From ETAN Blog:
SBY Is No
Statesman!
Peaceful
Picket
Thursday, May 30, 2013, 5:30-7:30pm
The Pierre Hotel, 2 E 61st St.,
New York City
Oppose the World
Statesman Award to President Yudhoyono from the Appeal of
Conscience Foundation
contact
ETAN for more information
Bring your own
signs and banners highlighting the ongoing human rights
issues in Indonesia, including attacks on religious freedom,
lack of justice for past human rights violations,
and ongoing rights abuses in West Papua and elsewhere.
Event on Facebook
(Should the
Appeal of Conscience Foundation withdraw the award,
we will hold a celebration outside the hotel.)
Map
Download,
print and distribute flyer promoting demonstration (PDF) |
Petisi kepada Rabbi Arthur Schneier
Urge the Appeal of Conscience Foundation to
Withdraw World Statesman Award to Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono
Petition to Appeal of Conscience Foundation
We,
the undersigned urge the Appeal of Conscience Foundation to withdraw its
World Statesman Award to Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
This award shocks our conscience.
On
May 6, 2013, in Jakarta, a coalition of victims of religious
discrimination and human rights groups in Indonesia urged the foundation
to drop its plan to give the award. We support this call.
The foundation says that it works "on behalf of religious freedom and
human rights throughout the world" and "promotes peace, tolerance and
ethnic conflict resolution."
It is regrettable that the foundation is so ready
to bestow such an award without first seriously examining the situation
in the country to see if the recipient truly merits the award.
In Indonesia there is continuing religious
violence, governmental inaction, and official impunity. Giving President
Yudhoyono the World Statesman Award dishonors to both the foundation and
mocks its recipient.
Under President Yudhoyono’s leadership, religious intolerance in
Indonesia has escalated. Houses of worship have been attacked and the
followers of religious minority faiths have faced discrimination,
assault and worse. Police and public officials often refuse to stand up
to the intolerant bullies. Sometimes they take the side of the
attackers, using their office to spread bigotry and enforce
discrimination.
President Yudhoyono has established an
unprecedented discriminatory legal infrastructure in Indonesia. He has
issued a discriminatory regulations, defended the blasphemy law at the
Constitutional Court, and promulgated a decree threatening to five years
in jail for anyone who “propagates” the Ahmadiyah teaching.
In recent years conflict and repression have
escalated in West Papua, where its indigenous people face discrimination
in their own land. At the end of April, there were at least 40
Papuan political prisoners.
Under President Yudhoyono leadership, impunity
continues for past crimes against humanity and war crimes. Police and
military often act with limited accountability throughout the
archipelago.
Sign petition here
Background
The Appeal of Conscience Foundation plans to give
the award to President Yudhoyono on May 30 in New York City.
When President Yudhoyono first took office, he
promised that his administration would promote human rights and
tolerance. Nine years later, the prospects for accountability for past
rights violations have receded; religious intolerance has grown.
Indonesia’s security forces have become increasingly abusive in West
Papua. Police and soldiers who violate human rights are rarely held
accountable. Serious human rights violations by members of the military
are tried in military courts where soldiers, if convicted, receive light
sentences.
Recent examples of religious persecution include
the
March 21 demolition of the HKBP Taman Sari church in Bekasi after an
order from the regional government. Four Ahmadiyya places of worship
were
closed within a month in West Java. Last August, members of the Shia
community in Sampang, East Java, were
forced from their homes members of the majority Sunni attacked them
for so-called blasphemy. They continue to struggle in a makeshift camp
in a sports stadium.

In 2006, President Yudhoyono issued a regulation on
building houses of worship that makes it extremely difficult for
religious minorities to construct their buildings. He signed a law that
allows the listing of only six religions on Indonesian ID cards,
basically discriminating against more than 350 other small religions. In
2009, Yudhoyono sent his cabinet members to defend the blasphemy law
when it was challenged at the Constitutional Court. They mobilized
Muslim militias to harass the petitioners and their lawyers. In April
2010, the Constitutional Court upheld the law, which provides criminal
penalties for those who express religious beliefs that deviate from the
six officially-recognized religions. The court said it is lawful to
restrict minority beliefs because it allows for the “maintenance of
public order.” In 2008, Yudhoyono issued an anti-Ahmadiyah decree,
threatening to five years jail term for anyone who “propagates” the
group’s teachings.
An ad hoc tribunal to investigate and prosecute the
1997-98 the disappearance of human rights activists has yet to be
established, though it has been approved by the legislature. Yudhoyono's
own coordinating minister for political, legal, and security affairs and
Attorney General have rejected the official human rights commission's
findings that the government's anti-Communist purges of 1965 and 1966 -
which included mass killings of up to one million people, enslavement,
torture, rape, and enforced disappearance - constituted a crime against
humanity. The truth commission and human rights courts authorized by the
2006 law on Aceh have
yet to be established. There has been no accountability for war
crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Indonesian forces
in Timor-Leste, where as many as
183,000 were killed, or
West Papua, where an estimated
100,000 have died.
On taking office, President Yudhoyono declared that
solving the September 2004 murder of Munir Said Thalib, Indonesia’s best
known human rights activist, would be a test of "whether Indonesia had
changed."
The President and
Indonesia have failed the test. He has refused to release the
report of the fact-finding team
he set up early in his Presidency.
The murder involved the national intelligence agency and serving and
former military officers; none of them have been brought to justice.

Additional Background
Human Rights Watch,
In Religions Name Abuses against Religious Minorities in Indonesia
East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN),
Human Rights & Justice page
Amnesty International:
Victims of the Aceh conflict still waiting for truth, justice and
reparation
Human Rights Watch
Indonesia: Civilian Courts Should Try Abusive Soldiers
Setara Institute,
Reports on Freedom of Religion and Belief in Indonesia
United States Commission on International Religious
Freedom,
2013 annual report
US Department of State,
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012 - Indonesia
US Department of State,
International Religious Freedom Report for 2012 - Indonesia
Criticisms of the Award (a selection)
Jakarta Post,
Yudhoyono award deemed PR stunt (May 23)
Jakarta Post,
Rights groups reject religious
freedom award for Yudhoyono (May 7)
The Jewish Daily Forward,
Why Did Jewish Group Give Award to Indonesian Blamed for Fanning Hatred?
Rights Advocates Slam Arthur Schneier's Honor for President (May 21)
KontraS,
KontraS Believes SBY Not Deserving of the Appeal of Conscience
Foundation World Statesman Award because of Ongoing, State-Supported,
Religious Intolerance in Indonesia (May 2)
Letters to Appeal
of Conscience Foundation Opposing Award to President Yudhoyono from Two
Churches Under Attack in Indonesia
Secular groups criticise "World Statesmen Award" for Indonesian
President
Tablet,
New York Rabbi’s Awful Award:
Why is a Jewish group dedicated to tolerance honoring a politician who
has failed to support religious minorities? (May 21)
Petisi kepada Rabbi Arthur Schneier
SBY bukan “World Statesman” (Negarawan Dunia) –
Batalkan Penghargaan untuk Presiden Indonesia: Seruan kepada Appeal of
Conscience Foundation untuk membatalkan penganugerahan World Statesman
Award.
Petisi oleh: East Timor and Indonesia Action
Network
Ketika Presiden Yudhoyon pertama kali menjabat,
ia berjanji bahwa pemerintahannya akan memajukan hak-hak asasi manusia
dan meningkatkan toleransi. Sembilan tahun kemudian, tidak ada
pertanggungjawaban atas pelanggaran hak-hak asasi di masa lalu;
intoleransi agama malah meningkat. Kekuatan bersenjata Indonesia menjadi
semakin sewenang-wenang di Papua. Polisi dan tentara yang melakukan
pelanggaran hak-hak asasi manusia jarang sekali harus
mempertanggungjawabkan perbuatannya. Pelanggaran berat hak-hak asasi
manusia yang dilakukan oleh anggota militer diadili di pengadilan
militer dimana tentara pada umumnya mendapat hukuman yang sangat ringan.
Catatan ini membuat Presiden Yudhoyono tidak
pantas mendapat anugerah dari sebuah organisasi yang mendukung toleransi
agama dan penegakan hak-hak asasi manusia.
Lihat selengkapnya disini:
http://www.etan.org/action/action2/sby_award.htm
Sebuah aksi unjuk rasa (demonstrasi) akan
diadakan pada tanggal 30 Mei di New York City jika pemberian penghargaan
ini tidak dibatalkan. Lebih lanjut, silahkan kontak:
etan@etan.org.
Kepada Yth.
Rabbi Arthur Schneier, President, Appeal of
Conscience Foundation
Seruan kepada Conscience Foundation untuk
membatalkan penganugerahan World Statesman Award
Kami, yang bertandatangan di bawah ini
menyerukan kepada Appeal of Conscience Foundation (selanjutnya A of C
Foundation) untuk membatalkan pemberian penghargaan World Statesman
Award kepada Presiden Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Pemberian penghargaan ini mengguncangkan hati nurani (conscience)
kami. Pada tanggal 6 Mei di Jakarta, sebuah koalisi korban-korban
diskriminasi agama dan kelompok-kelompok hak-hak asasi manusia di
Indonesia telah menyerukan kepada A of C Foundation untuk membatalkan
rencananya memberikan penghargaan ini. Kami mendukung seruan mereka.
A of C Foundation menyebutkan bahwa ia berjuang
“untuk kebebasan beragama dan hak-hak asasi manusia di seluruh dunia”
dan “memajukan perdamaian, toleransi dan penyelesaian konflik etnik.”
Sangatlah disayangkan bahwa A of C Foundation
telah terburu-buru memberikan penghargaan ini tanpa sebelumnya
menyelidiki keadaan di dalam negeri Indonesia untuk melihat apakah
penerimanya sungguh-sungguh layak untuk mendapatkan penghargaan.
Kekerasan atas nama agama terus berlanjut di
Indonesia, pemerintahnya berdiam diri, dan impunitas menjadi kebijakan
resmi. Memberikan World Statesman Award kepada Presiden Yudhoyono sama
dengan merendahkan martabat A of C Foundation dan mengolok-olok
penerima-penerima lainnya.
Di bawah kepemimpinan Presiden Yudhoyono,
intolerasni agama di Indonesia meningkat dengan pesat. Rumah-rumah
ibadah diserang dan para pengikut agama-agama minoritas menghadapi
diskriminasi, penyerangan, dan banyak hal yang lebih buruk lagi. Polisi
dan pejabat-pejabat publik seringkali tidak mau menghadapi pihak-pihak
penyerang. Seringkali mereka justru memihak para penyerang, dan
menggunakan jabatan-jabatan mereka untuk menyebarkan fanatisme dan
melakukan diskriminasi.
Presiden Yudhoyono telah menciptakan
infrastruktur hukum yang diskriminatif di Indonesia. Dia telah
mengeluarkan berbagai aturan yang diskriminatif, mempertahankan UU
tentang penodaan agama di Mahkamah Konstitusional, dan membuat
peraturan yang memberikan hukuman selama lima tahun penjara kepada siapa
saja yang menyebarkan ajaran Ahmadiyah.
Dalam beberapa tahun belakangan ini, konflik dan
penindasan telah meningkat di Papua Barat, dimana penduduk aslinya
menghadapi diskriminasi di tanah mereka sendiri. Pada akhir bulan April,
setidaknya terdapat 40 orang tahanan politik di Papua.
Di bawah kepemimpinan Presiden Yudhoyono,
impunitas terus berlanjut bagi kejahatan-kejahatan terhadap kemanusiaan
di masa lalu. Polisi dan militer seringkali bertindak dengan tanpa
tanggungjawab di seluruh negeri kepulauan ini.
Dengan segala hormat,
Sign
petition here
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