• EN - English
Ontwerpresolutie - B7-0462/2011Ontwerpresolutie
B7-0462/2011
Dit document bestaat niet in het Nederlands. Het wordt u aangeboden in een andere beschikbare taal uit het keuzemenu.

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the situation in Indonesia: Attacks on Religious Minorities

5.7.2011

with request for inclusion in the agenda for the debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 122 of the Rules of Procedure

Charles Tannock, Ryszard Antoni Legutko, Tomasz Piotr Poręba, Ryszard Czarnecki on behalf of the ECR Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0394/2011

Procedure : 2011/2748(RSP)
Stadium plenaire behandeling
Documentencyclus :  
B7-0462/2011
Ingediende teksten :
B7-0462/2011
Stemmingen :
Aangenomen teksten :

B7‑0462/2011

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Indonesia: Attacks on Religious Minorities

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Annual Report on Human Rights in the World 2009 and the

European Union's policy on the matter of 16 December 2010,

 

- having regard to the European Union's statement of 8 February 2011on the attack

and killing of Ahmadis in Baten province of Indonesia on,

 

- having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which

Indonesia ratified in 2006,

 

- having regard to Indonesia's recent election onto the UN Human Rights Council,

 

- having regard to the role of Indonesia as Chair of ASEAN in 2011,

- having regard to the EU-Indonesia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA),

 

- having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

 

 

 

A.  whereas Yones Douw, a human rights activist was beaten by military officers on 15 June and denied medical treatment;

B.  whereas on February 6, a mob of 1,500 people attacked 21 Ahmadiyah members in Cikeusik, a village in the Banten province in western Java, killing three people and seriously wounding five others;

C.  whereas on March 11 four Ahmadiyah houses were attacked in Ciareuteun village, in Bogor; The police took no action against the assailants but arrested and questioned the victims and forced them to sign a document to renounce their faith;

D.  whereas the Ahmadiyah, who consider themselves Muslims, have long been the targets of violence and persecution in Indonesia because some consider them heretics to Islam;

E.  whereas at least one senior Indonesian military officer has similarly called for restrictions on the rights of Ahmadiyah; under his command soldiers and police went to an Ahmadiyah mosque in Bandung during Friday prayers and demanded that the Ahmadiyah imam, Ahmad Sulaeman, be replaced by Asep Zaenal Ausof of the Indonesian Ulemas’ Council’s Bandung branch;

F.  whereas following a 2008 national decree that requires the Ahmadiyah to stop proselytizing their faith, attacks have increased dramatically (from 12 such cases in 2009 to 75 in 2010);

G.  whereas in recent months, the provincial governments of East Java and West Java banned the activities of the Ahmadiyah community, outlawing the display of their mosque and school signs and the use of "electronic media" to extend their teachings; whereas, according to the Communion of Churches in Indonesia, there were 430 attacks against Christian churches over the past six years;

H.  whereas the decree on houses of worship, issued by the Ministries of Religious Affairs and Home Affairs, requires a religious group to obtain the approval of at least 60 households in the immediate vicinity before building a house of worship; it has been criticized for making it almost impossible for minority faiths to build places of worship in Indonesia;

I.  whereas the calls to amend the decree resurfaced following the attack on two leaders of the Batak Christian Protestant Church’s (HKBP) Pondok Timur Indah congregation in Bekasi in September last year; one leader was stabbed and another beaten. The church has been at odds with Islamist hard-liners, who have objected to the presence of a church in the area;

J.  whereas Indonesia has often failed to successfully prosecute crimes targeting religious minorities and exacerbating by this impunity a culture of violent persecution and the Indonesian government constantly fails to seriously address this problem;

K.  whereas the religious beliefs of the victims often allegedly affect the outcome of the judicial trials;

L.  whereas Article 156 of the Indonesian criminal code makes spreading hatred, heresy, and blasphemy punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Although the law applies to all officially recognized religions, it is usually applicable only in cases involving blasphemy and heresy against Islam;

 

1.  Condemns recent attacks against religious minorities in Indonesia, such as Christians and Ahmadiyah and expresses serious concern over the rising levels of intolerance in the country;

2.  Is concerned about the fact that violence against Ahmadiyah followers and other minorities increased following the 2008 national decree;

3.  Welcomes the letter sent by 27 US lawmakers to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urging him to immediately revoke recent provincial decrees and the 2008 national decree banning Ahmadiyah activities;

4.  Calls on the government of Indonesia to send a clear message to extremist groups that there can be no place for such intolerance in Indonesia;

5.  Calls on the Indonesian authorities to protect the rights of all religious minorities including Ahmadiyahs, Christians and Hindus following Indonesia's declaration that the country is a living proof that democracy and religious diversity within a Muslim majority country can coexist peacefully;

6.  Urges the government of Indonesia to conduct a full investigation on recent cases of violence against minority groups according to the principles of the rule of law, as enshrined in the EU-Indonesia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA);

7.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the ASEAN members, and the President and the government of Indonesia.