(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 ]

FORUM-ASIA, Imparsial, and AJI Condemn the Murders of Two Journalists in Indonesia The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and its members in Indonesia, the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial) and the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), condemn the killings of Mr. Ardiansyah Matra’is and Mr. Ridwan Salamun, two journalists in Indonesia. These [ Read more ]

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), also a member of FORUM-ASIA, today called for an urgent review of laws that apply to military personnel in Indonesia following an incident where a military officer assaulted and threatened a journalist in Aceh province. Ahmadi, an Aceh-based journalist working [ Read more ]