(Jakarta Globe) Sharp Increase in Reports of Religious Intolerance

12/12/2018

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) says it received 67 reports of instances of religious intolerance in Indonesia this year, nearly double the figure from last year, with the police featuring prominently among the alleged perpetrators.

Muhammad Imdadun Rahman, a member of the commission known as Komnas HAM, said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the complaints fell into one of three categories.

“There were 30 reports about the closure or vandalism of churches or the rejection of new churches; 22 reports of discrimination, threats and violence against believers of other [non-Sunni Islamic] faiths; and 15 cases of activities to disrupt religious worship,” Imdadun said.

He added that law enforcements officials, particularly the police, were deemed the perpetrators in many of these cases, whether through active participation or negligence.

Imdadun said the commission had issued a number of recommendations regarding the complaints to the authorities, but there was either an inadequate response or none at all.

He also highlighted a high number of complaints originating from West Java province, and attributed this to the rising popularity there of political Islam.

“One of the most dominant factors [in the high number of cases] is political Islam that remains overbearing [in the province],” he said. “Therefore, there need to be extra education programs for public officials so they won’t misuse their power.”

Human Rights Watch issued a report in 2013 documenting an increasing number of attacks by Islamic militant groups on houses of worship and members of minority groups in Indonesia. The attacks were carried out most commonly against Ahmadis, Christians and Shiite Muslims, the report said.

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(Jakarta Globe) Sharp Increase in Reports of Religious Intolerance