Thank you, Madam President. FORUM-ASIA makes this statement in association with its member organisations in Indonesia: HRWG, Imparsial and KontraS.[1] We express our appreciation to the government of Indonesia for making available in advance their responses to the 36 pending recommendations (A/HRC/21/7/Add.1). While we welcome that in total 150 recommendations were accepted, we register our [ Read more ]

Your Excellency, In full support of the campaign of human rights defenders in Indonesia around International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, we write to urge you to ensure justice for the 13 pro-democracy activists who were forcibly disappeared in 1997 and 1998: Sonny, Yani Afri, Ismail, Abdun Nasser, Dedi Hamdun, Noval Alkatiri, Wiji [ Read more ]

Since Indonesia’s first Working Group session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2008, some positive developments have been recognized by civil society in the country, particularly the landmark ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as well as [ Read more ]

19 October 2011   His Excellency Dr. R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Republic of Indonesia Your Excellency, We, members of the Solidarity for Asian People’s Advocacy (SAPA, a network of Asian civil society organisations engaged intergovernmental processes at the sub-regional, regional and international level, working on various issues of public interest), [ Read more ]

(3 August 2011, Bangkok) The lenient sentences of 12 men who were implicated in a brutal mob attack against members of the Ahmadiyah community in Banten, Indonesia will perpetuate impunity of crimes against religious minorities, warned the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a regional human rights organization and its member, Imparsial.

(20 May 2011, Geneva/Bangkok) – The United Nations General Assembly today elected 15 new member States to the Human Rights Council (Council), a 47-member intergovernmental body mandated to promote universal respect for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Seats to the Council are allotted by regional groupings, and today’s election saw the inclusion [ Read more ]

Vice President of Indonesia, Boediono, Tuesday (3 May) stated that governments of the ASEAN countries need ASEAN civil society groups as a connective “tongue of the people” to go to a solid integration of ASEAN in the political, economic and social culture. “To achieve it (ASEAN integration), ought we to continue to interact regularly with [ Read more ]

(17 March 2011, Bangkok) A regional human rights organisation today condemned the terrorist attack apparently targeting on a leading liberal Islamic activist, Mr. Ulil Abshar Abdalla. The Bangkok-based Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) called on the Indonesian Government to take an immediate and impartial investigation behind the incident. FORUM-ASIA also urged the [ Read more ]

(4 March 2011, Bangkok) The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), Imparsial and the Alliance for Independent Journalists (AJI) condemn the brutal attack on journalist Mr. Banjir Ambarita. Banjir was stabbed by unknown assailants last Tuesday in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia. This incident happened shortly after Banjir wrote an article on sexual abuses committed [ Read more ]

(9 February 2011, Bangkok) A regional human rights organization today condemned the brutal 6 February attack against members of the Ahmadiyah community in Banten, Indoenesia which killed three members of the said community. The Bangkok-based Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) called on the Indonesian Government to bring the mob that committed crime [ Read more ]