Many human rights defenders and legal scholars believe Indonesia should adhere to the universal standards of rights and freedom found in international human rights instruments it has ratified, but the legal system is better understood through Savigny’s historical approach which recognizes how cultural and religious values are absorbed into each nation’s laws. But what about the rights of religious and other minorities when faced with authoritarian majorities? This talk will argue that in protecting religious minorities we cannot solely depend on legal ordinances but must also consider inclusive interpretations of religious values because of the influential position of religion in Indonesian public spheres.
Al Khanif earned his PhD in law in 2016 at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, with a thesis titled Protecting Religious Minorities within Islam in Indonesia: A Challenge for International Human Rights Law and Islamic Law. An alumnus of CRCS of the 2004 batch, he currently serves as a lecturer in the Faculty of Law, Universitas Jember, and the chairperson of the Indonesian Consortium for Human Rights Lecturers (Serikat Pengajar Hak Asasi Manusia/SEPAHAM).
Look at the full poster of this event here.