Siding and Acting Intolerantly
Report on Freedom of Religion 2008:
13-01-2009
SIDING AND ACTING INTOLERANTLY:
Intolerance by Society and Restriction by the State in
Freedom of Religion/Belief in Indonesia
SETARA Institute, Jakarta, 13 January 2009
SUMMARY EXECUTIVE
SETARA Institute is an organization founded by a number of people who have concerns in realizing an equal society. One of the concerned issues of this organization is promoting the assurance of freedom of religion/belief and continuously encouraging the State to fulfill the rights to freedom of religion/belief in Indonesia. The yearly report is an effort from SETARA Institute to inform and promote to public latest and regular condition of freedom of religion/belief in Indonesia.
The 2008 yearly report is the second report published by SETARA Institute, in which describes the monitoring results of freedom of religion/belief. The publication is expected to be noted by many parties, particularly the State, that in human rights context, have obligations to respect, promote and fulfill human rights.
The monitoring and publishing yearly report are aimed [1] to document and publish the facts on violations and breakthroughs/progresses of assurance of freedom of religion/belief in Indonesia; [2] to encourage the State to fulfill its assurance of freedom of religion/belief, including revising various products of legislation which bound the freedom of religion/belief and recovery of victim’s rights; and [3] to strengthen civil society’s networks and to expand the constituency to participate in promoting the freedom of religion/belief.
The yearly report is written based on data of monitoring results of 10 regions: North Sumatra, South Sumatra, West Sumatra, Jakarta, Banten, West Java, Central Java and Yogyakarta, South Sulawesi, South Kalimantan, and West Nusa Tenggara.
The monitoring is using the human rights parameter, particularly International Covenant on the Civil and Political Rights, which has been ratified by Indonesia by Law No. 12/2005. Another parameter used is Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, as pronounced in the Resolution of UN General Assembly No. 36/55 on November 25, 1981.
FINDINGS
In 2008, SETARA Institute records 367 violations to freedom of religion/belief in 265 incidents. Most of the incidents happened in June (103 incidents). Last June was the month when the calls for and prosecutions to Ahmadiyah escalated highly, both as the call to the government to issue Presidential Decree on the Dismissal of Ahmadiyah and as the serious impact of Joint Ministerial Letter (SKB) on the Restriction of Ahmadiyah.
The incidents of violations to freedom of religion/belief are mounted in June 2008. If the incidents related to Ahmadiyah are taken out from the account, the amount of incidents of violations to freedom of religion/belief is actually quiet moderate. This fact shows that the incidents of violations to freedom of religion/belief in 2008 were mostly triggered by the Joint Ministerial Letter on the Restriction of Ahmadiyah.
As seen in areas in which incidents of violations occur, three provinces shows high number of violations compared with others: West Java (73 incidents), West Sumatra (56 incidents) and Jakarta (45 incidents). These three provinces have low rate of tolerance as well as high potential of religious conflict.
From 367 violation acts of freedom of religion/belief, there are 188 violations which involve the State as the actor, by commission 99 acts as well as by omission 89 acts. For violations in which the State is the actor, the legal responsibility is the human rights law, which binds the State due to ratification of various covenants and conventions. State institutions which make the most violations are police (121), Regent/Mayor (28), court (26), and Local Parliament (26).
From 367 violations, 88 of them are criminal acts conducted by citizens and 91 are intolerance by individuals/ members of society. The category of crime and intolerance are forms of violation to criminal laws in which the responsibility lies on the individuals as the legal subjects. The perpetrators of violations in this category are, as recorded, MUI (42), FPI (27), FUI, KPSI, MMI (each 12), other Islamic mass organizations (55), unidentified groups (59), and individuals (20).
From the 367 violations, until the beginning of 2009, the State has not taken any action, other than tries Rizieq Shihab and Munarman on the incident of June 1 at Monas.
The violations of freedom of religion/belief in 2008 mostly addressed to the followers of Ahmadiyah (238), as in becoming the victims of intolerance, repression by the State, by omission, and crimes done by citizens/groups in society. The number is followed by individuals (48), followers of other religion/belief (15), and Christians (15).
In 2008, the freedom of religion/belief has also been failed to regain complete recognition from the constitution due to the bias in constitutional interpretations which are still preserved by the political elites of the State. At the same time, the State produces policies which legalize the uniformity acts using religious disgrace and defamation as the reason. In legislations, other than existing restrictive legislations and policies, in 2008 there are 1 legislation issued based on morality and religion (Law No. 42/2008 on Pornography) and 3 policies which restrict and reduce the assurance of freedom of religion/belief: Joint Ministerial Decree on the Restriction of Ahmadiyah, Decision Letter of South Sumatra Governor on the Prohibition of Ahmadiyah, and Recommendation of Monitoring Body of Religion and Belief (Pakem) of Padang Municipality to the Mayor of Padang dated on November 20, 2008 on the Prohibition of and Taking Down of Ahmadiyah Board in Padang Municipality.
In relation with local regulations which are discriminative to gender and contradicts human rights, the central government, particularly Department of Law and Human Rights which has the preventive authority, Department of Home Affairs which has the evaluative and repressive authority, and Supreme Court which has the repressive authority through judicial review, has not been able to create an effective mechanism to ensure the local regulations are consistent with higher legislations, including with the constitution.
Constitutional problems related to the freedom of religion/belief are triggered by and derived from the interpretation bias of Article 29 (2) of the constitution, and limitation of freedom assurance in Article 28J (2), which is not common in the human rights framework. The State’s bias interpretation and the uncommon limitation have become the essential trigger and the formal legalization to all incidents of violations to freedom of religion/belief in Indonesia.
From the findings of monitoring, there is no significant change in relation with legislations/policies which strengthens the assurance of freedom of religion/belief. There are only two statements by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono which are able to be noted as significant declarative breakthroughs to the strengthening of assurance of freedom of religion/belief: first, his statement and commitment to complete the case trial of attack by Islamic groups against AKKBB, June 1, at Monas; and second, his statement of recognition to diversity and intention to keep it, as stated in the Christmas Celebration 2008.
The report shows that the rate of intolerance in the society as well as in the State body, through the State apparatuses, is getting stronger; on the other hand, the tolerance is getting weaker. The indicators are the increase of numbers of incidents of and violations to freedom of religion/belief, the State’s political choice on the restriction of religious sects, and the dispersion of actors that are expanding. As in 2007 perpetrators of crimes were limited to a few numbers of radical Islamic organization, in 2008 the perpetrators are more enlarged to individuals or groups without identity that sporadically do crimes and intolerance.
Other than the anxiety of worsening condition of freedom of religion/belief, the growth and strengthening of civil society organizations promoting freedom of religion/belief are strengthening the defenders of freedom of religion/belief.
The State actually has the authority and competence to ensure the freedom of religion/belief. The minus capacity of the government to act firmly and ensure this freedom has hauled the State to side and to act intolerantly and discriminative by making restrictions via a number of policies issued. The ambiguity of the State’s role in ensuring the freedom of religion/belief has also showed that the State’s elites have and will always undertake religious politicization, in which every position it does and act it takes will depend on how great the image will be polished and how great the support will be gained. In the middle of political contestation of General Election 2009, all parties will choose issues that are less likely to create political disadvantage; and on the other hand, will exploit issues that are more likely to create political advantage.
Vulnerabilities at the local level in responding central government’s policies related to freedom of religion/belief show that politicization of religion has also been used as the contestation area for political elites at the local level. At the same time, findings of this monitoring show the low rate of political education in the society which makes them vulnerable to be politicized.
The State has not been able to fulfill its promise to ratify various human rights covenants and conventions that are already legally binding, which is proved by conserving various legislations that are formally and substantially illegal as they are not in line with human rights principles.
RECOMMENDATIONS
SETARA Institute proposes eleven general recommendations to ensure the freedom of religion/belief in Indonesia:
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The President and the the People’s Consultative Assembly should consider the importance of amending constitution in order to completing the assurance of constitutional rights of the citizens, including the assurance of freedom of religion/belief.
The President should revoke Joint Ministerial Decree on the Restriction of Ahmadiyah, because formally and substantially the policy is clearly in contradiction with legislations and particularly contradicts the constitution. The Decree has also escalated violations of freedom of religion/belief in 2008.
The President and the Parliament should immediately change various legislations which restrict the freedom of religion/belief. The government and the Parliament should also harmonize legislations with the ratified covenants and conventions, particularly those related to the freedom of religion/belief.
The President and the Parliament should put in consideration the importance of a law on anti religious intolerance by conducting academic review and preparing the draft of law.
Police of the Republic Indonesia must without exception provides protection to every citizen who experiences violence as a result of persecution and intolerance. Indonesian Police should also increase the human rights education and their apparatuses’ capacity, particularly in the context of providing guarantee of freedom of religion/belief.
The President or representing minister should evaluate the implementation of Joint Ministerial Regulation No. 08 and No. 09/2006 on the Implementation Guide for Head/Vice-head of Local Area in the Maintenance of the Harmony between Religious Society, the Empowerment of the Forum of Harmony of Religious Society, the Establishing of the Religious Place of Worship.
Department of Home Affairs and Department of Law and Human Rights should immediately establish a holistic mechanism in order to prevent and evaluate local regulations that are gender discriminative and in contradiction with human rights, including with the constitution.
Political parties should integrate the issue of freedom of religion/belief and inclusive religious practices in their party’s political agendas, as political parties also have the obligation of the fulfillment of human rights.
Political parties and other political elements should stop the practices of religious politicization which is meant to gather public supports to choose them in every political contestation discourse.
The follower of religion/belief should utilize the Forum of Harmony of Religious Community (Forum Kerukunan Umat Beragama – FKUB) as a dialogue forum in solving the problems of freedom of religion/belief and strengthening the climate of tolerance. Bureaucratization of FKUB in giving permission of establishing place of worship shall be returned to the followers of religion/belief to freely establish place of worship.
Society, leaders in society, and academicians should promote the re-strengthening of tolerance which became the social modal of the nation in the past, which at this moment has been eroded by various social changes. The development of education on citizenship, universal religiosity and natural character is needed.
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