(MintPress) — While the U.S. touts Indonesia as one of the world’s largest democracies, the nation is strife with intolerance, religious persecution and the stifling of free speech — all paramount to the success of any democracy. While Indonesia has long been lambasted by human rights organizations for such damaging behavior, it continues to be a trading paradise for U.S. companies.
Now Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to use her Sept. 3 visit to Indonesia to accomplish real good, beyond the economic benefits of trade agreements.
According to the U.S. Department of State, U.S. companies’ direct investment in Indonesia exploded in 2011, increasing by $1.5 billion. Trade alone has increased U.S. exports to $7.4 billion in 2011. Imports from Indonesia have grown to $19.1 billion.
With such strong trade relations, the U.S. has touted a positive worldview of Indonesia, praising its democracy and spending little time pointing out the concerns over religious persecution of Christians and Muslim minorities — issues the U.S. uses elsewhere as the instigating factors for concern and economic sanctions.
The issues
Indonesian authorities are not only turning a blind eye to the mob violence carried out by militant islamist groups against religious minorities, including Christians, the Ahmadiyah and Shiite Muslims, but have also used outdated blasphemy charges to persecute those belonging to such.
On Aug. 26, roughly a dozen of Shiite Muslim homes were burned to the ground, killing two and inciting widespread fear among all religious minorities, according to HRW.
An article published in the Jakarta Post details the horrors. The wife of Shiite leader Tajul Muluk told the newspaper that one man had been stabbed, and seven others severely injured.
“I don’t know the whereabouts of the other members,” she said. “There were around 500 of us. We were chased so we ran for our lives.”
This is just one story that highlights the widespread religious persecution in Indonesia, a situation HRW says the U.S. should address, especially considering the tight trade agreements the two countries share.
“Secretary Clinton should press the Indonesian government to take concrete steps to address rising religious intolerance,” Joe Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in a press release sent to MintPress. “Indonesia needs to recognize that oppressive laws and policies against religious minorities fuels violence and discrimination.”
Human Rights Watch details the cases of three men, all of whom are facing criminal blasphemy charges. Tajul Muluk is a Shiite cleric who is facing charges for “deviant” teachings, blasphemy and extortion by threatening defamation — allegations that carry up to six years in prison. And he’s just one man facing charges. According to HRW, the charges are unfounded, as he was teaching issues relating to his religion.
Others in the country have fallen to the same fate, all for speaking out against the government, the human rights organization alleges. An atheist was another person to be targeted, facing up to six years in prison for charges relating to “blasphemy” posts on his Facebook page. Close to 100 people are held as political prisoners for similar cases in Indonesia, according to HRW.
Aside from those directly involved in the religious community, HRW is alleging that blasphemy charges are used for anyone who speaks out against the status quo, qualifying activists and journalists who highlight the discrepancy in the justice system.
According to the HRW press release, those who have organized public demonstrations against government corruption have been slapped with the defamation and blasphemy charges. Even those who are writing letters to the editor and journalists who have reported on government corruption cases have been subject to legal repercussions.
What can Clinton do?
The U.S. and Indonesia have been known to pair up on issues relating to humanitarian assistance and relief, so the talking points surrounding issues of human rights is not new to the relationship. However, traditionally, the two countries tackle issues relating to natural disasters, not acts that result from the alleged corruption of such.
The issue at hand can be addressed rather specifically, according to HRW. Revoking decrees on houses of worship, implemented in 1969 and 2006, would be a step in the right direction. The decree implemented in 2006 through the ministries of religious affairs and home affairs required religious groups to have the permission of 60 houses surrounding a place of worship before such gatherings were allowed.
This was an issue addressed in a 2010 article in the Jakarta Globe, in which it stated human rights and watchdog groups were calling on the government, even then, to overturn the decree, citing it was causing violence and persecution against religious minorities. It was an issue never addressed by the U.S., despite the burgeoning trade relations.
While Indonesia has made strides toward democracy, it still has incredibly troubling holes within its implementation. And like the U.S. does with other nations who step outside the boundaries, HRW is saying that it should raise its voice.
“Indonesia has made progress in rebuilding its economy and strengthening democracy, but ethnic minorities in Papua and the Moluccas are still left out of the country’s changes,” Sifton said. “The U.S. should remind the government that persecuting peaceful political activists is an injustice that violates international law.”
This, especially because the U.S. gives a great deal of funding to Indonesia, arguably to build up a market for U.S. corporations. A 2010 report issued by the U.S. Commercial Service labels Indonesia as an economy that consistently delivers high annual growth.
“During the difficult global conditions of 2009, Indonesia’s economy was among the top worldwide performers,” the report states. That same document goes on to claim Indonesia as a “thriving democracy with significant regional autonomy,” located near major natural resources and trade routes.
According to the State Department, the U.S. provided $20 million worth of development credit authority loans, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Just recently — on Aug. 8 — the U.S. signed a Memorandum of Understanding to support even more cooperation on similar projects, largely to benefit the infrastructure in the nation.
Based on that, it seems now would be as good a time as ever to address the blatant disregard for human rights among religious minorities in a nation dubbed one of the largest democracies in the world.
“Holding minority religious beliefs in Indonesia should not put one’s life at risk,” Sifton said. “Secretary Clinton should not miss this important opportunity to speak out strongly on these issues.”