To be attended by 30 World-renowned Speakers, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and Leimena Institute Ready to Host the CCRL International Conference

The speakers at the pre-event press conference on Thursday (11/09/2023) are Executive Director of Leimena Institute, Matius Ho, Director General of Human Rights, Dhahana Putra, and Senior Fellow and Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Organization of Islamic Cooperation from 2016 to 2019, Alwi Shihab.

IL News 005/2023

Jakarta, Leimena Institute News – The Ministry of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemenkumham RI, for its acronym in Indonesian) together with Leimena Institute are ready to host an International Conference on Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy (CCRL) featuring at least 30 renowned speakers from all over the world on November 13-14, 2023 at Kempinski Hotel, Jakarta. The theme of the conference is “Human Dignity And Rule of Law For A Peaceful And Inclusive Society” as a series of 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 the very crucial topic of CCRL in the Indonesian context. The conference is the implementation of the Cooperation Agreement between the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights and Leimena Institute since 2022, which aims to enhance the understanding of freedom of religion and belief in the educational scope.

“This international conference will be attended by various speakers, both national and international, in line with the implementation of the 75th anniversary of the UDHR on December 10 with the theme Harmony in Diversity,” said Dhahana in a press conference attended by around 30 journalists at Kemenkumham office, on Thursday (11/09/2023).

The CCRL International Conference will be inaugurated by the Minister of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia, Yasonna H. Laoly, on Monday (11/13/2023). Subsequently, in the evening, a Gala Dinner session will be held which will feature a keynote speech by the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy.

On the second day, Tuesday (11/14/2023), the main speaker will be the Vice President of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Muhammadou M.O. Kah.

This conference will also take place in hybrid format (via Zoom) so that the wider public can participate by registering in advance via the link https://leimena.org/eng/conference/. The number of registrants for the hybrid conference has reached 2,675 people so far, and the registration will continue to be open until Monday (11/13/2023).

There are five panel sessions that the international conference participants can attend, either offline or online. However, the Gala Dinner session and seven optional sessions (breakout sessions) can only be attended by offline participants.

Several journalists conducted interviews after the press conference.

Signals of Intolerance

Senior Fellow of Leimena Institute and Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation from 2016 to 2019, Prof. Alwi Shihab, said that the cross-cultural religious literacy program focuses on increasing our awareness of intolerance among teachers as well as providing enlightenment about interreligious relations.

“There are signals that apparently teachers of the Islam religion, religious teachers in Indonesia tend to be intolerant. This is very dangerous if left unaddressed without efforts from the government or Islamic and Christian organizations,” stated Alwi, who also served as the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2001.

Alwi expressed that teachers play a strategic role in developing the young generation into future leaders of the nation. According to him, the intolerance happening in this world and even disputes that lead to wars are caused by wrong interpretations of religious teachings, thus we need to probe religious teachings and make sure they really come from the primary sources.

“The CCRL approach enlightens teachers that, basically, we must be ready to be embrace differences. Differences should not be an entry point for conflict; on the contrary, differences are inevitable, so we should manage these differences for the common good,” Alwi said.

The atmosphere in the room as journalists wait for the press conference to start.

Executive Director of Leimena Institute, Matius Ho, stated that the CCRL International Conference brings together speakers from government officials across countries, academics, and leaders of international organizations. It also extended invitations to around 20 ambassadors from friendly countries, and to leaders or figures from partner religious and educational institutions in the CCRL program.

“This international conference serves as a platform to discuss the concept of human dignity as the fundamental principle and core of human rights,” Matius said.

Matius mentioned that the experiences of the CCRL program in Indonesia, organized by Leimena Institute with at least 20 partners, illustrate how religious literacy, based on the respect for human dignity, has built social capital for a peaceful and inclusive society. The CCRL program in Indonesia has produced more than 5,000 teachers from 34 provinces in Indonesia.

Prominent figures who will speak at this conference include the Secretary General of Muhammadiyah’s Central Board, Abdul Mu’ti; Steering Committee Member at the National Agency for Pancasila Ideology Development, Amin Abdullah; President of the World Council of Churches, Henriette T. Hutabarat-Lebang; Senior Advisor at the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin; Chairman of the Tebuireng Pesantren Waqf Foundation, K.H. Abdul Halim Mahfudz; Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Indonesia to the UN, WTO, and other international organizations, in Geneva, Switzerland, Achsanul Habib; Vice Chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia, Arsul Sani; Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Political-Security Community, Robert Matheus Michael Tene; and Director General for ASEAN Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Indonesia, Sidharto R. Suryodipuro.

Foreign speakers include the Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion and Belief, 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, Brett Scharffs; Founder and Chairperson 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 (2014-2017), David Saperstein.

The lineup of topics and speakers at the International Conference on Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy attracts media coverage for said conference, which will be held on July 10-11.

“In particular, the conference will also highlight the important role of education in building multi-faith collaboration. This conference follows the success of Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy training in Indonesia, which has trained more than 8,500 teachers in less than two and a half years, and has involved 25 educational and religious institutions,” Daniel stated.

The international conference will be attended by approximately 200 invited participants including government officials from ministries and agencies both at home and abroad, several ambassadors from friendly countries, academics, civil society leaders, as well as CCRL training alumni consisting of madrasa and schoolteachers.

The implementation of the International Conference on CCRL is made possible through partnerships with the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University Law School, and the Templeton Religion Trust.