Warta Ahmadiyah

Jakarta Globe

Politics of Peace: Focus on national elections has been touted as the cause behind decreased religious violence in 2014

By Kennial Caroline Laia on 12:14 am Dec 29, 2014

Jakarta. The absence of major cases of violence stemming from religious intolerance in Indonesia this year by no means indicates that the issue has been resolved. Observers noted that political euphoria during Indonesia’s election year has diverted many sentiments of intolerance to the political arena, while poor law enforcement is still considered a main culprit behind lingering, if not growing intolerance.

Islamic scholar Azyumardi Azra said the condition of religious tolerance in Indonesia this year was better than last year in that there were no major cases as had been recorded in previous years.

“Overall, this year is much better than last year. Public tolerance has improved. There’s no big case we should be alarmed of,” Azyumardi told the Jakarta Globe last week.

The history professor from Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, however, scrutinized the intense use of religious sentiment during the elections, for both the legislative elections on April 9 and the presidential race on July 9.

“One thing that must be highlighted this year is the utilization of religion as political means during presidential campaigns,” he said, referring especially to rampant smear campaign against candidate Joko Widodo, who has become Indonesia’s seventh president.

Joko, a Javanese-born Muslim, was called a Chinese Christian, a missionary, a Zionist underling and a communist agent, among other things, in smear messages circulating freely via text messages, chat services and social media platforms among Indonesian voters.

Azyumardi said it was luck that although many voters might have been swayed by the smears, none were inspired to commit violence.

“Fortunately, [the use] of religious sentiments appear to have had no significant effect on voters in that they didn’t ignite violence,” he said.

Muhammad Nurkhoiron, a commissioner with the National Commission on Human Rights, better known as Komnas HAM, said the election festivities rendered religious intolerance issues abandoned this year, resulting in no significant progress being made to address the problem.

“In 2014, no specific policy has been made to ensure better minority protection because of focus on the electoral process between April and July,” Nurkhoiron said last week.

He called efforts to improve religious tolerance in Indonesia a “stagnant” process.

“There are still rallies on minorities’ places of worship, hate speeches in social media and even public demonstrations against a Chinese Christian government official.”

He was referring to Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, formerly deputy governor to Joko, whose ascent to the top job in the capital was marked with rallies by hard-line groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) who objected to predominantly Muslim Jakarta being ruled by a Christian governor.

Among cases of religious intolerance that made media headlines in Indonesia this year are an FPI attack against members of the minority Islamic sect Ahmadiyah in Ciamis, West Java in June; the ban on hijab in a number of schools in predominantly Hindu Bali; and the attack on a house hosting a Catholic mass in Yogyakarta in May.

Nurkhoiron said radical mobs especially had been encouraged to keep launching attacks against the minority due to poor law enforcement. Even in the absence of a law specifically guaranteeing the right to religious freedom for minorities, any cases of violence and assaults should be considered crimes, in line with the Criminal Code.

“The police must protect the people, both from the minority and the majority. Sadly, the police often take side with the majority,“ he said.

Nurkhoiron added the intolerance and violence cases were often encouraged or aggravated by some regulations, as well as fatwas issued by local ulema, such as edits of the Indonesian Council of Ulema, or MUI.

Hard-line groups such as the FPI have based their violent protests against the Ahmadist on an edict issued by the MUI in 2005 that read: “Ahmadiyah isn’t part of Islam. It is deviant and misleading. Therefore, people who adhere to the religion are infidels.”

“An edict isn’t a law product but is a social product created by and applied for certain communities. Should the edict violate the existing and official laws, it is the task of law enforcers to warn people [against the edict],” he said.

The Jakarta Globe attempted to contact MUI chairman Din Syamsuddin for comment, but he didn’t return the Jakarta Globe’s calls and text messages.

An outdated, but still often used decree issued by Indonesia’s first president Sukarno in 1965 is another example of discriminatory regulations against Muslims who have different interpretations on Islam from the mainstream Muslim communities, Nukhorison added.

Despite the little progress, he said 2014 offered a ray of hope.

“The religious minister this year has given a green light to support minority groups. We are waiting for [the realization],” Nurkhoiron says.

Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin last week said the ministry was drafting a bill on religious tolerance that would guarantee one’s right to freedom of religion, including protection of minority religious groups.

Earlier in July, Lukman won praise from rights activists and minority groups as he said he recognized Baha’i as a faith, although he later clarified that it was his personal opinion, not a policy of the government.

Indonesia recognizes six official religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism.

Haris Azhar, coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), emphasized the need for real actions in the form of law enforcement against those who commit violence on behalf of religion.

“So far, there haven’t been real actions made by the government to address intolerance cases in many areas in Indonesia. Although there has been statement from the minister, I’m afraid it could be no more than a saccharine promise,” Haris said.

“The government often forgets that intolerance cannot be addressed by mere stack of papers consisting of regulations. No matter how many laws you propose, without firm actions by from law enforcers, there will still be groups that commit violence on behalf of religion.”

He further added that the drafted bill would be useless if the government did nothing to revoke bylaws that were against the spirit of the bill.

Bylaws in several regions in Indonesia have been subject to rights activists’ criticism because they are considered discriminatory, most notably in Aceh, the only province in Indonesia allowed to adopt the sharia bylaw following its history of secessionist rebellion.

Azyumardi added it was also imperative for the government to take proactive measures to prevent religious-based violence by bridging the gap between interfaith communities in Indonesia.

“We must consolidate our democracy locally. If not, people will get more fragmented and more violence are likely to happen,” Azyumardi says.

Meanwhile, members of GKI Yasmin congregation in Bogor remained unable to hold a Christmas service inside their church on Thursday. This is the fifth year that they have been unable to hold Christmas service in the church since it was sealed by local authorities in 2010.

GKI Yasmin obtained a permit to open a church in Bogor in 2006, but the permit was later revoked by the municipal government following pressure from local hard-line Islamic groups.

A Supreme Court ruling later overruled the local authority decision, compelling the Bogor administration to reopen the church, but even the new Bogor mayor, Bima Arya Sugiarto, who was elected last year, has refused to comply.

SENIN, 22 DESEMBER 2014 | 19:42 WIB

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Ketua Pelapor Khusus Kebebasan Beragama dari Komnas Perempuan, Sinta Nuriyah Wahid, mengatakan polisi banyak disorot oleh komunitas korban intoleransi agama.

Polisi, yang seharusnya berada di garis depan dalam menjaga ketertiban dan menjamin keamanan warga negara, menunjukan sikap yang tidak netral dalam menyelesaikan sengketa antarkomunitas. (Baca: 5 Lembaga Desak Jokowi Sikapi Ahmadiyah NTB)

“Bahkan, ketika kelompok agama tertentu mendapat perlakuan jahat dari organisasi tertentu, polisi justru melakukan pembiaran,” kata Sinta dalam acara Laporan Pelapor Khusus Komnas Perempuan Tentang Kekerasan dan Diksriminasi terhadap Perempuan dalam Konteks Pelanggaran Hak Konstitusional Kebebasan Beragama di Hotel Bidakara 22 Desember 2014. (Baca: Daftar Kekerasan FPI di Lima Provinsi)

Forum Kerukunan Umat Beragama adalah badan bentukan pemerintah yang berisikan tokoh agama dengan maksud membuka ruang dialog lintas kelompok.

Berdasarkan hasil pemantauan, tim Pelapor Khusus ini mencatat beberapa kasus intoleransi terhadap pendirian rumah ibadah yang justru tidak dapat diselesaikan karena komposisi representasi di dalam FKUB. (Baca: Gubernur Minta Polisi Tangani Kekerasan Terhadap Ahmadiyah)

“Komposisi anggota FKUB yang menggunakan politik representasi kelompok bisa menyebabkan FKUB menjadi media untuk menghalang halangi daripada memfasilitasi berdirinya rumah ibadah,” kata Sinta.

MITRA TARIGAN

PICTURE: A man reacts as he checks the condition of an Ahmadiyah mosque in Tasikmalaya, West Java, after it was attacked by members of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) on May 5, 2013. (JG Photo/Rezza Estily)

By Rupert Abbott on 02:29 pm Nov 26, 2014

Jakarta Globe

Indonesia has come a long way on human rights since the end of the Suharto era. But despite the progress, there have been some serious setbacks over the past decade — not least when it comes to the issue of freedom of religion and expression.

The past ten years have been marked by shrinking space for religious pluralism, with those professing minority beliefs increasingly facing threats, violent attacks and imprisonment.

Across Indonesia, churches and mosques have been burned down, whole communities forced to flee because of their beliefs, and a range of laws and bylaws introduced to silence the expression of minority beliefs.

Last week, Amnesty International launched a new briefing on one particular aspect of this disturbing trend – Indonesia’s blasphemy laws.

Scores of people have been jailed under the blasphemy laws for nothing more than peacefully expressing their beliefs – some for simply voicing a “deviant” faith, others for “crimes” like posting their opinions on Facebook or whistling while praying or claiming to have received a “revelation from God.”

The numbers paint a sorry picture. Although the so-called blasphemy law has been on the books since 1965, it was rarely used until the last decade, with 13 convictions in almost 40 years. But during former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s time in office (2004-2014), Amnesty International has documented at least 106 individuals who have been jailed for blasphemy, some facing as long as five years behind bars.

Our research also reveals how blasphemy cases are mostly coordinated at the local level. Local officials, the police and hard-line Islamist groups are able to collude to harass religious minorities, using the blasphemy laws as one of their tools.

While the vast majority of convictions are under the 1965 blasphemy law, it has also inspired other laws used for the same purpose.

The Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) Law, which governs use of the internet, contains blasphemy provisions, for example, that are often used to target people for social media posts.

One example is the case of Alexander Aan, which has received widespread international media attention. A 30-year old civil servant from West Sumatra province, An was fined and sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for “blasphemy,” after posting in an atheist Facebook group.

Before his conviction, Alexander was forced to seek police protection after an angry mob gathered outside his office and threatened to beat him up — a chilling example of the threat of vigilante violence often hanging over those accused of blasphemy.

The blasphemy laws clearly contravene Indonesia’s international obligations to uphold the rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion or belief. Amnesty International considers all those imprisoned simply for peacefully expressing their religious beliefs to be prisoners of conscience.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has a real opportunity to address this issue head-on, and to usher in a new era of respect for human rights in Indonesia, particularly for freedom of religion and expression.

As a first step, Amnesty International is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all those jailed under the blasphemy laws — at least nine individuals at the time of writing.

A longer-term priority must be to repeal the blasphemy law and provisions in other laws that criminalize the expression of beliefs. They are simply incompatible with Indonesia’s international human rights obligations concerning freedom of expression and freedom of religion and belief — rights which are also guaranteed by Indonesia’s Constitution.

Many of the signals from Indonesia’s new administration are encouraging — Amnesty International looks forward to seeing pledges on human rights followed with real action.

Rupert Abbott is Amnesty International’s research director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

THE Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) recorded 21 bylaws that had been issued by regional governments between 2005 and 2011 to disband any religious activities by members of the Ahmadiyah community, putting the Ahmadis under threat from locals and radical organizations.

The Jakarta Post

Newly appointed Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo has said that he will scrutinize problems faced by minority groups over the past decade.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician said that he would make an inventory of what could be categorized as minority problems.

“We will ask [for data] on what has happened in the past decade,” he said on the sidelines of the Cabinet inauguration on Monday at the Presidential Palace.

He added that he would soon summon governors, mayors and regents to hear directions regarding a plan on financial austerity from President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

“We will deliver messages from Bappenas [the National Development Planning Board] and the Finance Ministry so that regional heads can understand about the limitation of [the current] state budget and will be able to anticipate [conditions],” said Tjahjo, referring to soaring fuel prices that may push the Jokowi administration to relieve some subsidies to make larger fiscal room for development programs.

Tjahjo, who is currently still serving as PDI-P secretary-general, is among five PDI-P members appointed in the new Cabinet.

A career politician and lawmaker, Tjahjo has never acquired public office before. The nationalistic background of the PDI-P, however, has given hope that he will be able to reform the conservative approach of home ministers from the time of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration.

Previously, Yudhoyono preferred to give the ministerial post to former military officers or local bureaucrats, which led to violent incidents with religious minority groups.

Human rights watchdogs recorded a rising number of incidents among religious groups during Yudhoyono’s two terms.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) recorded 21 bylaws that had been issued by regional governments between 2005 and 2011 to disband any religious activities by members of the Ahmadiyah community, putting the Ahmadis under threat from locals and radical organizations.

A political analyst from the Indonesian Civilized Circle (Lima), Ray Rangkuti, suggested that Tjahjo would be more open-minded in handling sectarian conflicts compared to his predecessor Gamawan Fauzi.

“Looking at his character and his background as a [PDI-P] politician, I believe that Tjahjo will be more tolerant. He tends to go against mass organizations that often create trouble, such as the Islam Defenders Front [FPI], but he will handle those according to regulations,” Ray said.

Human rights defender Hendardi, who chairs human rights watchdog the Setara Institute, said that the first challenge for Tjahjo would be to end discrimination against minorities like the Ahmadi and Shia groups.

He was referring to the Islamic sect of the Shia community based in Sampang, East Java, whose hundreds of members remain banned from returning home after they were forcibly evicted from their villages when their homes were burned by a group of people claiming to be representatives of the majority Sunni Muslims in August 2012.

Similarly, members of the Ahmadiyah community in Ketapang, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), have been living in a local shelter after a mob claiming to be members of the Sunni majority attacked and burned their houses eight years ago.

Adding to discrimination imposed on the country’s religious minorities, the GKI Yasmin church in Bogor, West Java, has remained sealed for more than 10 years despite a ruling by the Supreme Court, the country’s highest legal institution, stipulating its legitimacy.

“[Along with the Religious Affairs Ministry and the Law and Human Rights Ministry] Tjahjo must also revoke all laws and regulations that accommodate discrimination against the country’s religious minority groups, such as, among other things, the bans on Ahmadiyah as well as a 2006 joint ministerial decree on places of worship,” Hendardi said.

The 2006 joint ministerial decree stipulates that congregation members must secure approval from at least 60 local residents of different faiths and the government-sponsored Regional Interfaith Harmony Forum (FKUB) before establishing a house of worship.

Robert Endi Jaweng, executive director of the Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD), specifically called on Tjahjo to keep a close watch on the development of Aceh and Papua, two provinces are that still marred with political instability, as well as economic and security concerns.

“I was hoping that the new home minister would be someone who has experience in governing. But now, we have Tjahjo, a politician. He may face challenges in building communication with special regions, particularly Aceh and Papua, and coordinating with respective ministries to ensure that sufficient funds and the right policies are in place to propel these regions’ development,” he said. (idb)

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Hasyim Widhiarto contributed to this article
PIC: Tjahjo Kumolo. JP

THE targets? The many Christian congregations, Shiites and the Ahmadiyah. These groups have become targets of Sunni militant groups who label most non-Muslims as “infidels,” and Muslims who do not adhere to Sunni orthodoxy as “blasphemers.” Even Indonesia’s atheists live in fear of such groups.

Jakarta Globe

Outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono broke his long silence on violent religious extremism the other day, describing it in an Aug. 21 interview as “shocking” and “becoming out of control.”

To the dismay of the many Indonesians who have fallen victim to the country’s rising tide of religious intolerance, Yudhoyono’s concerns were not for plight of the country’s besieged religious minorities, but rather a response to the actions of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. That group’s well-documented brutality and indications that Indonesians are joining its ranks is certainly cause for worry.

But Yudhoyono’s comments betray a troubling lack of concern about the acts of harassment, intimidation and violence suffered by Indonesia’s own religious minorities from Islamist militants during his decade as president. Instead, Yudhoyono downplayed such incidents in Indonesia by claiming it is “understandable that sometimes there will be conflict between different groups.”

That is more than gross understatement. Indeed, it could summarize the Yudhoyono government’s sorry record in adequately confronting religious intolerance and related violence during his administration. During the last decade, there have been numerous incidents of harassment, threats and violence against religious minorities. Indonesia’s Setara Institute, which monitors religious freedom in Indonesia, documented 220 cases of violent attacks on religious minorities in 2013, an increase from 91 such cases in 2007.

The targets? The many Christian congregations, Shiites and the Ahmadiyah. These groups have become targets of Sunni militant groups who label most non-Muslims as “infidels,” and Muslims who do not adhere to Sunni orthodoxy as “blasphemers.” Even Indonesia’s atheists live in fear of such groups.

The increasing violence against religious minorities — and the government’s failure to take decisive steps against it — does more than put the lie to Yudhoyono’s sunny assessment of Indonesia as a country in which “We respect all religions.” The government’s inaction violates guarantees of religious freedom in the Indonesian constitution and Indonesia’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Indonesia ratified in 2005.

Indonesia’s Shiite minority has had particular reason to worry in recent weeks. In April, the Anti-Shiite Alliance, a gathering of militant Sunni organizations, attracted thousands to hear speeches advocating “jihad” against the country’s Shiite minority. Among the participants were members of one of the country’s most violent Islamist organizations, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). The FPI that day opted for a uniform of black ski masks and camouflage jackets stenciled with the term “Heresy Hunters” to leave no question about their intentions.

But while Yudhoyono frets publicly about the far-away threat of the Islamic State, he and his government have allowed the FPI and kindred groups to carry out violence against religious minorities with near impunity. A June 2008 FPI attack on representatives of the interfaith National Alliance for Freedom of Faith and Religion at the base of the National Monument (Monas) in Jakarta injured dozens. More recently, the FPI forced the closure of an Ahmadiyah mosque in West Java in October 2013 after threatening to burn it down. Rather than confront the FPI, Yudhoyono and his government have chosen to coddle it. On Aug. 22, 2013, Indonesia’s then-religious affairs minister, Suryadharma Ali, opted to make the keynote speech at the FPI’s annual congress in Jakarta at which he praised the group as a “national asset.”

But Yudhoyno’s failure to protect religious freedom goes far beyond his acceptance of the depredations of Islamist thugs. On multiple occasions in recent years, police and government officials have been passively or actively complicit in incidents of harassment, intimidation or violence against religious minorities.

On Feb. 6, 2011, police stood by while a group of some 1,500 Islamist militants attacked 21 members of Cikeusik’s Ahmadiyah community who were holding a prayer meeting in a private home. The militants bludgeoned to death three Ahmadiyah men and seriously injured five others. A court sentenced 12 of the perpetrators to token prison sentences of three to six months. Adding insult to injury, the court also sentenced an Ahmadiyah man to a six-month prison term for merely attempting to defend himself. Police have yet to publicly release the results of their internal investigation into the attack.

Moreover, Indonesian government officials and security forces have often facilitated harassment and intimidation of religious minorities by militant Islamist groups. That includes making explicitly discriminatory statements, refusing to issue building permits for religious minorities’ houses of worship, and pressuring congregations to relocate. Such actions are in part made possible by discriminatory laws and regulations, including a blasphemy law that officially recognizes only six religions, and house of worship decrees that give local majority populations significant leverage over religious minority communities.

Indonesian government institutions have also played a role in the violation of the rights and freedoms of the country’s religious minorities. They include the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society (Bakor Pakem) under the Attorney General’s Office. Also, the semi-official Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has eroded religious freedom by issuing decrees and fatwas (religious rulings) against members of religious minorities and pressing for the prosecution of “blasphemers.”

Yudhoyono will step down as Indonesia’s president in late October, leaving a toxic legacy of rising religious intolerance and related violence.

A key challenge of his successor, Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, will be to take immediate steps to recognize and reverse the malign impact of Yudhoyono’s decade of failure in protecting religious freedom. Prioritizing protection for the country’s religious minorities and a zero-tolerance policy for abuses by Islamist militants will be a vital step toward that goal.

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Phelim Kine is a former Jakarta-based foreign correspondent and the deputy director of the Asia division at Human Rights Watch.

Suara Pembaruan

[JAKARTA] Setara Institute mempublikasikan laporan tengah tahun (Januari-Juni 2014) tentang kondisi kebebasan beragama di Indonesia. Laporan ini menunjukkan pelanggaran terhadap kebebasan beragama memperlihatkan tren menurun.

Direktur Riset Setara Institute, Ismail Hasani, menjelaskan dibanding periode yang sama pada dua tahun terakhir, kasus pelanggaran di tahun 2014 lebih jauh menurun. Pada semester pertama di 2012 tercatat 120 peristiwa dengan 168 tindakan. Sedangkan tahun 2013 terjadi 122 peristiwa dengan 16 tindakan.

Pada tahun 2014 tercatat 60 peristiwa dengan 81 bentuk tindakan yang menyebar di 17 provinsi. Misalnya tindakan pembiayaran, bila pada tahun lalu sebanyak 12 kasus, menurun menjadi 4 kasus di tahun ini. Penyegelan tempat ibadah juga menurun dari 11 kasus menjadi 2, sedangkan tindakan intoleransi dari 19 ke 13.

Sebagian besar kasus tahun 2014 terjadi di Jawa Barat (19), lalu menyusul Jawa Tengah (10 kasus), Jawa Timur (8 kasus), dan sisanya tersebar di daerah lainnya. Dari 81 tindakan itu terdapat 34 tindakan yang melibatkan para penyelenggara negara sebagai aktor utama. Masih seperti biasanya, kepolisian adalah institusi negara yang paling banyak melakukan pelanggaran.

“Tindakan yang melibatkan aktor negara itu antara lain 30 tindakan aktif atau by commission, pembiaran atau by omission, dan pernyataan pejabat publik yang provokatif dan mengundang terjadinya kekerasan atau condoning,” kata Ismail saat konferensi pers, di Jakarta siang ini, Senin (11/8).

Sementara itu, kelompok yang paling banyak melakukan pelanggaran berturut-turut, adalah kelompok warga 22 tindakan, Front Pembela Islam (FPI) 5 tindakan,n dann Forum Umat Islam (FUI) 4 tindakan. Pelanggaran kebebasan beragama ini paling banyak menimpa aliran keagamaan, umat Kristen, Ahmadiyah, dan Syiah.

Dijelaskan Ismail, hingga kini penyebab terjadinya pelanggaran itu belum diatasi oleh aktor negara. Misalnya, pembiaran produk hukum diskriminatif, kriminalisasi korban pelanggaran, pembiaran pelaku kekerasan menikmati impunitas dan imunitas karena tidak diadili secara serius. Juga pembiaran berbagai provokasi yang terus menebar kebencian terhadap kelompok agama atau keyakinan rentan lainnya.

Meskipun mengalami penurunan, Menteri Agama Lukman Hakim diminta untuk terus mendorong kondisi yang kondusif guna mencegah terjadinya kasus pelanggaran beragama dan berkeyakinan.

“Meskipun tinggal menghitung hari, Lukman Hakim harus membuat langkah konstruktif sebagai legasi Kementerian Agama maupun bagi dirinya sendiri. Di antaranya memulangkan pengungsi Ahmadiyah Transito Mataram atau paling tidak memenuhi hak-hak dasar mereka, seperti kesehatan, pendidikan, dan pekerjaan yang layak,” kata Bonar Tigor Naipospos, Wakil Ketua Setara Institute. [D-13/N-6]

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Berita lain/serupa:
Suara Pembaruan
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ICRP

INDONESIAN Christians aren’t the only targets of discrimination by local government officials. On June 26, regency officials in Ciamis, West Java, sealed an Ahmadiyah mosque on the basis that Ahmadis are “heretics” and “blasphemous”. Syaiful Uyun, an Ahmadiyah imam, told Human Rights Watch that local governments in West Java have ordered the closure of at least 37 other Ahmadiyah mosques over the past six years.

PICTURE caption: “An Ahmadiyah mosque in Ciamis in West Java. The mosque management took down their name board after a West Java govertment bans Ahmadiyah activities in 2011. Ciamis is located in southeastern West Java. Totally there are 37 Ahmadiyah mosques in trouble in the area because of violence and government discrimination.” –Andreas Harsono; Facebook.com

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Human Right Watch

Author: Andreas Harsono
Published in: MalaysiaKini

PROTESTANT church congregations in Singkil regency in Indonesia’s Aceh province in northern Sumatra are in the market for new video hardware.

But they did not source wide-screen televisions to view 2014 World Cup matches or the candidate debates for Indonesia’s July 9 presidential election.

Instead, the 10 churches wanted closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) to defend against possible arson attacks by violent Islamist militants.

Those church congregations have reason to be afraid during this election season. Pastor Erde Berutu, the minister of one of the Singkil congregations seeking CCTV cameras, told Human Rights Watch that memories of an arson attack on a Protestant church in Aceh’s Gunung Meriah area after the April 2012 local elections made the camera purchases an urgent priority.

Unknown attackers broke into the church in the early hours, doused the church pulpit, pews and walls with gasoline and then set them alight.

Berutu worries that the aftermath of the looming July 22 announcement of the results of the country’s presidential election between Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo and retired General Prabowo Subianto might foster tensions that could lead to similar violence.

For Malaysians more familiar with Indonesia’s national slogan of ‘unity in diversity’ accounts of fearful church congregations bracing for arson attacks by Islamist militants might come as a surprise.

Intolerance eating way at harmony

But behind the Indonesian government’s rhetoric of “religious harmony” in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, there has been steady erosion in Indonesia’s tradition of religious tolerance in recent years.

The result? Indonesia’s religious minorities are increasingly under threat by Islamist militants and a government that refuses to defend their constitutional guarantees of religious freedom.

Across Indonesia, Muslim minorities, including Ahmadiyah, Shia and Sufi, as well as Catholic and Protestant groups, are targets of harassment, intimidation, threats and, increasingly, acts of mob violence.

The perpetrators are Sunni Islamist militant groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).

They mobilise gangs that swarm minority houses of worship. The groups’ leaders justify such thuggery as attacks against “infidels” and “blasphemers”.

Indonesia’s Setara Institute, which monitors religious freedom in Indonesia, documented 220 cases of violent attacks on religious minorities in 2013, an increase from 91 such cases in 2007.

Escalation in reported cases of religious violence against minorities in Indonesia:

YEAR CASES
2007 91
2008 257
2009 181
2010 216
2011 242
2012 264
2013 220

Source: Setara Institute

Recent incidents expose the human toll behind such statistics. On May 29, about a dozen robed Islamist militants attacked a Catholic prayer service at a private home in the ancient Javanese city of Yogyakarta.

The attackers inflicted serious injuries, including broken bones, on the home owner, three of his neighbours and a journalist.

Attacks on religious minorities can also come from government officials. On May 15, municipal government officials informed the congregation of the Pentecost Church in Rancaekek, near Bandung, West Java, that their church building would be immediately and forcibly renovated into a private residence.

Pentecost Church pastor Bennhard Maukar told Human Rights Watch that the pending destruction of the church building comes three years after the local government sealed the church as an “illegal” structure.

Indonesia’s 2006 national Decree on Houses of Worship gives local governments the power to approve the construction of houses of worship but it is not clear whether the government has the authority to demolish existing structures it disapproves of.

The decree routinely results in discriminatory construction prohibitions against religious minorities. In Aceh, it is even used to prevent Christian congregations from painting or undertaking renovations of their houses of worship.

Indonesian Christians aren’t the only targets of discrimination by local government officials. On June 26, regency officials in Ciamis, West Java, sealed an Ahmadiyah mosque on the basis that Ahmadis are “heretics” and “blasphemous”. Syaiful Uyun, an Ahmadiyah imam, told Human Rights Watch that local governments in West Java have ordered the closure of at least 37 other Ahmadiyah mosques over the past six years.

The government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who leaves office in October after 10 years in power, has been part of the problem.

Feeding the fire of discord

Officials and security forces frequently facilitate harassment of religious minorities, in some cases even blaming the victims for the attacks.

Authorities have made blatantly discriminatory statements, refused to issue building permits for houses of worship, and pressured minority congregations to relocate.

Police have sided with Islamist militants at the expense of the rights of minorities, ostensibly to avoid violence.

In some cases, police colluded with the attackers for religious, economic or political reasons.

In other instances, they lacked clear instructions from above or felt outnumbered by militants.

In all cases though, the poor police response reflects institutional failure to uphold the law and hold perpetrators of violent crimes to account.

The Religious Affairs Ministry, the Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society under the Attorney-General’s Office, and the semi-official Indonesian Ulama Council have all issued decrees and fatwas against members of religious minorities and pressed for the prosecution of “blasphemers.”

Advice to new president

Such behaviour contravenes the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Indonesia became a party to in 2005.

The winner of Indonesia’s presidential election on July 9 should make a decisive break with the Yudhoyono government’s failure to support and protect the rights of religious minorities.

The new presiden, whether Joko (left) or Prabowo, can, and should, revoke laws facilitating religious discrimination, as well as ensure the prosecution of all those implicated in criminal threats or violence against religious minorities. To prove he’s serious, he needs to adopt a “zero tolerance” approach to religious vigilantism.

Indonesia’s partners in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) can play an important role in protecting Indonesia’s religious minorities.

They can start by making it clear to the winner of the presidential election that a key element of healthy bilateral relations between Indonesia and Asean countries is respect for the rights of religious minorities.

Asean governments should be unequivocal that official tolerance for Islamist militant thugs is an impediment to building a stronger Asean community.

Failure to do so will only ensure that more of Indonesia religious minorities will live in fear of arson attacks – or worse – upon their houses of worship.

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Andreas Harsono is the Jakarta-based Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch

JAI cleric Uyun says he has high hopes for this year’s presidential election, predicted to be won by reform-minded and moderate candidate Joko Widodo. “I really hope our next president will uphold the Pancasila [national ideology], the Constitution, Bhineka Tunggal Ika [national motto of ‘Unity in Diversity’],” he says. “If we uphold Pancasila, there will be no more closures of mosques and other houses of worship.

TheJakartaGlobe.com

EVERY night during Ramadan, Enok Juhanah, 63, performs the tarawih, a special prayer only performed during the Islamic holy month, and every night she chooses to do it at her mosque, the Nur Khilafat, in the district of Ciamis, West Java.

Some two dozen men, women and children have gathered for the same purpose this night, sitting at one side of the small mosque’s terrace, unable to enter the building because it was sealed off by the local government on June 26, just two days before the start of Ramadan.

Unable to perform their prayers inside, the courtyard became the venue of this month’s tarawih for the mosque’s congregation. Although Muslims can and do pray at home, many like Enok choose to pray at the terrace in an act of defiance — sometimes at their own risk.

It was raining cats and dogs on this particular night when the tarawih was performed, the wind blowing bitterly cold; Enok was shivering uncontrollably.

“I feel so sad. This is a house of prayer. Why did [the government] shut it down?” she says after the prayer.

Enok is a member of the Ahmadiyah, a minority Muslim group that has been accused of blasphemy by Sunni Muslims and subjected to countless acts of violence, intimidation and discrimination.

No time for peace

For many Muslims, the holy month of Ramadan is meant to be a time of peace, a chance to sideline earthly worries and focus on the spiritual; but this is hardly the case for Indonesia’s Muslim minority groups like the Ahmadiyah.

“We were banned from performing our prayers inside [the mosque], but the ban doesn’t say anything about the terrace,” says Dadan Andriana, a spokesman for the Ciamis chapter of the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI).

Dadan says despite the loophole, there is still the risk that hard-line groups, which have long deemed it halal, or permissible in God’s eyes, to shed the blood of Ahmadis, may feel provoked and decide to attack the congregation.

“That is our biggest fear. When we pray, we don’t feel at peace at a time like this,” Dadan says, adding that each night two or three Ahmadiyah men stand guard during the prayers.

The Ahmadiyah congregation in Ciamis is not alone, says Syaiful Uyun, a senior cleric for the group in West Java. He notes that ever since a gubernatorial decree banning the Ahmadiyah was issued in 2011, acts of violence toward the congregation have escalated.

“In Tasikmalaya, an Ahmadiyah mosque was taken over. In Tolenjeng [another mosque] was burned and destroyed. In Sukapura, they also burned and ransacked [a mosque], and in Banjar they sealed [off a mosque],” he says.

For the Ahmadiyah congregation in Tasikmalaya’s Singaparna subdistrict, performing the tarawih as a group is no longer an option. “Every time we hold a communal prayer like the Friday prayer or Koranic recitals, we are always attacked by a group of people,” says Nanang Ahmad Hidayat, the head of the JAI’s Singaparna chapter.

The local Ahmadiyah mosque was last attacked in June 2007 and since then largely abandoned, with JAI leaders instructing the 500-strong congregation in Singaparna to pray in the safety of their homes. Even the mosque’s Islamic school had to be moved to another village.

For the last seven years, the mosque has only hosted groups of five to 10 people praying at a single time, Nanang says, while the rest perform the tarawih at home or at mushalla, prayer houses.

Rising intolerance

According to the religious freedom advocacy group The Setara Institute, cases of religious intolerance have been on the rise since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took office in 2004. In 2012, the group recorded 371 cases of religious violence, intimidation and discrimination, up from 299 cases in 2011.

The Wahid Institute, another religious freedom advocacy group, recorded a similar increase, from 184 cases of religious violence in 2010 to 274 in 2012.

According to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), there were 20 cases of houses of worship being closed or attacked in 2012, and 17 cases where religious gatherings were attacked or disrupted.

JAI Ciamis spokesman Dadan says his congregation will not buckle without a fight. Since its mosque was sealed off last month, the congregation has repeatedly requested a meeting with Ciamis district head Iing Syam Arifin, but to no avail.

Dadan says the closure has no legal basis. The JAI also questions why the decision was done by “Muspida Plus,” which means a party other than the Muspida (Regional Leadership Board, comprising representatives of the local government, military, police, community and religious groups) was involved.

“We suspect that the Muspida Plus refers to the FPI,” he says, referring to the Islamic Defenders Front, a hard-line group notorious for its attacks on religious minorities such as the Ahmadiyah and the Shiites.

The JAI has also called on Komnas HAM and the Indonesian Ombudsman to weigh in on the closure and demand an explanation from the district chief.

In Wanasigra subdistrict, Tasikmalaya, the local Ahmadiyah congregation feels it is safe enough to hold regular communal tarawih prayers at its mosque. Each night during Ramadan, the Al Fadhal mosque is packed with Ahmadis listening to the pre-prayer sermon and staying on to perform the tarawih.

All 700 people in the village are Ahmadis, the congregation says, providing some security. But worries still linger.

On May 5 last year, the village was attacked by a mob of 150 machete-wielding men, who damaged 24 homes as well as the village’s main mosque.

“What I can’t understand is why the 100 heavily armed, heavily equipped police officers [deployed before the attack] did little to stop these people,” says Syamsul Ma’arif, who was in charge of the village’s security at the time.

For Khairunnisa, a resident, last year’s attack only reaffirmed her faith and emboldened her to pray at the mosque.

“I just leave everything to God. If we are afraid and we don’t go to the mosque, it is our loss,” she says.

Undeterred

Just as unperturbed by threats and the growing hatred toward his community is Hesti Rahardja, a Shiite and chairman of West Java chapter of the Indonesian Ahlul Bait Congregation (Ijabi).

He says the Shiites in Bandung continue to carry out religious activities this Ramadan, including breaking the fast with orphans and the poor, or holding religious discussions, despite several hard-line groups in Bandung forming an Anti-Shia Alliance just two months before Ramadan.

The alliance “doesn’t bother us at all. Usually the more someone is threatened, the better his prayers are,” Hesti says with a smile. “We are fine with people hating us… We respect their right to express themselves. As long as it doesn’t break the law we can’t complain.”

But Hesti is concerned that the formation of the alliance has set a bad precedent for the country. “In the end there will be hatred. Maybe now it is Ijabi, but one day others may be targeted as well. That’s something we don’t want,” he says.

Last November several Shiite groups in Bandung, Surabaya, Makassar, Yogyakarta and Jakarta were harassed as they tried to celebrate Assyura, the Shiite Day of the Martyrs. In Bandung several hard-liners blocked the entrance to a building where the Assyura was scheduled to take place, forcing the local congregation to find another venue.

Hopes for next president

JAI cleric Uyun says he has high hopes for this year’s presidential election, predicted to be won by reform-minded and moderate candidate Joko Widodo.

“I really hope our next president will uphold the Pancasila [national ideology], the Constitution, Bhineka Tunggal Ika [national motto of ‘Unity in Diversity’],” he says. “If we uphold Pancasila, there will be no more closures of mosques and other houses of worship.

“The government should only facilitate, not interfere with people’s beliefs. Deeming someone blasphemous or righteous should be left up to God.”

JAI Ciamis spokesman Dadan says the next president must resolve past cases of rights abuses and religious violence.

“Whoever is elected… human rights violations, specifically against religious freedom, must be resolved clearly. There should be no more people being threatened and intimidated because of their faith. No more houses of worship or mosques closed down,” he says.

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By Yuli Krisna on 12:25 p.m., Jul 20, 2014
Category Featured, News, Religion
Tags: Ahmadiyah, minority religions

KBR, Jakarta\ – Solidaritas Korban Tindak Pelanggaran Kebebasan Beragama dan Berkepercayaan membuat mendesak Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono membuka Masjid Ahmadiyah Ciamis, Jawa Barat yang disegel. Untuk mengugatkan desakan itu mereka membuaut Petisi.

Petisi dibuat di situs Change.org oleh Koordinator Sobat KBB, Pendeta Palti Panjaitan. Petisi itu nantinya akan dikirim ke Bupati Ciamis, Iing Syam Arifin. Mereka minya Iing membuka kembali masjid dan menjaga hak-hak warganya untuk beribadah.

Penutupan Masjid Ahmadiyah di Ciamis dilakukan pada Kamis, (26/6) oleh Satpol PP Ciamis. Hal tersebut dilakukan tanpa ada pemberitahuan sebelumnya kepada Jemaah Ahmadiyah.

Berikut isi lengkap petisi tersebut:

Memasuki bulan Ramadhan, senin ( 23/6) kelompok FPI melakukan pawai, menemui Bupati Ciamis dan menuntut Ahmadiyah dilarang di Ciamis.

Kata Bupati, “Secara pribadi, bukan jabatan, saya menolak mengenai masalah Ahmadiyah. Secara jabatan ada aturan yang menghalangi itu dan jelas Bupati mengamankan aturan yang lebih atas. Hanya mengenai masalah Ahmadiyah ada beberapa langkah yang tadi kita sepakati dengan Kang Wawan, Insya Allah. Insya Allah kalau hari ini belum ada langkah konkrit, mungkin kita akan bicarakan. Karena menyangkut daripada aktivitas itu adalah ada aturan proses hukum yang harus ditempuh.”

Tiga hari kemudian Satpol PP datang ke Masjid warga Ahmadiyah, menutup masjid yang sudah berdiri sejak tahun 1960-an, lebih lama daripada lahirnya kelompok massa itu. Kepala Satpol PP menyatakan menutup masjid atas dasar Musyawarah Pimpinan Daerah (Muspida) PLUS. Belom tahu plus apa itu.

Kakek Nenek kita berjuang sampai mati untuk merdeka dari penjajahan, agar kita hidup aman dan damai. Kenapa sekarang Bupati bisa mencabut hak kita? Kalau memang tidak setuju atas sebuah masalah atau warga tertentu, ada kok cara beradab yaitu peradilan dan Undang-Undang, jangan main kuasa sepihak.

Saya tahu rasanya saat tempat yang kita pakai beribadah ditutup. Tak cuma sulit ibadah, tapi bingung menjelaskan ke anak saya kenapa sekarang selalu ibadah di rumah, jarang bersama-sama lagi. Gereja yang saya pimpin di Bekasi sudah dapat ijin Mahkamah Agung, sah dan tidak terbantahkan. Tapi tetap saja ditutup paksa. Kalau saya beribadah di halaman gereja, tiba-tiba ada kelompok penganggu yang teriak-teriak sampai lempar telor busuk.

Tidak cuma gereja, kawan saya dari Kupang juga sulit mendirikan Masjid di tengah kota mayoritas warga Kristen. Di tempat lain ada penganut Hindu, Budha, aliran kepercayaan bernasib sama. Bahkan kawan saya Muslim Syiah di Sampang diusir dari kampung mereka oleh muslim lain.

Jadi ini bukan masalah satu kelompok saja, kejadian-kejadian ini bisa terjadi pada siapapun di tempat-tempat yang berbeda. Sebenarnya tugas Negara lewat Polisi dan Kepala Daerah untuk menjaga dan menfasilitasi agar kita semua bisa beribadah dengan damai dan aman.

Sekarang saya minta dukungan kawan-kawan semua minta Bupati Ciamis agar membuka kembali Masjid Ahmadiyah dan menjaga hak-hak setiap warganya untuk beribadah.

Salam Bhinneka!

Pdt. Palti Panjaitan
Koordinator Sobat KBB (Solidaritas Korban Tindak Pelanggaran Kebebasan Beragama dan Berkepercayaan)

Mohon untuk mendukung petisi ini dengan mengirimkan ke:

• Presiden RI. H. Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono
• Menteri Dalam Negeri RI
• Kapolri
• Kapolda Jawa Barat
• Gubernur Jawa Barat
• Bupati Ciamis

 

Ingin mendukung petisi ini? Silakkan masuk ke laman ini: CHANGE.org.

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Editor: Pebriansyah Ariefana

PortalKBR.com

KBR, Jakarta – Terkait penyegelan Masjid Ahmadiyah di Ciamis, Budayawan Franz Magnis Suseno mengaku sangat menyesalkan kejadian tersebut. Ditemui di sebuah diskusi di Cikini, Jumat (27/6), Franz berharap presiden terpilih berikutnya dapat menyelesaikan permasalahan intoleransi yang menyerang Ahmadiyah.

“Saya sebetulnya mengharapkan bahwa presiden yang akan datang menjamin bahwa sesuai dengan pancasila, setiap orang dan setiap komunitas di Indonesia merasa bebas, terlindung, aman untuk hidup, percaya dan beribadah menurut apa yang mereka yakini benar di hadapan Tuhan,” ungkapnya.

“Bukan hak orang dari keyakinan lain untuk mengatakan ‘kamu tidak boleh, kamu harus seperti kami’, saya anggap itu serius.”

Sebelumnya pemerintah Ciamis resmi menutup Masjid Nur Khilafat yang dikelola oleh Jemaat Ahmadiyah pada Kamis lalu. Penutupan itu dilakukan tanpa pemberitahuan terlebih dahulu.

Hal tersebut dikarenakan desakan ormas intoleran, FPI kepada Bupati Ciamis pada awal pekan ini dan direstui oleh musyarawah pimpinan daerah lainnya.

Editor: Pebriansyah Ariefana