “stop spreading interpretations and activities that deviate from the principal teachings of Islam,” including “spreading the belief that there is another prophet with his own teachings after Prophet Muhammad.” Human Rights Watch has consistently called for the government to rescind this decree, as it violates the right to freedom of religion. At the time the decree was signed, officials said it was necessary to help stop further violence.

Since the national anti-Ahmadiyah decree was issued, violence against the Ahmadiyah community has increased dramatically. The Setara Institute, a respected nongovernmental organization that monitors religious freedom in Indonesia, recorded a rise from three attacks in 2006 to 50 in 2010.

Prohibiting the Ahmadiyah from practicing their religion is in violation of Indonesia’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Indonesia in 2006, which protects the right to freedom of religion and to engage in religious practice “either individually or in community with others and in public or private.” The treaty also protects the rights of minorities “to profess and practice their own religion.” It provides that the protections in the treaty shall extend throughout a state “without any limitations or exceptions,” thus obliging provincial and other local governments to abide by its provisions.

Human Rights Watch urged concerned countries to call on the Indonesian government to protect the rights of religious minorities in the country. Specifically, foreign embassies in Jakarta should raise their concerns and seek reforms not only in contacts with national officials, such as Yudhoyono and Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi, but with provincial leaders, including the West Java governor, Ahmad Heryawan, and the East Java governor, Soekarwo.

“Provincial officials are no less responsible than their counterparts in Jakarta for ensuring that the rights of their populations are fully protected” Robertson said.

URL: www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/15/indonesia...

Indonesia: For Ahmadiyah, the Official Line Kills

Indonesia: For Ahmadiyah, the Official Line Kills by Elaine Pearson Published in: The Jakarta Globe February 24, 2010

Elaine Pearson

Last July, violence erupted when municipal police and hundreds of people organized by militant Islamist groups tried to break into an Ahmadiyah mosque in Manis Lor village, West Java.

At the time, I made an eerily prescient statement to the media: “When the Indonesian authorities sacrifice the rights of religious minorities to appease hard-line Islamist groups, this simply causes more violence. While the police rightly stopped mobs from entering the mosque, their failure to arrest a single person will only embolden these groups to use violence again.”

Seven months later, on Feb. 6, a mob of some 1,500 people struck again in western Java, attacking about 20 Ahmadiyah members in Cikeusik village, Banten.

This time the mob broke in, destroyed and burned a house, van and motorcycle. They ordered the Ahmadiyah men to strip naked, and video footage shows them being gruesomely beaten with wooden sticks, hoes and machetes. Three died and six were wounded.

Militant Islamist groups clearly feel emboldened by the police’s failure to respond to attacks against religious minorities.

This effective impunity, combined with the government’s support for an anti-Ahmadiyah decree and Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali’s call for an outright ban on Ahmadiyah, has sent a message that the Ahmadis are fair game.

Yet when Ahmadiyah members try to protect themselves from violence, conspiracy theorists and some journalists and bloggers accuse them of making it all up and provoking attacks.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has rightly ordered a full investigation into the Feb. 6 killings, including into the police response. On Feb. 11, National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo removed the chief of the Banten Police, Brig. Gen. Agus Kusnadi, and the Pandeglang Police chief commissionaire, Fauzy Rasyad, who was in charge of Cikeusik.

Yudhoyono has also ordered that groups advocating violence should be shut down. But his administration should have acted earlier to prevent these killings by publicly upholding minority communities’ right to religious freedom and ensuring their protection in the face of growing attacks.

Yudhoyono should revoke the 2008 decree that requires the Ahmadiyah community to “stop spreading interpretations and activities that deviate from the principal teachings of Islam.” Violations of the decree can result in prison sentences of up to five years.

But three days after the attack, Suryadharma yet again called on the Yudhoyono cabinet to ban Ahmadiyah. He argued that the ban should be based on a 2005 edict issued by the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) and the 2008 decree. Yudhoyono should publicly refute these comments.

Since the edict and the decree, vigilante groups have increasingly attacked the Ahmadiyah community.

Following the 2005 edict, Islamist groups attacked the Ahmadiyah headquarters near Bogor. Assaults on Ahmadiyah members were reported in East Lombok, Manis Lor, Tasikmalaya, Parung, Garut, Ciaruteun and Sadasari.

Attacks continued in 2006, forcing 187 Ahmadis to flee to a camp for displaced persons in Lombok after mobs destroyed their homes and mosques. In December 2007, mobs attacked Ahmadiyah followers in Kuningan, West Java.

Following the June 2008 decree, things got even worse. In 2008, Islamist militia groups attacked an interfaith gathering at the National Monument in Jakarta, beating activists and threatening to attack prominent figures like former President Abdurrahman Wahid, presidential adviser Adnan Buyung Nasution and rights commissioner Asmara Nababan.

In 2008 and 2009, there was anti-Ahmadiyah violence across the archipelago - Ternate, Lombok, West Java, West Sumatra, Southeast Sulawesi, North Sulawesi and across Kalimantan. Then, in July 2010, came the Manis Lor attack.

Just a week before this month’s Cikeusik attack, on Jan. 28, police “evacuated” members of an Ahmadiyah congregation from its mosque in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, amid increasingly threatening protests by the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). Militants then attacked the mosque, destroying property and windows.

Throughout these attacks, police have often been present and have sometimes tried to negotiate or safely remove the Ahmadis before violence started. But police have failed spectacularly in preventing attacks or holding those fomenting religious violence accountable.

As a result of what happened in Manis Lor, Ahmadiyah leaders felt compelled to bring attention to attacks on their members and mosques in order to make the violence stop.

They set up an emergency team to help Ahmadiyah communities in danger and trained advocates to negotiate with the police.

The Ahmadiyah board also asked a TV station in Jakarta to train some Ahmadis as journalists - to prepare news stories, verify information and use cameras. The video journalist who recorded the Cikeusik violence was one of these Ahmadiyah activists.

Based on the police’s poor track record, the Islamists involved in Cikeusik are probably surprised that they may be held accountable for the attack that killed three. So far, police have arrested at least six suspects.

Given the clear evidence of criminal offenses on the video, police should ensure they redouble their efforts to find and arrest all the perpetrators.

And if Yudhoyono is serious about ending religious violence, he should do more than ensure that the police adequately investigate this tragedy. He should quickly revoke the decree that whips up this sentiment.

Elaine Pearson is deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

URL: www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/24/indonesia...line-kills