Add another human-rights watchdog group to the list disapproving of the decision by the Appeal of Conscience Foundation to bestow its 2013 “World Statesman Award” to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, widely known as SBY.
The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network, or ETAN, has launched an online petition urging the New York-based foundation to rescind its award, scheduled to be presented May 30. Earlier this month the Clergy Forum of Jakarta, Banten and West Java tried, unsuccessfully, to deliver a letter of protest to the US embassy in Jakarta. The two groups claim Yudhoyono has rolled back religious freedom since he took office in 2004.
ETAN promises a “protest at award ceremony in NYC” if the foundation follows through with the award to SBY.
