Dari Canberra untuk SBY: Menuntut Perlindungan dan Jaminan Hak-hak Syiah Sampang

Pernyataan Sikap tentang Pengusiran Warga Syiah Sampang
FORUM SOLIDARITAS UNTUK KEBHINEKAAN

Kepada Bapak Presiden Republik Indonesia

Kami adalah warga Indonesia yang sedang menempuh pendidikan serta penelitian di Canberra, Australia. Pada pelbagai forum kami mendengar betapa Indonesia kini mengalami sejumlah kemajuan dalam banyak sekali bidang. Dan kami bangga dengan itu.

Tapi, Pak Presiden, di sela-sela kesibukan kami mengamati perkembangan Indonesia, tiba-tiba kami dikejutkan oleh berita tentang sekelompok warga negara yang diusir dari rumahnya. Mereka mengungsi berbulan-bulan akibat hilangnya rasa aman. Setelah itu, mereka pun harus kembali terusir dari tempat pengungsian mereka. Warga negara yang kebetulan berkeyakinan Islam Syiah itu masih berharap bisa kembali ke tanah kelahiran mereka, Sampang, Madura. Betapapun rumah-rumah mereka telah hangus terbakar, mereka ingin membangunnya kembali. Tapi ternyata mereka dipindahpaksakan ke rumah susun di Sidoarjo. Mereka semakin jauh dari tempat tinggalnya.

Kami tidak hanya prihatin, tapi juga teramat sedih. Sedih karena demokrasi Indonesia yang sedang bertumbuh ini harus ternoda oleh ketidakmampuan (tepatnya, ketidakmauan) negara melindungi sekelompok warganya yang ingin hidup dengan keyakinan sendiri. Dalam banyak survei, diketahui bahwa intoleransi di tengah masyarakat kian hari kian tinggi. Walau kami sadar bahwa ini bukan semata tanggung-jawab pemerintah, tapi juga tokoh-tokoh masyarakat, pemuka agama, pendidik, media, dan lain-lain, tapi inisiatif tertinggi tetap di tangan negara.

Untuk itu, kami, mahasiswa Indonesia di Canberra, meminta ketegasan pemerintah untuk:

1. Melindungi hak-hak kewargaan komunitas Syiah Sampang dan komunitas minoritas lain;
2. Memulangkan dan memberi rasa aman bagi warga Syiah yang ingin kembali membangun dan tinggal di rumahnya di Sampang;
3. Mengambil tindakan hukum yang tegas bagi siapapun yang merusak dan melakukan kekerasan terhadap warga Syiah Sampang;
4. Mengambil tindakan hukum yang tegas bagi siapapun yang dengan sengaja di hadapan publik menghasut dan melakukan syiar kebencian kepada suatu kelompok masyarakat, seperti komunitas Syiah;
5. Mengambil tindakan hukum yang tegas kepada aparat negara yang melakukan pembiaran terjadinya aksi kekerasan terhadap komunitas Syiah Sampang yang menyebabkan properti mereka rusak dan dua orang meninggal;
6. Melakukan kampanye yang massif tentang pentingnya toleransi hidup bermasyarakat melalui pendidikan, ceramah agama, pertemuan di lingkungan masyarakat, media, dan lain-lain.

Demikian dan terima kasih.

Canberra, 3 Juli 2013

Forum Solidaritas untuk Kebhinekaan

1. Sri Lestari Wahyuningroem (PhD Student, Dept of Political and Social Change, ANU)
2. Saidiman Ahmad (GradDip Student, Crawford School of Public Policy, College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU)
3. Henri Sitorus (Research Scholar/PhD Candidate Civil Society, Citizenship and Third Sector Research Group, ADSRI -Research School of Social Sciences, ANU).
4. Burhanuddin Muhtadi (PhD Student, Dept of Political and Social Change, College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU)
5. Frederika Korain (MAAPD Student,  School of Arts and Social Sciences, ANU)
6. Fajar Argo Djati (Master Student, College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU)
7. Br. Budi Hernawan, OFM (Postdoctoral Research Fellow Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet), College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU)
8. Yulia Indri Sari (PhD Student, Crawford School of Public Policy, College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU)
9. Indri Sri Sembadra (Aktivis Perempuan)
10. Arianto Patunru (Fellow, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific)
11. Stella Hutagalung
12. Ariane Utomo (Research Fellow, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences)
13. Didi Ahmadi (Master Student, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU)
14. Fadliya (PhD student, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU)
15. Navhat Nuraniyah, Master Student international relations, school of international, political & strategic studies, ANU.

Contact Person:

+61406 405 912 atau idhi_mandar@yahoo.com (Saidiman Ahmad)
+61452 621 070 atau henri.sitorus@yahoo.com (Henri Sitorus)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Statement Release on Tragedy of Shia Sampang
SOLIDARITY FORUM FOR DIVERSITY

To the President of Indonesia

We are Indonesian students currently undertaking our studies and research in Canberra, Australia. As Indonesians, we are proud to witness the unprecedented growth across various sectors in Indonesia under your leadership.

Nevertheless, we were suddenly alarmed by the reported attacks and unlawful eviction meted out to the Shiite followers by an angry mob triggered by anti-Shia movement in Sampang Regency in Madura, East Java. These people were forced to seek refuge due to the constant fear and threats they receive. These people were further displaced following eviction from their temporary shelters. This displaced Shia community expresses their hope to return and rebuild their lives although they have lost their homes and belongings to arson. By forcefully relocating these refugees to flats in Sidoarjo, they were further distanced from their home of origins, consequently denying their rights to reunite with their family members and relatives.

We are not only concerned, but also profoundly appalled by the lack of political will of the state to enshrine the spirits of democracy that we, as a nation, treasure. We are appalled by the state failure to protect its citizens to live their own beliefs. A number of surveys indicate that religious tolerance in Indonesia is in a state of disarray. We are fully aware that the responsibility for ensuring tolerance does not solely lie with the state, but also with community and religious leaders, educators, media and many others, but the ultimate initiative for protection from such gross human rights violations has to come from the state.

Therefore, we appeal to the Indonesian authorities:

1. To guarantee legal protection of civil rights and freedom of religious affiliation to the Shia community in Sampang and other minority groups in Indonesia.
2. To restore a sense of security for Shia community members who intend to return and rebuild their homes in Sampang.
3. To hold accountable the perpetrators and those who are responsible in the attacks and violence against the Shia community in Sampang.
4. To enforce deterrent legal measures against anyone who deliberately and publicly incites hatred to any religion, nationality, ethnic groups, race, or particular group of people.
5. To hold accountable state officials who deliberately overlooked acts of violence perpetrated against Shia community in Sampang, which resulted in the destruction of their property and two deaths.
6. To facilitate nationwide campaigns advocating tolerance to pluralism through education, religious sermons, community meetings, media and others.

Thank you.

Canberra, July 3rd, 2013

Solidarity Forum for Pluralism

1.  Sri Lestari Wahyuningroem (PhD Student, Dept of Political and Social Change, ANU)
2. Saidiman Ahmad (GradDip Student, Crawford School of Public Policy, College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU)
3. Henri Sitorus (Research Scholar/PhD Candidate Civil Society, Citizenship and Third Sector Research Group, ADSRI -Research School of Social Sciences, ANU).
4. Burhanuddin Muhtadi (PhD Student, Dept of Political and Social Change, College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU)
5. Frederika Korain (MAAPD Student,  School of Arts and Social Sciences, ANU)
6. Fajar Argo Djati (Master Student, College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU)
7. Br. Budi Hernawan, OFM (Postdoctoral Research Fellow Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet), College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU)
8. Yulia Indri Sari (PhD Student, Crawford School of Public Policy, College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU)
9. Indri Sri Sembadra (Aktivis Perempuan)
10. Arianto Patunru (Fellow, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific)
11. Stella Hutagalung
12. Ariane Utomo (Research Fellow, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences)
13. Didi Ahmadi (Master Student, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU)
14. Fadliya (PhD student, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU)
15. Navhat Nuraniyah (Master Student international relations, school of international, political & strategic studies, ANU)

Contact Persons:

Saidiman Ahmad, Ph. +61406 405 912 email: idhi_mandar@yahoo.com
Henri Sitorus, Ph. +61452 621 070 email: henri.sitorus@yahoo.com