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Ban will justify crimes against Ahmadiyah: UN
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 05/22/2008 11:26 AM | National
The United Nations Committee against Torture (UNCAT) has recommended Indonesia drop its plan to outlaw Ahmadiyah, saying the ban will legitimize crimes against members of the Islamic sect.
The committee's recommendation, made at a UNCAT hearing in Geneva on May 16, noted the failure of Indonesian security forces and authorities to provide Ahmadiyah members with adequate protection or to conduct prompt, impartial and effective investigations into the recent violence against sect members.
The committee also urged Indonesia to give prompt consideration to increasing the number of recruits from ethnic and religious minorities in law enforcement.
The Ahmadiyah case has prompted the committee to request its special rapporteur on religion to visit Indonesia. The committee asked the Indonesian government to respond favorably to the plan and allow the rapporteur to enter the country, in order to help deal with cases of violence against the Ahmadiyah community.
Director of Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial), Poengky Indarti, who attended the committee hearing, said Wednesday the committee expressed deep concern about the Ahmadiyah case because it was related to violence and violation of freedom of religion.
"The committee fears freedom of religion in Indonesia is now in a poor state," Poengky said.
In 1981, the Indonesian Ulema Council issued an edict declaring Ahmadiyah heretical. Since then followers of the Islamic sect have come under repeated attacks.
Hundreds of members of the Ahmadiyah community have been displaced since 2002, when residents of Lombok Island in West Nusa Tenggara raided their homes.
In 2005, about 12,000 Ahmadiyah members were attacked when they were holding an annual meeting at Mubarak College in Parung, Bogor. Sixteen people were wounded. Less than a week later, two houses of Ahmadiyah members near the college were damaged.
The Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society (Bakor Pakem) has recommended the ban of Ahmadiyah on the grounds its teachings deviate from orthodox Islam.
The government was still undecided Wednesday whether to issue a decree outlawing Ahmadiyah.
Rafendi Djamin of Indonesian NGO Coalition for International Human Rights Advocacy urged the government to resolve the Ahmadiyah case within one year.
"It is obligatory for the government to resolve the issue because we have ratified some international conventions to uphold human rights," he said.
During the next four years, Rafendi said, Indonesia also had to resolve the issues of human rights violations, including finding those responsible for the murder of rights activist Munir Said Thalib, bringing military officers to justice for violence in conflict areas, forming solid regulations on violence against women and producing a clearer juvenile justice system. (nkn)
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Imran (not verified) — Thu, 06/12/2008 - 12:51am
Are the Indonesian Ministers authority in Islam? Then why are they interfering in religious matters? Can any Government declare anyone as a heretic or a Muslim? If not then why commit such acts of injustice? Justice demands, the Indonesian Government should punish the radicals who attcked and burnt Ahmadiyya properties.
The Reader (not verified) — Mon, 05/26/2008 - 1:51am
i agree 100% with what the previous commenter said. so i wont go on about it.
I just thought it is funny how it takes so long for the government to make a decision about this case (or about many other obvious cases)
what reasons may the government have to ban Ahmadiyah anyway? the group or religion or organization, how ever they want to call it, is perfectly 'legal'. when it is not legal on paper, they dont need to legalize anything.
any believe can exists whether they are recognize by others or not.
we need a firm government, who can response quickly to any kind of problem. we need a government who is not afraid of what the public response when it comes to something that is obviously not against the law.
this kind of government attitude of slow response will only show how the government is weak and can be controlled by violence act or threats by certain groups of people.
this hurts the government's credibility.
they should act on the attackers of Ahmadiyahs and protects the Ahmadiyahs followers.
the government should give a quick response to the violent act.
by taking a lot of time to think about the case only make the protesters think that "if i make a big violence protest, im sure the government will hear me, and may favor me because he will be AFRAID of what i would do if they dont favor me"
it is ridiculous, the slow response is actually one of things that is feeding the violent act in many demonstrations and rallies in the country.
unconsciously people think that the bigger the casualties, the more serious the issue, the more likely it will be taken into consideration.
I am a muslim, who had never heard of ahmadiyah until recently. but i welcome them with open arms. in islam, we are taught to respect other's believe, as it is said in the Al-Quran "for you what you believe, and for me what i believe."
Lampu
The Reader (not verified) — Thu, 05/22/2008 - 8:38pm
I think the Indonesian Government has no right to decide about the faith or religion of their subjects. The matter of religion is between a a person and his God. If the Ahmadis in Indonesia call themselves Muslims then no one has the right to force them to call themselves by any other name. There are hundredrds of differnt Christian denominations calling themselves with different names like Protestants, Roman Catholics etc but they are all within the boundry of Christianity. Among Muslims there are more than 73 sects but they are all within the boundry of Islam. The Ahmadiyya is also a sect of Islam. They practice Islam and call themselves Muslims. They pray five times a day , keep fasts during Ramadhan, say the same Kalima as the other Muslim sects, eat halal food and go to pilgrimage at Mecca. Their religious scripture is the Holy Quran. They believe in the finality of the prophethood of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be on him.