Indonesia was once known for its moderate and diverse Islam, but extremism is on the rise. Anger over the perceived “blasphemy” of former Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (better known as “Ahok”), a Chinese Christian, brought more than 200,000 people to the streets in 2016 and eventually led to his imprisonment. In August 2017 the government announced plans to further tighten blasphemy legislation, though a month earlier it ordered the disbandment of Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir “to protect Indonesia’s unity”.
Indonesia ‘suppressing’ religions
A draft law aimed at protecting religious communities fails to uphold religious freedoms in Indonesia, says a human rights group. “The bill upholds that the state can intervene in freedom of religion to maintain stability and security at the expense of minority groups,” said Bonar Tigor Naipospos of the Setara […]
Indonesian Islam to model harmony
The Indonesian Muslim Congress, meeting under new President Joko Widodo, has re-stated that Indonesian Islam could serve as a model, at the international level, to present a “harmonious society” in which Muslims live and work peacefully side by side with believers of other religions. President Widodo said “Indonesia is a […]
VIDEO: Amidst hopes of Jokowi, Indonesian Christians remain concerned
In Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, the number of cases of religious intolerance doubled during 2014 – to 67, according to a recent report from the Southeast Asian nation’s National Commission on Human Rights. About 30 of these cases were about the closure or vandalism of churches, […]
Death threats for educational church visit
UCAN, a Catholic news service in Asia, reports that an Indonesian university lecturer, Rosnida Sari, has received death threats after taking Muslim students on a trip to a Christian church. The threats began Jan. 5, after the Australia Plus website published an account by Sari, who teaches at the Islamic […]
Indonesia presidential elections ‘vote for Jokowi’
Religious freedom and human rights liberties are at stake in Indonesia’s Presidential elections tomorrow, July 9, as its two leading contenders are at polar opposites when it comes to their reputations regarding human rights. Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is well known for his stance against corruption, being pro religious pluralism and […]
Indonesian Catholic and Protestant groups attacked by Islamists
Muslims protest the building of a church in Java, Indonesia; December 2010.World Watch Monitor Two church group attacks within 3 days of each other in Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, have caused concern ahead of Presidential elections in July. They both occurred in Yogyakarta province’s Sleman […]
Indonesia’s religious freedom ‘in peril’
The Batak Protestant Church near Jakarta was torn down in March 2013, just after being built.World Watch Monitor A new report paints a bleak picture of religious freedom in Indonesia. Indonesia: Pluralism in Peril, which was launched at the UK Parliament yesterday (Feb. 25), says that in the world’s most […]
Indonesian churches remain closed
All smiles: A Muslim leader shares a joke with local police officers after protests in West Java that secured the closure of four churches.Courtesy Open Doors International Four churches in Indonesia remain closed two months after local officials yielded to the demands of protesting Muslim hardliners. The Indonesian Full […]
Court case hangs over Indonesian pastor
An Indonesian pastor remains in a tortured psychological state as a legal case against him lingers on. Palti Panjaitan, who runs the HKBP Filadelfia church in the village of Jejalen Jaya, east of Bekasi, was accused by an Islamic leader of assaulting him on Christmas Eve of last year. The […]
Another thumbs-down for SBY ‘statesman’ award
Add another human-rights watchdog group to the list disapproving of the decision by the Appeal of Conscience Foundation to bestow its 2013 “World Statesman Award” to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, widely known as SBY. The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network, or ETAN, has launched an online petition urging the […]