Indonesia: State continue to grapple with serious human rights concerns

The government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has a patchy record on religious freedom, failing to prevent attacks on the minority Muslim Ahmadiyah sect that have worsened since a 2008 government decree that the sect's practitioners can face up to five years in prison.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Asia Desk
Source/Credit: Taiwan News | AP | Excerpt
By Mathew Pennington | September 20, 2011

Despite that ambition as a regional leader _ and Indonesia's emergence as a model for how a predominantly Muslim country can embrace democracy _ this diverse nation of 245 million people is still grappling with serious human rights concerns of its own.

The government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has a patchy record on religious freedom, failing to prevent attacks on the minority Muslim Ahmadiyah sect that have worsened since a 2008 government decree that the sect's practitioners can face up to five years in prison. A victim of a recent mob attack received a stiffer sentence than some of his assailants.


Also, Indonesian troops have received only monthslong sentences for torture and murder in Papua, where the military retains a heavy presence because of a long-running separatist movement.

Natalegawa said he could understand how the verdicts in the Ahmadiyah cases would be viewed with "profound disappointment" but emphasized that the government could not interfere with the independent judiciary.

He said the military trials in Papua represented progress and a stark contrast with what would have happened in the past. "There would have been denial and no process whatsoever," he said.


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