Thank you Madam Chairperson. Indonesia takes pride in its mosaic of its multiethnic, mutlicultural and
multireligion community. For us diversity is regarded as the wellspring of strength. This is clearly emitted
in our national ideology as we celebrate diversity that bonds us as a nation. However, as a matter of fact
this immense diversity of Indonesia's culture, ethnicities and religious beliefs has also given a unique
character which greatly impacts Indonesia's continuous endeavour in the area of human rights. As an
archipelagic state and a home for more than 245 million people, it is only natural that Indonesia
experiences the dynamic vivacity, driven from this complexity. Like other countries with similar
characteristics Indonesia continues to deal with tensions involving different groups of religious followers
which occurred in some communities in Indonesia.Although these incidents are seculded, several have
become a source of concern nationally. In dealing with this issue, the government as the main duty bearer
and all related parties including civil society, parliament and public have actively engaged and taken part
in process of addressing the challenges and finding solutions. Madam Chairperson, among many success
stories of managing the issue there are undoubtedly a number of pending and ongoing issues that have
become a source of concern. We are fully aware of the technical challenges involving our law
enfrocement and government officials in addressing the communal tensions, nevertheless we have to
clearly differentiate between lack of capacity and lack of commitment, in this regards lack of capacity is
the question rather than lack of commitment.
Allow to share some of Indonesias strong points that play an instrumental role in addressing issues
pertaining to issues of religious tensions in the country. First, state guarantees every citizen the freedom
of religion and of workship in accordance with their religion and belief as stipulated in article 29 of the
Indonesian constitution, this derives from long historical and empirical tradition of tolerance and harmony
among different ethnic, cultures and religions at hte grassroots level. Second, the Indonesian government
even at the highest level has time and again reaffirmed its solid commitment to the constitutional mandate
of freedom of religion and workship of every Indonesian, this has not only stopped at commitment but
have been implemented through various policies and measures, some have been succesful some are
ongoing process. Third, in the post war area in Indonesia, various policies, institutions and mechanisms
are place to deal with human rights challenges which have undoutbedly strengthened the check and
balance mechanism in Indonesia, our vibrant civil society and free media are not a tool to ensure human
rights violations are hidden from public scrutiny. Lastly, in the spirit of parternship we value greatly the
constructive role of relevant stakeholders and engage closely with them in our common endeavours to
discuss and find solutions of any human rights challenges. We are of the view that taking into account
their activities and actions on the ground the observations and imput from civil society and other
stakeholders are an instrumental part of the early warning system. Therfore the Indonesia government
has taken them into account seriously.
Thank you Madam Chairperson.