Human Rights Watch Urges Govt to Revoke Ahmadiyah Bans

Human Rights Watch issued a statement on Tuesday urging the Indonesian government to revoke recent provincial decrees and the 2008 national decree banning the activities of Ahmadiyah.

The US-based NGO said the decrees and the actions of top government officials facilitated discrimination against the group and unofficially condoned recent attacks on Ahmadis.

“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.”

East Java Governor Soekarwo issued a decree on Feb. 28 banning the sect from spreading its beliefs through any media and forbidding the display of its name in public, including signposts on mosques. West Java governor Ahmad Heryawan issued a similar decree on March 3.

In its statement, Human Rights Watch also called for the removal of Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma for repeatedly urging the cabinet to issue a total band on Ahmadiyah.

“Repeated calls by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali to ban the Ahmadiyah fan the flames of violence against the group,” Robertson said.

“President [Susilo Bambang] Yudhoyono should signal that such discrimination has no place in a society that promotes religious tolerance and remove Suryadharma Ali from his post.”

Human Rights Watch said the Indonesian government was as much responsible for discrimination against Ahmadis as the provincial governments.

Violence against Ahmadiyah followers has increased following the 2008 national decree — with the number of attach rising from three in 2006 to 50 in 2010, said the NGO, citing data from the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy.

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

The NGO also urged Indonesia’s top army official to take action against all those causing harm to Ahmadiyah followers.

“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.


(2011-3-15/Jakarta Globe)