Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Semarang (Agenzia Fides) – It's known as a “house of lies” and is, in fact, a new Observatory to expose corruption, lawlessness and abuses by the Government and public administration at the expense of Indonesian citizens. The initiative was launched by some Indonesian university students and came to life in Solo, Semarang (Central Java). The project, promoters told Fides, was created after an intense exchange of text messages among a group of university students, eager to “improve the society and moral standards in Indonesia.” Young people have found support from various teachers and from the non-governmental organisation Sari, and thus, the Centre recently officially opened its doors. The fight against corruption and lawlessness, they say, is the basis for building a just, peaceful, harmonious and violence-free society.
Human rights and civil society groups, and religious leaders such as Fr Benny Susetyo, Executive Secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Interreligious Dialogue and Syafi’i Maarif, eminent Muslim leader and former leader of the Islamic organisation “Muahmmadiya”, attended the opening of the Centre.
The Centre will welcome suggestions and reports from private citizens or public servants who wish to report cases of corruption, embezzlement and abuses of power. The data collected will make up an annual survey, thanks to analysts and academics.
Fides sources have noted in recent days that inter-religious violence are often caused to deflect public attention from the problem of corruption that afflicts public life (see Fides 14/2/2011). In a note sent to Fides, the forum called “Indonesia Society for Freedom of Faith”, also stresses that in order to defuse the violence that emerges with ever-increasing frequency in society, we need to address a fundamental issue: the lack of social integration among different ethnic, religious and territorial groups in the vast Indonesian archipelago. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 17/2/2011)
