... This provides a good momentum to strengthen Indonesia's commitment to bring progress to improving religious tolerance and freedom of religion/faith in the country...Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Chairman of the Setara Institute Hendardi said the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will discuss with Indonesian leaders the US-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership during her visit here on Monday.
"This provides a good momentum to strengthen Indonesia's commitment to bring progress to improving religious tolerance and freedom of religion/faith in the country," Hendardi said here on Sunday.
A series of incidents violating religious freedom in the past five years show tendency toward low commitment of the government to take a breakthrough to better protect human rights in the country, he said.
"The US-Indonesia partnership concerns not only cooperation in business and other social cultural activities but should also seek to cover agenda to tackle intolerance and violation of freedom of religions and faiths as well as inhuman treatment of political detainees such as in Papua," he said.
Human rights and religious freedom are universal, therefore, it is the rights of anybody including Clinton to question human rights in any country, he said.
The visit to Jakarta is part of Clinton's tour of six Asia-Pacific countries showing Indonesia`s growing importance to the United States.
It underscores how important Indonesia is to the US as one of the driving forces in southeast Asia, Ralph A. Cossa, president of the Hawaii-based Pacific Forum was quoted as saying on Thursday on the sidelines of a southeast Asia maritime security forum hosted by the Indonesian political and economic think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Habibie Center in Jakarta.
Cossa said the comprehensive partnership was going very well so far, but there were things both countries could do to expand it.
The United States and Indonesia have a lot of values in common, therefore, it is a natural partnership he said citing, both countries are democracies committed to stability in this region.
(H-ASG/B003)
Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
