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Photo: Destroyed medical supplies litter the ground outside the MSF hospital in Pibor. South Sudan 2013 © Vikki Stienen/MSF
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The force-feeding room and restraint chair being used at Guantanamo Bay in response to the detainee hunger strike.
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Indonesia: Civilian Courts Should Try Abusive Soldiers
The Indonesian government should urgently amend its laws so that military personnel accused of human rights abuses are tried in civilian courts. Problems with military prosecutions have been evident in the handling of the case against members of the elite special forces for the execution-style murder of four detainees at a Java prison on March 23, 2013.
The military justice system in Indonesia lacks transparency, independence, and impartiality, and has failed to properly investigate and prosecute alleged serious human rights abuses by members of the military.
Military investigators say that eleven members of the Komando Pasukan Khusus (Special Forces Command or Kopassus), disguised with ski masks and carrying AK-47 assault rifles, forced their way into the prison, beat two prison guards who subsequently required hospitalization, and executed the four detainees. When leaving after the 15-minute attack, the assailants seized the prison’s closed circuit television recordings, according to prison guards and military investigators. Investigators said the motive for the murders was revenge for the killing three days earlier of their Kopassus colleague First Sgt. Heru Santoso, for which the four detainees had been arrested.
Photo: Indonesian special forces Kopassus soldiers march during a ceremony to mark the 65th anniversary of the Indonesia National Military in Jakarta October 5, 2010. ©2010 Reuters
The government’s demolition of a church not only violates religious freedom, but it will fan the flames of religious division in Indonesia. President Yudhoyono needs to reverse the decision, compensate the congregation, and publicly order an end to the destruction of houses of worship.
Photo: In the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church cry as an excavator demolishes a church in Taman Sari of Bekasi. © Reuters 2013
Shiite cleric Tajul Muluk sits in a courtroom during his trial in Sampang, Indonesia on July 12, 2012. Indonesian authorities have used a 1965 blasphemy law and laws on criminal defamation to prosecute members of religious minorities in violation of their basic rights.
Read more after the jump.
© 2012 Reuters
In March, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali made headlines by announcing plans to ban skirts above the knee, calling such attire “pornographic.” That month, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Marzuki Alie, proclaimed: “There have been a lot of rape cases and other immoral acts recently and this is because women aren’t wearing appropriate clothes … You know what men are like. Provocative clothing will make them do things.”
A 2011 national study found that an average of 28 women are victims of sexual violence in Indonesia each day. Yet instead of blaming the rapists, senior government officials are blaming women themselves for being attacked.
This attitude is sexist, dangerous and wrong. It is also a distraction from initiatives that could actually prevent sexual assault.
Read more here.
In honor of International Women’s Day (March 8th), I’m asking the interwebs who they consider to be influential/inspirational women.
What women do you find powerful, influential, and worth knowing about?
HRW: How about Anis Hidayah, a leading advocate for Indonesia’s migrant domestic workers? You can read more about her amazing story here.
