church’s Sunday School, are forced to bribe guards to receive clean water in a "a dirty" overcrowded prison where they also face a lack of adequate food and sleep deprivation among other abuses, investigators said Friday, September 30.
Officials of Christian Freedom International (CFI), an influential human rights group for religious liberty, expressed their concern to BosNewsLife after meeting the "wrongly convicted" Dr. Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun, who were sentenced to three years in prison each this month in a case that gained international attention.
US-based CFI said it is "urging the Indonesian government to release the three women" and also appeals to "the US government to place all possible pressure on Indonesia" for their immediate release.
A local Islamic group was successful in bringing charges against the three for violating the "Child Protection Act," but CFI and other human rights groups maintain the women only invited Muslim minors to their Sunday School with the consent of parents.
CFI President Jim Jacobson, a former While House official, said their sentence and the human rights abuses his organization established while visiting the prison in Indramayu show that "under the Children Protection Act and other regulations, no Christian is safe in Indonesia," the world’s largest Muslim nation. "This case should be a wakeup call for all caring Christians," he said.
"DIRTY PRISON"
Jacobson stressed he learned that in a "cramped, dirty prison of 437, only 16 of the inmates are women." There are allegedly eight women sharing a 5 meters by 5 meters cell who allegedly sleep all together on top of a hard, wood platform. Blankets and sheets are not allowed, CFI added. Government and prison officials could not be reached for comment, but the government has promised to fight Muslim extremism. It was not clear if that policy would extend to reports of abuse of Christian prisoners.
The women are "fed an egg-sized lump of rice and soybean mixture covered in ants three times a day," according to CFI officials. In addition "we have to pay money to the guards to turn the water on to the toilet in our cell," said Rebekka Zakaria in remarks released by CFI. They allegedly also have to pay guards for receiving letters and urged supporters to therefore only send them via a local pastor.
"I wake up at 5:00 am everyday to pray and read my Bible till 7:30. At 8:00 they open the [cell] doors," Zakaria was quoted as saying. The 16 women then share "a 10 meters by 10 meters room where there is only one chair until 4:00 p.m. when they must return to their dingy cells," according to the CFI investigation obtained by BosNewsLife.
"NO DINING ROOM"
"We eat breakfast, lunch, dinner in that room on the floor. No dining room. We get a small portion of lamb once a week," explained Zakaria. In an "incredible" move, she is however allowed to lead a worship service on Sundays in a small outdoor courtyard area of the prison, CFI reported. About 35 people from her church are reportedly allowed to enter the prison each Sunday to participate.
Zakaria said one male inmate recently converted to Christianity and attends the worship service, bringing the Christian inmate population to seven. However "this is ‘School of Trust Bible School.’ Not a jail," she was quoted as saying by CFI.
Although Zakaria was "sometimes depressed" she said that "God comforts" her "everyday with joy and peace. I pray for the other prisoners and guards. One prisoner converted and became a Christian [and we] share our faith with others."
"GOD’S WILL"
While she hopes to be "released soon" after spending 140 days in prison Friday, September 30, the women want to do "God’s will," Zakaria claimed in published remarks. "I am not angry at the people who brought the charges against me. I forgive them. I bless them."
Pangesti, who has three small children, agreed but said she, misses them "very much." Zakaria urged Christians to "pray" about their situation and said she was "surprised so happily that American Christians were so interested in our case," an apparent reference to the human rights investigation. (With BosNewsLife Research, BosNewsLife News Center and reports from Indonesia).
