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.

SOME see GKI Yasmin’s Kafkaesque plight as instructive of a wider problem of religious intolerance in Indonesia where local government heads contrive to stifle religious minorities’ freedom of expression using labyrinthine planning regulations — forcing local churches and Ahmadiyah mosques, for example, to go through a protracted legal battle to obtain recognition.

JAKARTA GLOBE; by Vento Saudale on 11:16 pm Dec 23, 2014

Bogor, West Java. The row over a ban on a church congregation from holding a service on Christmas Day continued on Tuesday as Bogor Mayor Bima Arya Sugiarto said the GKI Yasmin church was not recognized by the umbrella Christian organization.

“GKI Pengadilan does not recognize GKI Yasmin,” Bima said. “So, there is no such thing as the GKI Yasmin congregation.”

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. The building was eventually sealed by local authorities in 2010.

But a Supreme Court ruling later overruled the local authority decision, compelling Bima to reopen the church — something he has hitherto failed to do, previously citing unspecified reasons.

“I said [the church would not be allowed to conduct a Christmas service] based on the recognition of the official church organization, GKI Pengadilan, as the mother organization for Christian church congregations in Bogor,” Bima said on Tuesday.

Bima added that a lack of space was the problem, and that his decision was not a transparent attempt to curry favor with intolerant local Sunni Muslims — a view his critics have frequently aired. The current location had space for only 800 worshippers and that the church required a larger venue, he said.

Bima said he did not wish to prevent anyone from practicing their chosen faith and that his government would aim to find an alternative site for the worshippers.

“So don’t make it out as if this is a violation of religious freedom,” the mayor said. “It certainly is not. It’s [GKI Pengadilan] that proscribes them, so who’s being stubborn now?”

Bima said the city administration and GKI Pengadilan would meet to try and find a long-term solution. In the meantime, however, the congregation must not hold any service in public because it may disrupt public order, he said.

GKI Yasmin spokesperson Bona Sigalingging said that the GKI Yasmin congregation would stick to their plan to conduct Christmas service at their now-sealed church.

Bona said Bima was repeating the same line used by former Bogor mayor Diano Budiarto.

It was not up to the mayor to interfere or be guided by the internal politics of the churches, Bona said.

“We only hope that Bima Arya will focus on obeying the Supreme Court ruling and the ombudsman’s recommendation,” Bona said. “Those rulings have nothing to do with GKI’s internal situation.”

The latest incident is another setback for a congregation that has been forced to go to the country’s highest court in search of recognition.

Since 2012, scores of GKI Yasmin congregation members have held prayer meetings outside the State Palace to raise awareness that their house of worship remained sealed despite rulings from the Supreme Court and the Indonesian ombudsman.

Some see GKI Yasmin’s Kafkaesque plight as instructive of a wider problem of religious intolerance in Indonesia where local government heads contrive to stifle religious minorities’ freedom of expression using labyrinthine planning regulations — forcing local churches and Ahmadiyah mosques, for example, to go through a protracted legal battle to obtain recognition.

Church officials and worshippers repeatedly claimed that their pleas to previous president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to intervene fell on deaf ears — GKI Yasmin had hoped that newly elected President Joko Widodo would step in over what they see as a clear rejection of a Supreme Court order by an elected mayor, who had previously said that he hoped to handle the church dispute differently to his predecessor.

“How can we just let Bogor be — like it’s not a part of the Republic of Indonesia and the Supreme Court and Ombudsman decisions can be safely ignored?” GKI Yasmin spokesman Bona said in November.

Eyewitness News

The secular country of 240 million people has seen a rise in attacks over the last decade against Christians, Shia Muslims and members of Ahmadiyah, a small Islamic sect.

Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama will be sworn in despite protests over his appointment.

Reuters | 14 days ago

JAKARTA – Jakarta’s first Christian governor in nearly 50 years is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday, despite protests from religious hardliners opposing a non-Muslim taking over one of Indonesia’s most powerful political jobs.

President Joko Widodo will take part in the swearing-in of Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known by his nickname “Ahok”, the presidential palace said.

Ahok has been serving as acting governor since Widodo stepped aside last month to become president.

Hundreds of religious hardliners have staged protests against Ahok, underlining the difficulties facing the president’s battle against intolerance in a nation with the world’s biggest Muslim population.

Ahok is also ethnic Chinese, a small minority that have been resented in the past for their wide control over trade and business.

Thousands of police have been deployed around the capital this week in case of violence.

Ahok’s inauguration was postponed earlier this week to allow for a presidential decree on his appointment. The Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said it would take place next week, the Jakarta Globe reported on Tuesday.

It was not clear why the ceremony was moved up to Wednesday.

The secular country of 240 million people has seen a rise in attacks over the last decade against Christians, Shia Muslims and members of Ahmadiyah, a small Islamic sect.

Widodo’s administration, which took office last month, has pledged to protect all religious minorities in Indonesia, where nearly 90 percent of the population consider themselves Muslim.

But experts believe Widodo will be hamstrung by parliament, which is controlled by the opposition.

“I do not have high hopes for (Widodo’s) administration … because parliament is not controlled by his coalition,” said Andreas Harsono, Indonesia director for Human Rights Watch.

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.

LUKMAN said the new bill would target the closures and attacks on churches and Shiite and Ahmadiyah mosques, one of the most egregious symptoms of the quasi-institutional discrimination of religious minorities stemming from the near-impossible administrative requirements laid out in a 2006 joint decree from the Religious Affairs Ministry and Home Affairs Ministry for congregations of any faith seeking a permit to build a house of worship.

Jakarta Globe

Jakarta. The lone minister to survive the cut to President Joko Widodo’s cabinet from the previous administration has unveiled plans to draft a bill that would afford unprecedented protection to religious minority groups, continuing where he left off in his battle against rising religious intolerance.

“Over the next six months, we will work on this bill to protect all religious groups, including those outside the six main religions of Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism,” Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, the minister for religious affairs, said at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.

“The bill will protect everyone’s religious right, especially the rights guaranteed by the Constitution,” he said. “First, the right to believe in whatever they choose to put their faith in. There should be a guarantee that everyone is free to choose their own religion or belief. Second, the independence for anyone to practice their belief.”

He added he hoped that “the bill can improve the quality of living in Indonesia.”

Lukman was inaugurated in June, in the twilight of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration, following the naming of the previous minister, Suryadharma Ali, as a graft suspect. In the short time since then he has shown a more conciliatory stance than his predecessors on engaging with minority religious groups, including Shiite and Ahmadi Muslims — with whom he held an unprecedented breaking of the fast during Ramadan in July.

Suryadharma, by contrast, was known for his hostility toward these groups, including a public call for the Ahmadis to recant their “heretical” beliefs.

Lukman said the new bill would target the closures and attacks on churches and Shiite and Ahmadiyah mosques, one of the most egregious symptoms of the quasi-institutional discrimination of religious minorities stemming from the near-impossible administrative requirements laid out in a 2006 joint decree from the Religious Affairs Ministry and Home Affairs Ministry for congregations of any faith seeking a permit to build a house of worship.

“The bill will have many implications, including in terms of the permit to build places of worship,” the minister said. “There should be a clearer and stronger regulation for this issue. Of course we need suggestions from the public so we can accommodate their needs and interests.”

One of the requirements stipulated in the joint decree is for applicants to get the signed approval for their house of worship from the heads of 60 neighboring households of a different faith. In Muslim majority Indonesia, Christian, Shiite and Ahmadi applicants have almost invariably failed to get the required number, while a few cases have been reported in parts of eastern Indonesia, which has a large Christian population, of Muslims not being allowed to build mosques.

Lukman also promised to address the long-running issue of Shiite and Ahmadi communities being driven from their homes by mobs of Sunni Muslims — often with the support of the local police.

“It’s a complex problem,” he conceded. “It involves things related to officials like the police, issues with local governments, problems within the local community, and admittedly, problems related to religious beliefs.

“The steps taken should be integrated and not partial. We’re working on it. Now we’re communicating intensively with local governments where refugees [of religious pogroms] are staying. Hopefully we can come up with the solutions,” Lukman said.

He added his ministry would also work with local Islamic clerics — who are often instrumental in inciting hostilities against minority groups — to get them to embrace religious tolerance.

“We’ll hold interfaith forums for religious teachers to make sure that everyone has the same standing,” he said. “Even though we have different beliefs, all religions teach the same lesson of promoting humanity — making humans human.”

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By Adelia Anjani Putri on 12:48 p.m., Oct 30, 2014

PIC: Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin says all Indonesians should be allowed to follow and practice their own beliefs, free from persecution. (Antara Photo/Mohamad Hamzah)

“SOAL kebebasan beragama, misalnya, mencabut Surat keputusan Bersama Ahmadiyah itu bisa dilakukan tanpa omongan dengan DPR,” kata peneliti dari Human Right Watch, Andreas Harsono.

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Human Rights Watch akan menyerahkan dokumen yang berisi rekomendasi penyelesaian masalah hak asasi manusia kepada presiden terpilih, Joko Widodo. Rekomendasi itu dibuat sesuai dengan kewenangan sebagai presiden.

“Soal kebebasan beragama, misalnya, mencabut Surat keputusan Bersama Ahmadiyah itu bisa dilakukan tanpa omongan dengan DPR,” kata peneliti dari Human Right Watch, Andreas Harsono, di Balai Kota, Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan, Gambir, Jakarta Pusat, Jumat, 22 Agustus 2014. (Baca: Jokowi-JK Didesak Benahi Birokrasi Investasi)

Juga tentang permasalahan sengketa tanah dan buruh migran. “Dari persoalan sampai rekomendasi itu ada. Ini dokumen mau diserahkan langsung,” ujar Andreas.

Andreas mengatakan rekomendasi ini dibuat setelah bertemu dengan Jokowi pada April lalu. Saat itu, kata Andreas, Jokowi menanyakan kebebasan beragama di Indonesia. “Saya bilang ada hukum-hukum yang diskriminatif terhadap minoritas. Misalnya Ahmadiyah dan rumah ibadah,” ujar Andreas. (Baca: Soal Pengunduran Diri, Jokowi Tunggu Hari Baik)

Andreas juga mencontohkan persoalan yang terjadi di Undang-Undang Dasar 1945 terkait dengan kebebasan beragama yang digeser menjadi kerukunan beragama. “Padahal yang ada di undang-undang itu orang bebas beragama,” ucap Andreas.

Tanpa disadari, Andreas mengatakan selama sepuluh tahun terakhir bergeser menjadi kerukunan beragama. Orang bisa dipenjara karena menikah beda agama dan membangun gereja tanpa izin. “Dia mendengarkan, tapi enggak komentar,” ujar dia.

SINGGIH SOARES

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Berita lain: JAKARTA GLOBE

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.