Human Rights Watch on Monday accused Indonesian authorities of using excessive force against peaceful protesters in Papua and standing by while mobs attacked religious minorities in Java and Sumatra last year.

In its World Report 2012, issued on Monday, the New York-based rights group said that in 2011 there was a marked rise in police and military violence and attacks on religious minorities in Indonesia.

â??The common thread is the failure of the Indonesian government to protect the rights of all its citizens,â? said Elaine Pearson, HRWâ??s deputy Asia director.

The report called on the government to release â??all detainees held for peacefully expressing views opposing the government,â? mainly Papuan and Malukan activists.

It also urged the government to thoroughly investigate and prosecute violence against religious and ethnic minorities. It said that in October a police operation to disband a three-day Papuan Congress in Jayapura left three people killed, more than 90 injured and more than 300 arrested.

No police officers were disciplined but five Papuan leaders were charged with treason.

The report also pointed out that a least 75 other people, mostly Papuan and from the Maluku islands, are being imprisoned for peaceful political activities and acts of free expression.

â??The Indonesian governmentâ??s jailing of people for peacefully expressing their political views is an ugly stain on the countryâ??s human rights record,â? Pearson said. â??Indonesiaâ??s reputation as a rights-respecting democracy will be tarnished until all of these prisoners are released.â?

The report also said that incidents of violence against religious minorities became more deadly and frequent during 2011.

It said that hard-line mobs had attacked various religious minorities and the few attackers for whom a real effort to apply justice had been made received only light sentences.

The government also did not revoke several decrees discriminating against minority religions and fostering public intolerance, according to the report that assessed progress on human rights during the past year in more than 90 countries.

Minority congregations have reported that local officials arbitrarily refused to issue them permits required under a 2006 decree on building houses of worship. Those who attempted to worship without a permit faced harassment and violence.

â??Incidents of sectarian violence are no longer isolated cases in Indonesia but are taking place at an alarming rate,â? Pearson said.

â??The Indonesian government needs to reverse course and start prosecuting violence against religious minorities and replace the discriminatory regulations that only encourage such attacks.â?

Meanwhile, the Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) accused President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of trying to shun his responsibility to deal with the human rights violations that have taken place under his watch.

Haris Azhar, a Kontras coordinator, said that while addressing a meeting of leaders of the police and armed forces on Friday, the president said the violence that had taken place in the country could not be categorized as serious human rights violations.

â??From this statement, it is clear that this is an effort by SBY to evade responsibility for human rights problems in the country,â? Haris said in a statement issued on the weekend.

Haris cited the examples of continuing violence against members of the Ahmadiyah sect and the ongoing violence in Papua. In both cases, he said, it was clear the police or armed forces had failed to prevent violence and protect citizens.

â??We are suspicious that this statement by SBY is a political defense for the various incidents,â? he said.

In his speech, Yudhoyono defended the police and military, saying some activist organizations were â??quick to accuse [the government] of gross human rights violations,â? which he said were not occurring in Indonesia.