Indonesia: Islamic Laws Passed Locally Threaten National Unity

[DjFrodo]

Indonesia: Islamic Laws Passed Locally Threaten National Unity Today's Jakarta Post carries a report based on the findings of Syaiful Mujani, from the Freedom Institute, who warns that sharia bylaws recently enacted in districts and provinces are unconstitutional, sexist and potentially divisive. For example in Tangerang, a bylaw was passed stating that any woman who is found outside after 7pm is deemed to be a prostitute. Tangerang is a suburb of Jakarta, the capital. we reported in March on the case of a wife and mother of two, Lilis Lindawati, who found herself in the line of sight of this ruling. Lilis was waiting for a bus to take her home, late in the evening at the end of February, shortly after Mr Wahidin Halim, the local mayor had passed the new bylaw. Though three months pregnant, she was arrested, and thrown in jail. The next day she was hauled before Judge Barmen Sinurat. She was not permitted to summon her husband to testify on her behalf. The Sydney Morning Herald, which reported the case initially, described her ordeal. 36-year old Lilis denied being a prostitute. She was forced to empty the contents of her bag, and lipstick fell out. "There is powder and lipstick in your bag. That means you're lying to say that you are a housewife," Judge Sinurat claimed. He told her "You are guilty. You are prostitute," and fined her $45. Lilis did not have the money, and was jailed for three days. Asked about this case, Mayor Wahidin told the Herald: "She could not prove she is not a prostitute. It is true when my men arrested her she was not committing adultery, but why does she put on such make-up?" Wahidin is brother of Hassan Wiraduya, the Indonesian foreign minister. He blamed the woman for wearing tight clothes, and said that "a good girl would not stand in the street with that kind of dress. The point is we can tell someone is a prostitute or not....They stand in the street moving their body, waving their hands, trying to attract people, seducing." So the mayor, who is reputedly soon to stand for the position of governor, knows better than the woman and her family. Wahidin was supported by Islamist parties when he introduced the bylaw. Syaiful Mujani, noting this case, said: "The government must take action to review all bylaws so that the bylaws do not run counter to the Constitution." In South Sulawesi, several administrative regions make it compulsory for female civil servants to wear Islamic dress. All government employees there must be able to read and write Arabic. Mochtar Pabotinggi, a researcher from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences agreed that the bylaws favoured Muslims above those of other religious beliefs, and ran counter to Indonesia's Constitution, written up in 1945. He said: "In a democracy, no majority group can dominate others." "We have to respect other people who have different religions and not push them to do what Islam teaches. For instance, we cannot tell every woman who lives in Aceh to wear Muslim attire," he stated. "Our Constitution appreciates pluralism as an Indonesian way of life. Administrations have to make bylaws that do not contradict the Constitution," Mochtar said. "We cannot utilize two systems of law to regulate a society. The bylaws have the potential to endanger the country's unity since they ignore the essence of pluralism." Bron (http://www.westernresistance.com/blog/archives/001975.html)

[an3sdej]

Indonesië gaat een zware tijd tegemoet als dit soort fundamentalistisch islamitische opvattingen meer opgeld zullen doen. Overal waar orthodoxe gelovigen macht krijgen, zullen gematigden hen volgen. Zij zullen als nalopers niet durven in te gaan tegen de orthodoxie, daar (de fictieve) straf van de almachtige hen in hun denken zal beïnvloeden in hun realiteitszin.

[DjFrodo]

Lawyers take bylaw to Supreme Court National News - April 21, 2006 Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Tangerang Lawyers representing a group opposed to what they consider discriminatory local ordinances filed a request for judicial review of Tangerang's prostitution bylaw Thursday at the Supreme Court. One of the lawyers for the Coalition for Opposition to Discriminating Local Ordinances, Hermawanto, said the bylaw violated the presumption of innocence. "This bylaw automatically implies people are guilty before proven," Hermawanto said, adding the bylaws also violated the Constitution, the Criminal Code as well as the international declaration of human rights. "None of these documents discriminate on the basic of gender, while the bylaw humiliates women." Another lawyer from the Jakarta office of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI Jakarta), Dedi Ali Ahmad, said the Tangerang administration failed to take into account that most residents in the industrial city were women who worked night shifts. A worker from the Tangerang office of the National Labor Union, Lilis Mahmudah, said about 75 percent of the union members "are women who are now scared to go out at night, while many of them must work overtime". A Tangerang bylaw passed last year states that anyone drawing suspicion based on his or her "attitude and behavior, drawing the perception that he/she/they might be a prostitute (s) is prohibited from being on roads, squares" and in other public places, such as hotels. This has led to night raids and the mistaken arrest of some women for soliciting. The team, consisting of PBHI Jakarta, the Jakarta Legal Aid Office (LBH Jakarta) and the Association of Indonesian Women for Justice (LBH Apik), asked the Supreme Court to analyze and issue a ruling on the review request within three months. "Many people in Tangerang are afraid to do their routine activities due to the bylaw. If the Supreme Court delays ruling on the bylaw any longer, we are afraid that many more people will be victimized," said Hermawanto. Earlier, Tangerang Mayor Wahidin Halim had asserted that the municipal administration would not stop enforcing the prostitution bylaw despite the request for judicial review. "I would be happier if the coalition files the request rather than taking to the streets," the mayor said, following more protests Wednesday. His administration submitted a draft of guidelines on enforcement of the bylaw earlier in the day. The guidelines, he said, clearly defined the criteria used in the bylaw to avoid further wrongful arrests. "I will take stern measures against the officers enforcing the bylaw if they make mistakes," he said, inviting the public to report such cases. Wahidin also denied the ordinance was only based on the interests of certain groups was pushed through with inadequate consideration. Critics say it panders to the interests of Muslim hardliners. "Issuing the bylaw was a long process and it is final," he added. Bron (http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060421.A02)

[wolfowitzen]

ach ja, waar de politieke islam verschijnt, verdwijnt de vrijheid; te beginnen bij de positie van de vrouw. Nog effe en elke Nederlandse moslima, met een doekje op, die na 7 uur op straat loopt, is een prostituée. Die mening had ik toch al, maar binnenkort is dat dus een Islamitisch verantwoorde( halal) gedachte. Mmmmmmm.....effe denken.....de laatste keer dat Nederland een avondklok kende, was onder de Fascisten! Toevallig? Of moet de Nederlandse overheid, uit louter bezorgdheid voor de (interne)reputatie van moslima's, maar uit zichzelf een avondklok instellen voor islamitiese vrouwen? Om ze te beschermen? Wellicht vindt Imam Fawaz van de Haagse moskee dat een goed idee! Misschien kan dan eventueel als extra-maatregel, mede in het kader van werkloosheid onder Marokkaanse jongeren, een groepje van hen worden aangesteld als damestasjes-controleur; wie, als moslima, make-up in haar tasje heeft, is hoogstwaarschijnlijk een dame van lichte zeden, en dient onverwijld te worden gearresteerd door een daartoe bevoegd ambtenaar. Óf zouden ze dan juist weer zeiken over 'onderdrukking'? discriminatie? Je kunt het ook nooit goed doen, blijkbaar!