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As one of the most populous countiies in the woilu, Inuonesia is a home foi
2S8 million people (accoiuing to the 2u1u census).
1
Appioximately 88 peicent of
hei population is Nuslim, anu this at the same time, makes Inuonesia as the laigest
Nuslim countiy in the woilu. Yet, Inuonesia is not only well known foi hei
enoimous Nuslim population, but also known as hei uiveisity in ethnicity anu
ieligiosity. In geneial, theie aie moie than Suu ethnicities with theii own languages.
In teims of ieligiosity, Inuonesia hosts the six woilu's biggest ieligions, which aie
Chiistian (incluuing Catholics; 9.S peicent of the total population), Binuu (1.8
peicent), Buuuhist (u.6 peicent) anu the iest aie smallei ieligions (mostly local
piactice). Sunni, the laigest bianch of Islam globally, becomes the mainstieam Islam
in Inuonesia.
Neaily all of Inuonesia's Nuslim's aie Sunni anu they aie iepiesenteu
thiough vaiious oiganizations that cut acioss the political spectium. Some
oiganizations aie locally giown while otheis have stiong inteinational ties. The
ultia-conseivative stiains of Sunni in Inuonesia aie mostly influenceu by !"#"$%&'
anu (")"**%&'. In shoit, !"#"$%&' is an (ultia-puiitan) movement that aims to
piactice Islam as the Piophet Nohammau, his companions, anu the fiist thiee
geneiations of Nuslim uiu. Neanwhile, (")"**%& believe Islam pioviues a fully
auequate template foi politics as well as faith, anu they view many political
opponents as +"$%, oi %-$%./#&.
2


1
Ministry of Religious Affairs, Bidang Tatakelola Pemerintahan Field of Governance, Appendix
1: Population in Indonesia by Religion, 2010, http://kemenag.go.id/file
/dokumen/KEMENAGDALAMANGKAupload.pdf
2
http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/asia/south-eastasia/indonesia/83_indonesia_
backgrounder _ why_salafism_and_terrorism_don_t_mix_web.pdf
Theie aie two laigest local Sunni Nuslim oiganizations in Inuonesia; the
Nuhammauiyah anu Nahulatul 0lama (N0). The Nuhammauiyah, which was
establisheu in 1912, is a iefoimist Nuslim movement aims to puiify the teaching of
Islam fiom pie-Islamic influences, such as Binuu, Buuuhist anu local piactices. N0,
establisheu in 1926, is a bouy of Nuslim scholais that opeiates thousanus of Islamic
boaiuing schools (0/&"-1,/-) aiounu the countiy. 0n contiaiy to Nuhammauiyah.
N0 toleiates the mix (use) of some local piactices with the teachings of Islam.
Besiues these two oiganizations, Inuonesia also has othei Nuslim oiganizations; the
contioveisial ones aie FPI (Fiont Pembela Islam oi Islamic Befenueis Fiont) anu
uARIS (ueiakan Islam Refoimis oi Islamic Refoim Novement). These two
oiganizations aie the ones, which usually use Islamic euicts to tiy to justify
numeious vigilante actions against bais, clubs, anu even peisecution towaiu
minoiity gioups in Inuonesia.
Foi S2 yeais Inuonesia was leu by an authoiitaiian-militaiistic iegime.
0nuei the leaueiship of Soehaito, in the name of national stability, ieligious
activities that coulu leau to the political activities weie stiictly limiteu, incluueu the
action to cieate ieligious baseu oiganization. Aftei the fall of the Soehaito iegime in
1998, the "tap" fieeuom (especially political fieeuom) was openeu, anu soon
followeu by the massive inciease of ieligious baseu oiganizations anu even political
paities that baseu on ieligion (befoie all the Islamic paities weie unifieu in one
single paity). Fuitheimoie, the fieeuom anu libeity alloweu many foieign influences
to entei the countiy, foi instant foieign oiganizations oi actois. Foi the sake of
uemociatic values, the goveinment looseneu theii political contiol not only
hoiizontally but also veitically (local levels). This conuition was even woiseneu by
the inciease of people, who tenu to be funuamentalist oi at least have close ielations
with funuamentalist oiganizations, occupieu posts in many goveinment offices. At
the enu, all of these factois iesulteu not only to the iapiu giowth of funuamentalism
but also iauicalism that usually leu to violence actions towaiu minoiity gioups. The
peisecution itself, in geneial, comes fiom two ways; the goveinment anu the
oiganizations.
Theoietically, the Inuonesia's constitution of 194S (aiticle 29) explicitly
guaiantees eveiy citizen the fieeuom of ieligion anu woiship in accoiuance with his
ieligion anu belief. Bowevei, in the ieality, goveinment is not able to implement this
basic law. Not only it faileu to guaiantee the fieeuom of ieligion, it also faileu to
piotect those iights fiom being violateu by othei paities (anu piosecute the
peipetiatois). Even, thiough its tools, the goveinment uiiectly anu inuiiectly back-
up the peisecution towaiu paiticulai minoiity gioups. The Inuonesian goveinment
has long enacteu, anu in iecent yeais stiengtheneu, legislation anu iegulations that
have subjecteu minoiity ieligions to official uisciimination anu maue them
extiemely vulneiable to the membeis of the majoiity community who take the law
into theii own hanus.
Eithei because of the piessuie of funuamentalist oiganizations (afiaiu of
loosing political suppoit) oi because some goveinment officials aie also a pait of the
funuamentalist gioups, the goveinment not only seem to be ieluctant in enfoicing
the law to the militant oiganizations that useu violence against minoiities. State
involvement in limiting the ieligious fieeuom in Inuonesia can be seen thiough
seveial laws anu institutions that facilitate uisciimination anu abuse, they aie:
a. The 196S Blasphemy Law
b. 1969 anu 2uu6 Beciees on Bouse of Woiship
c. 2uu8 Anti-Ahmauiyah Beciee
u. Religious Baimony Bill
e. Ninistiy of Religious Affaiis
f. Bakoipakem (Bauan Kooiuinasi Pengawas Aliian Kepeicayaan Nasyaiakat
oi Cooiuinating Boaiu foi Nonitoiing Nystical Belief in Society).
g. N0I (Najelis 0lama Inuonesia oi Inuonesian 0lama Council).
h. Religious Baimony Foium

Since Piesiuent Suhaito was foiceu to step uown in 1998, aftei moie than
thiee uecaues in powei, inauguiating an eia of gieatei fieeuom in Inuonesia,
viewpoints long iepiesseu have emeigeu into the open. A stiong thieau of ieligious
militancy is among them. As mentioneu befoie, the goveinment has not iesponueu
uecisively when that intoleiance is expiesseu thiough acts of haiassment,
intimiuation, anu violence, which often affect fieeuom of expiession anu association,
cieating a climate in which moie such attacks can be expecteu. In most cases, the
peipetiatois of the intimiuation anu violence have been Sunni militant gioups at
times acting with the tacit, oi occasionally open, suppoit of goveinment officials anu
police. uioups that have paiticipateu in oi suppoiteu the taigeting of minoiity
ieligions incluue: the Islamic People's Foium (Foium 0mat Islam, F0I), the
Inuonesian Nuslim Communication Foium (Foium Komunikasi Nuslim Inuonesia
oi Foikami), the Islamic Befenueis Fiont (Fiont Pembela Islam oi FPI), Bizbut-
Tahiii, anu the Islamic Refoimist Novement. The haiassment anu violence uiiecteu
at minoiity ieligious gioups is facilitateu by a legal aichitectuie in Inuonesia that
puipoits to maintain "ieligious haimony", but in piactice unueimines ieligious
fieeuom.
Accoiuing to the }akaita-baseu Setaia Institute, which monitois ieligious
fieeuom in Inuonesia, theie weie 216 cases of violent attacks on ieligious minoiities
in 2u1u, 244 cases in 2u11, anu 264 cases in 2u12.
S
Beie aie the samples of violent
actions uone by militant oiganizations in Inuonesia:
a. Bisciiminations anu Attacks on Bouse of Woiship (incluuing uKI Yasmin, BKBP
Filauelfia, anu otheis woiship houses aiounu the countiy).
b. Attack on Shia boaiuing schools anu ieligious facilities
c. Piosecutions unuei Blasphemy anu Conveision Laws
u. Piosecutions unuei the 2uu8-Anti Ahmauiyah Beciee
e. Baiassment of Ahmauiyah Piopeities
f. Bisciiminatoiy Auministiative Policies
g. Attacks on Fieeuom of Expiession





S
Setara Institute, Reports on Freedom of Religion and Belief 2007-2009 April 2, 2010,
http://www.setarainstitute.org/en/content/report-freedom-religion-and-belief-2007-2009