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Spate of religious hate crimes in Indonesia

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 11:02 PM PDT

JAKARTA: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday defended Indonesia's reputation for pluralism, as his government faces growing criticism over its failure to respond to a spate of religious hate crimes.

In an Independence Day speech, the ex-general accepted that the mainly Muslim country was facing "threats" to religious harmony but offered little to reassure minorities which have come under frequent attack in recent months.

"Even though there are challenges and threats to pluralism, tolerance and social harmony, we cannot move from our belief that Indonesia is a nation that is able to live in pluralism," he said in a televised address.

"We have to defend this belief without any doubt."

But local and international human rights groups have expressed outrage recently over sentences handed out to members of a religious lynch mob who killed three Muslim minority sect members in February.

A court jailed 12 members of the Sunni Muslim mob for three to six months each, even though they were caught on film viciously attacking Ahmadiyah sect members in front of police officers.

The same court on Monday jailed one of the Ahmadiyah survivors of the attack, a man who almost lost his hand in the violence, for six months for defending himself and his friends, prompting criticism from the United States.

"We are disappointed by today's sentencing of Deden Sudjana who was a victim of the February 6 attacks," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.

"We again encourage Indonesia to defend its tradition of tolerance for all religions, a tradition praised by President (Barack) Obama in his November 2010 visit to Jakarta."

A panel of judges found Sudjana guilty of ill-treatment and ignoring an order to evacuate the sect's property in Cikeusik, western Java, as the 1,500-strong mob arrived.

Earlier, the court gave a teenager who was filmed crushing one victim's head with a stone only three months' jail. That individual is already free and has been welcomed back to his village as a hero.

Anti-Ahmadiyah violence erupted again this week in Makassar, Sulawesi, when hundreds of Sunni extremists raided one of the sect's places of worship on Sunday in front of police, who did nothing to intervene, rights groups said.

One sect member suffered severe head injuries and three local human rights workers who tried to stop the attack were badly beaten, Amnesty International said. -- AFP

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UN official to take part in 1Malaysia talks

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 10:20 AM PDT

2011/08/15
By Rahmah Ghazali
news@nst.com.my

Judy Cheng-Hopkins says Malaysian multinational organisations are increasingly present in many post-conflict countries — NST picture by Saifullizan Tamadi.

KUALA LUMPUR: A prominent United Nations officer will take part in the next round of the 1Malaysia Roundtable discussion slated to be held online this weekend.

Entitled "International Peacebuilding", the discussion will be hosted by the assistant secretary-general of UN for Peace building Support, Judy Cheng-Hopkings.

Being one of several Malaysians holding senior posts in UN, Cheng-Hopkins is the head of UN's Peace- building Support Office in charge with supporting the Peace Building Commission within the organisation.

The first Malaysian to be listed in Forbes magazine's illustrious list of The 10 Most Powerful Women at the UN last May, the Penang-born is married to Dr Thomas Hopkins, a retired consultant in development work.

In her introductory remark on www.1malaysia.com.my website posted yesterday, she said Malaysians should be interested in international peace building, judging from its remarkable progress from the race riots which erupted in 1969.

"Malaysia has been fortunate to have avoided a repeat of that tragic period, thanks mainly to the emergence of a multi-ethnic middle-class.

"And this happened thanks to strong national leadership but also to the creation of essential national institutions as well as to the vibrant role played by non-state actors, (such as) the private sector and civil society organisations," she said.

As for her online discussion, she would like to hear participants' views judging from Malaysia's progress in the past 50 years in managing potential conflict drivers.

"Reflecting on this, what are the good practices for reducing conflict to share from Malaysia's multiethnic, multireligious experiences?"

Cheng-Hopkins also asked whether Malaysians should take a greater interest in peace building in post conflict countries now that it had made its presence felt in these states.

She said Malaysian multinational organisations were increasingly present in many post conflict countries (due to their wealth in natural resources and agri-business opportunities), notably Sime Darby in Liberia, and Petronas in Sudan.

"Thus, should Malaysians take a greater interest in peace building in these fragile states?

"Have corporations in Malaysia played a role in reducing conflict in their own country?

"Are there things they could have done? How does one adapt good corporate social responsibility back home to these foreign lands?"

The 1Malaysia Roundtable is an online discussion platform, guided by a Subject Matter Expert along with participation of Malaysians to encourage intelligent discussion in various sectors for the nation to move forward.

Those interested can register at http://www.1malaysia.com.my/roundtable.

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Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Selasa, 16 Ogos 2011

NST Online: Topnews

NST Online: Topnews

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