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                    Religious Award Sparks Indonesia Protest

   by Sara Schonhardt

   Leading religious figures in Indonesia have come out against a
   U.S.-based interfaith group's plan to award President Susilo Bambang
   Yudhoyono's support for religious freedom. They said it sends the wrong
   message about a country where religious minorities face increasing
   violence and persecution.
   Minority faiths in Indonesia are under attack. Local governments have
   been boarding up churches and mosques belonging to a small Islamic
   sect, the Ahmadiyah. Worshippers from one Ahmadiyah congregation have
   locked themselves inside their mosque to protest a local bylaw that
   bans the group's activities.
   In recent months human rights groups have also grown increasingly
   concerned about a notable rise in cases of religiously motivated
   violence.
   Amid this climate of intolerance, however, Indonesia's president,
   Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is set to receive an award from the New
   York-based [1]Appeal of Conscience Foundation, an interfaith group that
   fights crimes committed in the name of religion.
   Yudhoyono will receive the World Statesman award at a ceremony later
   this month for his work in support of human rights and religious
   freedom. The foundation is not well known globally, but its intent to
   award Indonesia's president has sparked protests and petitions calling
   on the foundation to withdraw it.
   Alissa Wahid is the daughter of former Indonesian president Abdurrahman
   Wahid, and founder of a network that promotes democracy and peace.
   "If SBY receives this award, it gives a clear message to these
   intolerant people that they can go ahead with their acts of using
   violence against the minorities," he said.
   Referring to the president by his initials, she said the government is
   turning a blind eye to the problem, and, in effect, ignoring people's
   constitutional right to worship.
   Government officials have denied those criticisms, saying they are
   obliged to ensure religious harmony in the country.
   Jalaluddin Rakhmat, the head of a religious organization representing
   Shi'ite Muslims, said Yudhoyono has not been brave enough to stand up
   for the rights of minorities. He is backing the petition in the hopes
   of raising awareness.
   "To us it's quite an angle to remind again the central government that
   they have a very important role in this," said Rakhmat.
   In a report released in February, Human Rights Watch said the
   government had failed to act against hardline Islamists who have
   attacked places of worship and mobbed homes and villages. Several
   Shi'ite Muslims were killed during an attack last August that forced
   them to flee to a refugee camp. Nine months later they are still living
   in the camp.
   Indonesia is the world's most populous Sunni Muslim-majority country,
   but it has sizable populations of Christians, Hindus and other Muslim
   faiths. Since Mr. Yudhoyono became president, the government has issued
   several regulations that have been used against religions minorities,
   including a ministerial decree that has prevented Christian groups from
   opening churches and another that bans the Ahmadiyah from worshipping
   in public.
   In its annual religious freedom report, the U.S. State Department
   stated that the government had not taken adequate measures to prevent
   violence, abuse and discrimination against individuals based on their
   religious belief.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [2]http://www.voanews.com/content/religious-award-sparks-protest-in-ind
   onesia/1666855.html

References

   1. http://www.appealofconscience.org/
   2. http://www.voanews.com/content/religious-award-sparks-protest-in-indonesia/1666855.html