Speakers at the pre-event press conference on Thursday (9/11/2023) included Executive Director of the Leimena Institute Matius Ho, Director General of Human Rights Dhahana Putra, and Senior Fellow as well as the President’s Special Envoy for the Middle East and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in 2016–2019, Alwi Shihab.
Jakarta, LKLB News – The Ministry of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemenkumham RI), together with the Leimena Institute, is set to hold the International Conference on Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy (CCRL), featuring at least 30 world-renowned speakers on November 13–14, 2023. The conference, held in Jakarta, carries the theme “Human Dignity and Rule of Law for a Peaceful and Inclusive Society” as part of the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Director General of Human Rights, Dhahana Putra, said that the international conference will discuss CCRL, which is highly important in the Indonesian context. This conference is the implementation of the Cooperation Agreement between Kemenkumham RI and the Leimena Institute since 2022, aimed at strengthening understanding of freedom of religion or belief among educators.
“This international conference will be attended by both national and international speakers, aligned with the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the UDHR on December 10, under the theme Harmony in Diversity,” said Dhahana at a press conference attended by about 30 journalists at Graha Pengayoman Kemenkumham, Thursday (9/11/2023).
The International CCRL Conference will be opened by the Minister of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia (Menkumham RI), Yasonna H. Laoly, on Monday (13/11/2023). In the evening, a Gala Dinner will be held featuring a keynote speech from the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy.
On the second day, Tuesday (14/11/2023), the keynote speaker will be Vice President of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Muhammadou M.O. Kah.
The conference will also be held in hybrid format (via Zoom) so the wider public can participate by registering first through the link https://leimena.org/eng/conference/. The number of registrants for the hybrid conference has already reached 2,675 and remains open until Monday (13/11/2023).
There will be five panel sessions accessible to all participants, both offline and online. The Gala Dinner and seven breakout sessions, however, will only be available for offline participants.
Journalists conducting interviews after the press conference.
Signals of Intolerance
Senior Fellow of the Leimena Institute and the President’s Special Envoy for the Middle East and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in 2016–2019, Prof. Alwi Shihab, stated that the Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy program focuses on raising awareness among teachers regarding intolerance while providing enlightenment about interreligious relations.
“There are indications that many Islamic religious teachers, and even religion teachers in Indonesia in general, tend to be intolerant. This is very dangerous if left unchecked without efforts from the government as well as Islamic and Christian organizations,” said Alwi, who also served as Indonesia’s Foreign Minister in 1999–2001.
Alwi emphasized that teachers have a strategic role in shaping the young generation into future leaders of the nation. According to him, intolerance and even conflicts and wars around the world are often caused by erroneous interpretations of religious teachings, making it essential to return to the prime sources of religion.
“The CCRL approach enlightens teachers that essentially we must be ready to embrace differences. Differences should not be an entry point to conflict. On the contrary, differences are inevitable, and thus we must manage them for the common good,” Alwi said.
Reporters waiting for the start of the press conference.
Executive Director of the Leimena Institute, Matius Ho, explained that the International CCRL Conference will bring together speakers from government officials across countries, academics, and leaders of international organizations. Around 20 ambassadors from partner countries as well as leaders and representatives of religious and educational institutions in the CCRL program have also been invited.
“This international conference is an international forum to discuss the concept of human dignity as the fundamental principle and core of human rights,” said Matius.
Matius highlighted that the CCRL program in Indonesia, organized by the Leimena Institute together with at least 20 partners, demonstrates how religious literacy grounded in respect for human dignity has built social capital for a peaceful and inclusive society. The CCRL program in Indonesia has already involved more than 5,000 teachers from 34 provinces.
Prominent speakers at the conference include Secretary General of Muhammadiyah Central Board, Abdul Mu’ti, Member of the Steering Committee of the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (BPIP), Amin Abdullah, President of the World Council of Churches, Henriette T. Hutabarat-Lebang, Senior Expert Staff at the Presidential Staff Office (KSP), Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, Chairman of the Tebuireng Pesantren Waqf Board, K.H. Abdul Halim Mahfudz, Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the UN, WTO, and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, Achsanul Habib, Deputy Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI), Arsul Sani, Deputy Secretary-General (DSG) of ASEAN for Political-Security Community, Robert Matheus Michael Tene, and Director General of ASEAN Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Sidharto R. Suryodipuro.
International speakers include the Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion and Belief of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Bea ten Tusscher; Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Brigham Young University (BYU), Brett Scharffs; Founder and Chairman of the International Religious Freedom Secretariat, Greg Mitchell; President of the International Religious Freedom Secretariat, Nadine Maenza; and United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, David Saperstein.