Atheists rally for persecuted unbeliever in Indonesia

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By Kimberly Winston| Religion News Service, Updated: Thursday, July 19, 3:58 PM

The atheist community has embraced the cause of an Indonesian man, Alexander Aan, who was beaten and jailed after denying God’s existence on Facebook and posting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Center for Inquiry, a Washington-based humanist organization, launched a petition Tuesday (July 17) on behalf of Alexander Aan, a 30-year-old Indonesian civil servant currently serving a 30-month jail sentence for “deliberately spreading information inciting religious hatred and animosity,” according to the judge who sentenced him.

The petition asks the Obama administration to pressure the Indonesian government for Aan’s release and for better protection of religious freedom in that country, the most populous Muslim nation in the world.

“We are hoping that this petition will promote Aan’s cause and put it in the public consciousness so we can build a better coalition to get him out of jail,” said Michael De Dora, CFI’s director of public policy. “It should matter to all human beings any time another human being is being denied basic human rights.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/atheists-rally-for-persecuted-unbeliever-in-indonesia/2012/07/19/gJQAfg2JwW_story.html

[struggle4progress]

1. ... Amnesty International believes the charges and sentence are in contravention of

Indonesia’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) particularly Article 18, which protects an individual’s right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion and Article 19, which guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression ...

Amnesty International continues to be concerned about Article 156a of the Criminal Code created by the Presidential Decision Number 1/PNPS/1965 concerning the prevention of religious abuse and/or defamation which imposes a prison sentence “for whosoever in public intentionally expresses their views or engages in actions that in principle incite hostilities and considered as abuse or defamation of a religion embraced in Indonesia”.

The organisation urges the Indonesian authorities to repeal the Presidential Decision and Article 156a of the Criminal Code.

The laws continue to be used to imprison people for as long as five years, simply because they have peacefully exercised their right to freedom of expression or their right to freedom of religion.

Indonesia: Atheist imprisonment a setback for freedom of expression
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT
14 June 2012
Index: ASA 21/021/2012
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA21/021/2012/en/9ce2ebf3-8112-49b3-9f5b-505d8b59dca0/asa210212012en.html