ORAL STATEMENT
Humanists International
UN Human Rights Council, 58th session (24 February – 4 April 2025)
General Debate: Item 9, Follow Up and Implementation of the Durban Declaration
Speaker: Adam Pantouw
Thank you Mr. President.
I make this statement on behalf of Humanesia and Humanists International.
The Durban Declaration urges states to protect the religious identity of minorities and affirms that persons belonging to such minorities should be treated equally.[1]
Therefore, we are dismayed at the recent court decision of the Indonesian Constitutional Court. The decision denied the rights of the non-religious to identify as such on identity documents, claiming that religious belief is a necessity under the Indonesian Constitution.[2] The importance of the right to identify is paramount, as outlined in the Report of the Special Rapporteur on Minorities at this Session.[3]
Also in the judgment, the Court held that marriage not based on religious values would not be considered valid, again undermining the legitimate rights of the non-religious.[4]
Within that judgment, the Court also said that “‘the characteristic and feature of human rights that [Indonesia] believes in are not liberal and also not universal”,[5] contradicting the established nature of human rights as universal, as affirmed in the Durban Declaration.[6]
We call on Indonesia to reject the religious-nationalism this judgment champions,[7] and to recommit to the international human rights framework broadly, as well as to make changes in law to allow non-religious individuals to live their lives without undue interference.
Thank you
[1] Durban Declaration and Plan of Action, General Issues, 66; Victims Of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia And Related Intolerance, 172
[2] https://www.dw.com/en/atheists-indonesia-discrimination-religion/a-71524951
[3] https://docs.un.org/A/HRC/58/54
[4] https://en.antaranews.com/news/340030/marriage-must-conform-to-religious-rules-to-be-valid-mk
[5] https://verfassungsblog.de/godly-constitution-and-divine-enlightenment/
[6] https://verfassungsblog.de/godly-constitution-and-divine-enlightenment/
[7] https://verfassungsblog.de/godly-constitution-and-divine-enlightenment/
'The right to identify in Indonesia', Humanists International