Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you for caring. I appreciate that very much. [Applause]

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  They were in both.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  My answer to the second question is that yes, of course it's complex, but it does not need to be overly intellectualized. When it comes to religion and culture, we, in trying to be good global citizens, wind up, I think, in the paralysis of analysis. On this one, I think, action should be pretty easy for us to undertake, precisely because the values for which this country is supposed to stand are themselves not simple.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It's a very good question. Power politics is exactly that—power politics—which means that any excuse will be invoked as cover, and in this case, as in so many other cases in the Muslim world, religion is invoked as cover. But, sir, again, one can't make clean distinctions like this without a little bit more nuance.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I would suggest that the resource base argument probably is quite accurate. Of course, we know that Papuans have had some nationalist aspirations but—and I give my opinion on this, as I haven't done hard research into this—I do not believe that those aspirations are a threat to the integrity of the Indonesian nation.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  There is no doubt that among the targeted voices in that country are journalists, as they are, frankly, in most states that have a morally weak, power-hungry government. I will tell you this. When I spoke to the Alliance of Independent Journalists in Indonesia, I asked, “What does “independent” mean in this context?”

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'm sorry to report that, no, that decision has meant nothing. I'm not trying to be overly simplistic here. The reality is that even after the attack on my team and me, four or five months later no investigation has actually opened up, despite repeated promises by people in power.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  And thereby give hope to those very people in Indonesia who we love to tell other people in the world that we ally with because of our internationalist ideals: we don't need to be hypocrites on this one.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  To be clear, you mean the role of journalists within Indonesia...?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Well, I think, Professor, what I've been emphasizing throughout the past number of minutes is that Indonesia's own constitution is to guarantee freedom of thought, freedom of belief, and freedom of expression. None of this—none of these ideas—is a holdover of western colonization.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I mentioned in my testimony that I think three major factors are at play. One is very weak and poor leadership under the current president. Prior to this president, we had a man who was affectionately known as “Gus Dur”, who was a very staunchly reformist Muslim and made statements such as “freedom of expression is necessary if we're going to show humility to God”.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Sir, could you restate that question, just so I understand it fully?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I do. That, in fact, is the central issue here. It's that freedom of expression and freedom of belief, as guaranteed by Indonesia's own constitution, are under assault in Indonesia. That's right.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, there are, at least demonstrably. One such group is the Ahmadi minority within Islam. Very briefly, I'll say that Ahmadis believe that the Prophet Muhammad was not the final prophet sent by God, that there was still another one, but in most other ways, Ahmadis do identify as Muslim.