http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/indonesian-authorities-fail-to-address-human-rights-abuses-legal-aid-foundation/562896
Indonesian Authorities Fail to Address Human Rights Abuses: Legal Aid Foundation Antonia Timmerman | December 20, 2012 Members of Bogor’s GKI Yasmin church congregation held their service in front of the State Palace in Jakarta in this file photo. (JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal) Indonesian authorities once again failed to address a host of significant human rights offenses in 2012 as abuses against religious and ethnic minorities, the poor and the landless climbed in excess of 900 reported instances, the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation said on Thursday. Law enforcement failed to protect the rights of Indonesian citizens and, in some instances, was allegedly responsible for the abuses, read the foundation’s end-of-the-year report “Paradoks Negara Hukum” (“Law State Paradox”). A lack of political and legal will to address a host of human rights offenses led to some 917 reported instances of abuse between December of 2011 and November of this year, the report read. The National Police, Attorney General’s Office, House of Representatives and private companies were among the institutions listed as responsible for human rights abuses in 2012. The foundation said the report illustrated how justice and rule of law had not been extended to all citizens. “Indonesia has been dubbed as the most democratic country among the neighboring nations, but its human rights abuses are still quite high,” said Feby Yonesta, director of the legal aid foundation. The violations included attacks on citizens’ economic, social and cultural rights, as well as violations of their access to land, housing, health care and a clean environment. There were also numerous attacks on freedom of religion in 2012, including continued abuses against the GKI Yasmin congregation in Bogor, the HKBP Filadelfia congregation in Bekasi, said Muhammad Isnur, an advocate and lawyer with the foundation. Members of the Ahmadiyah and Shiite Muslim sects also faced discrimination. The report urged the National Police to stop criminalizing marginal groups and enforce stiff penalties on human rights abusers. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
