Religion 'won't win corruption fight'

Religion 'won't win corruption fight'

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Religious leaders have confessed that strict law enforcement and
harsh punishments are more effective than religious teachings in
combating corruption.

Addressing a seminar on corruption eradication on Monday,
Muslim cleric Solahuddin Wahid said that although the country
sees its people as religious, and the state's ideology is based
on divinity, Indonesia is ranked among the world's most corrupt
nations.

"Places of worship are abundant and filled to capacity, some
200,000 people also perform the haj pilgrimage every year. But
corruption is still rampant," said Solahuddin, also deputy
chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

Last year, Indonesia was ranked as fifth most corrupt nation,
climbing one place from sixth in the previous year, based on a
report from the Berlin-based Transparency International (TI).

Some prominent corruption cases have even occurred within the
Ministry of Religious Affairs.

The guilty parties, Solahuddin said, were not deterred by the
knowledge that religion prohibits corruption and that God will
surely punish them.

"Thus, 'worldly' punishments would be more effective than a
religious approach in battling corruption," said the brother of
former president and Muslim cleric Abdurrahman Wahid.

Minister Weinata Sairin from the Indonesian Churches
Association (PGI) said there has been a dichotomy between
spiritual life and the professional world.

"Religiousness is still a matter of ceremony and symbol. The
churches are full of worshipers, but corruption remains," he
said.

Solahuddin said the country's educators should teach universal
values.

"We have to teach our children to be honest, hardworking,
loving, understanding and disciplined. That money is not the main
goal but rather the fruitage of our hard work," he said.

Religion would continue to play a vital role, Solahuddin said,
but more to provide warnings and explanations.
"But religion is not limited to prayer. Also, there is no such
thing as sharia (Islamic) law if justice is not upheld -- we
would hunt down those who did not fast or pray, but free the
corruptors -- for what?" Solahuddin said.

Meanwhile, legal expert Romli Atmasasmita urged the government
to soon ratify the United Nations' 2003 Convention Against
Corruption and translate it into laws and regulations.

"Ratification would grant us the right to file lawsuits, such
as the restoration of corruption assets in other countries. It
would also oblige the government to obey the regulations of the
convention," he said in the seminar.

Another legal expert, Sunaryati Hartono, said that reform was
needed at all levels of government to avoid corruption, collusion
and nepotism.

"The structure of the administration must be transparent and
consist of individuals of the same status, or on the same level,
so that it can be more modern, efficient and democratic,"
Sunaryati said.

He said outsourcing was also worth consideration.

According to Sunaryati, at least nine bills should be passed
without delay to ensure the government functions at its best.

They are those on ombudsmen, public services, governmental
ethics, administrative law, the civil service, the division of
power between the central and local governments, the witness
protection scheme, the administrative court and the bill on
freedom of information.