Dessy Sagita & Reuters – The United Nations' condemnation of Indonesia for its high number of attacks on religious minorities showed how the country's reputation had been tainted by radicals, observers said on Sunday.
Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said over the weekend that countries such as Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Indonesia have a moral and legal duty to protect freedom of religion by quashing sectarian violence and rooting out discriminatory laws that can lead to full-fledged conflict.
"Attacks on churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and other religious sites around the world, as well as targeted attacks against individuals, should act as a wake-up call to all of us," Pillay said in a statement.
Christians, Muslims, Sikhs and Ahmadis have been targeted in the past year, according to Pillay, a former war crimes judge. She specifically condemned attacks in Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria and Pakistan.
She did not single out particular faiths for blame, but the examples she cited were mostly of Muslim countries where Christian minorities or rival Muslim sects have been targeted.
"I am concerned that divisive or weak state laws and policies in many countries foster the religious discrimination that feeds extremism," she said. "It is also vital that authorities discourage the exploitation of religions for political agendas."
Hendardi, chairman of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, said that Pillay's statements only confirmed the general opinion that over the past five years religious intolerance in Indonesia was getting worse.
"It projects a bad image of Indonesia and it will affect the way other countries perceive us," he said on Sunday.
Nathan Setiabudi, the former chairman of the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), said that while it was understandable the UN would seek to criticize Indonesia over recent attacks against minorities, it was unfair to suggest that religious intolerance was on the rise in Indonesia generally.
Indonesia's reputation has been tainted by a small group of radicals, Nathan said. "Looking at the bigger picture, most Muslims are very tolerant toward other religions, including Christians," he said.
Firdaus Mubarik, an Ahmadiyah activist, said weak law enforcement had allowed Indonesian radicals to create widespread terror. "To be honest, the radicals who terrorized Christians, Ahmadiyah and Bahai followers are basically the same group, they just go by different names," he added.
Firdaus said that it was frustrating that the government sat idle even though the instruments to stop the violence existed. "The constitution is already there, why not use it?" he said.