Debate Over Indonesian Religion Bill Heats Up

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Debate Over Indonesian Religion Bill Heats Up

Ulma Haryanto & Anita Rachman | October 24, 2011

Rahmat Rahmadijaya, an Ahmadiyah leader living in Jatibening, Bekasi, has been anxious for a few weeks now.

At first he didn’t want to talk, but he later changed his mind. “If I speak out, maybe I can get people to support us, to pray for us,” he told the Jakarta Globe in a recent interview.

He is anxious because of a decree signed by Bekasi’s acting mayor, Rahmat Effendi, that bans the Muslim minority group from conducting activities that may be interpreted as an effort to spread its beliefs.

The ban went into effect on Oct. 13. Since then, Rahmat and other members of the Ahmadiyah community in his neighborhood have started holding Friday prayers under tight security from Bekasi Police.

“Our second Friday prayers went relatively normally, about 60 people joined in,” said another resident, Abdul Rohim.

“We don’t know about next week, though.”

In Need of a Law?

The fear appears to be justified. Several violent incidents have targeted Ahmadiyah communities throughout the country.

One of the worst — an attack in February by a mob of at least a thousand on an Ahmadi group in Cikeusik that left three members of the sect dead — spurred a discussion over a long-delayed bill on religious harmony.

At the time, the bill was presented by lawmakers as a long-term solution to the religious conflicts plaguing the country and to give a stronger legal basis to joint ministerial decrees that regulate religious matters in the country today.

Last week, Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Agung Laksono, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali and Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi reiterated their endorsement of the bill.

“We need a regulation that contains both conflict prevention and solutions to the problems obstructing religious harmony,” Agung said.

The current draft of the bill regulates various religious rights and obligations such as proselytizing, celebrating religious holidays, constructing places of worship, funerals and religious education.

“The original version of the draft, written by the staff of the Religious Affairs Ministry, dated back to 2003,” said Ismail Hasani, a researcher at Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy. “The current draft is more or less the same.”

The bill is part of the 2011 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas), or the list of priority bills for the year, but it has been delayed as the House of Representatives has turned its attention to other bills.

Will It Help?

Setara deputy chairman Bonar Tigor Naipospos, an advocate of pluralism, isn’t looking forward to the religious harmony bill being passed into law.

He said it would only legitimize existing discriminatory regulations within the 1965 Anti-Blasphemy Law and a 2006 joint ministerial decree on places of worship, which has contributed to a number of conflicts.

In Bogor, for instance, Mayor Diani Budiarto has used the ministerial decree to continue to defy a Supreme Court ruling ordering the reopening of the GKI Yasmin Church.

The 2006 joint ministerial decree requires 60 signatures from local residents in support of the construction of a place of worship, but the mayor has claimed that GKI Yasmin forged the signatures.

The tension in Bogor came to a head two weeks ago, when churchgoers and public order officers (Satpol PP) clashed in front of the sealed building.

West Java Police are now investigating complaints filed by both camps against each other. A Satpol PP chief is accusing GKI Yasmin churchgoers of hitting him in the jaw and knocking him unconscious, while the church is countersuing Satpol PP for disrupting its service.

Bonar said the bill would be unhelpful to the cause of the Ahmadiyah as well. “The spirit of the law that condemns their belief, the 1965 Anti-Blasphemy Law, is still incorporated in the bill,” he said.

Fears and Worries

Abdul Kadir Karding, chairman of House Commission VIII, which oversees social affairs, urged the public to think positively about what the lawmakers in the commission were doing.

He said the House wanted to give protection to minorities.

“For instance, when there is a non-Muslim person living in a Muslim community, he or she has the right to use the same public cemetery like the majority,” he said. “In the Cikeusik case, we want this future law to ensure that the guilty will get punished.”

Activists were outraged that most of the 12 people convicted in the Cikeusik attack were sentenced to just six months in jail — the same sentence given to one of the Ahmadi victims convicted of violent assault and disobeying police officers who had ordered him and about a dozen other Ahmadis to evacuate ahead of the attack.

Karding acknowledges that unless the bill is carefully constructed, it risks becoming a tool for “hard-line groups to limit freedom of religion.”

Fajar Riza Ul Haq, executive director of the Maarif Institute, asked the House to be more open in the drafting and deliberation.

He said it should learn from the recently passed Intelligence Law, when both the House and government ignored public criticism.

One critical point, he said, was how the House would define “harmony” in the bill. “They should have drafted a religious freedom bill instead of this one.”

Harmony vs Freedom

Harmony, for instance, could be used to justify the recently issued Bekasi ban on the Ahmadiyah’s activities, which states the ban is needed to “preserve and maintain the stability of conduciveness and security, peace and order in Bekasi.”

Bonar views the religious harmony bill as the “middle way” after the Constitutional Court rejected a judicial review of the 1965 Anti-Blasphemy Law.

“Because even though the court rejected the request because the law itself is not unconstitutional, it stated in its ruling that a revision or an update of the law was needed,” Bonar said.

“Principally, we can’t agree with the law since it reflects the fact that this government thinks religious harmony is something that should be engineered, rather than grow naturally.”

If the government really wanted “harmony,” Fajar said it should start addressing the prevalence of hate speech.

In Jatibening, just before the ban on the Ahmadiyah was issued, members of the notorious hard-line group Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) were in the area.

“They came to Jatibening and intimidated people, telling us to shut down our mosque about three weeks ago,” Rahmat said.

Additional reporting by Vento Saudale

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/debate-over...up/473591

We’re not safe living anywhere: Ahmadis

CITYSat, 10/22/2011 12:37 PM

We’re not safe living anywhere: Ahmadis

The Jakarta Post, Bekasi

The imam of the Al-Misbah Ahmadiyah mosque in Jatibening, Bekasi, recently called on members not to congregate for Friday prayers for safety reasons following an official ban on Ahmadiyah religious practices in Bekasi.

Rahmat Rahmadijaya, the imam, said, “It’s up to them if they want to pray here anyway. I won’t send them home,” he said, adding that about 50 of the 200 registered followers were regulars at the mosque.

However, dozens of Ahmadiyah members still went to the mosque on Friday — a week after the Bekasi municipality officially banned the sect — and conducted Friday prayers under police guard.

“[Intimidation] makes us stronger. Members are even more determined to go to the mosque,” Vera, a member, told The Jakarta Post.

Congregation members later left the mosque peacefully after the weekly service concluded.

The Bekasi municipality ruled last week that the decree banning Ahmadiyah religious practices had been passed in order to meet the demands of local people.

The Ahmadiyah are not considered a Muslim group by mainstream Muslims, as the sect’s teachings are considered to deviate from mainstream Islam.

However, residents of Jatibening told the Post that there had never been any conflict between Ahmadiyah members, who mostly live outside the housing complex, and them.

Hartinah, who has lived in the neighborhood since before the mosque was built in the 1980s, said there had been no problems between Ahmadiyah followers and residents.

“As a child, I, along with neighbors, often joined Koran recitations or breaking of the fast events at the mosque. They are friendly and have never forced us to follow their beliefs, so we have no problems with their presence,” she said.

Hartinah said that people had started to leave the mosque following the spike in reports of violence against Ahmadiyah members throughout the country.

“I’m not sure who is right, but the presence of vigilante group members around here scares me more,” Hartinah said.

Imam Rahmat said that after the Bekasi decree issuance, he had been intensively communicating with the police. “When there are rumors that certain groups will come, the police deploy officers to guard the mosque,” he said.

Ahmadiyah members have not been holding regular events other than weekly Friday prayers and sermons.

Firdaus Mubarik, public relations officer of the Ahmadiyah Indonesia Congregation, told the Post that the organization had stopped holding national events after thousands attacked the Ahmadiyah Indonesia Congregation in Parung, Bogor, in 2005.

“We are no longer safe anywhere in Indonesia,” Firdaus said.

Concerning the appointment of Nasaruddin Umar as the religious affairs deputy minister tasked with “eliminating possible religious conflicts” during the recent Cabinet reshuffle, Mubarik said he was pessimistic that it would have any impact on the Ahmadis.

“As far as I know, Nasaruddin was involved in the drafting of the 2008 joint ministerial decree banning Ahmadiyah religious practices. Besides, [the problem solving] is not in the hands of ministers, but of the President [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono],” he said.

Firdaus pointed out that the incidence of violence against Ahmadis had increased and worsen during Yudhoyono’s leadership.

“Before Yudhoyono came to power, the eviction of 300 Ahmadis living in Lombok [West Nusa Tenggara] in 2002 was the biggest tragedy for us. During Yudhoyono’s leadership, we’ve seen worse and even lost several members, who were killed during the incidents,” Firdaus said. (swd)

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URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/10/22/we-re...ahmadis.html

Ahmadiyah officially banned [by Bekasi municipality]

HEADLINESFri, 10/14/2011 6:54 AM

Ahmadiyah officially banned [by Bekasi municipality]

Hans David Tampubolon, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Bekasi municipality has officially banned the religious practice of the Ahmadiyah sect on Thursday, a move pluralists deemed as the legitimation of a violation of the spirit of the Constitution.

The head of the Bekasi Agency for State Unity, Politics and Community Protection, Agus Dharma, said that the issuance of the decree banning Ahmadiyah’s religious practices was passed in order to meet the demands of local people.

“Ahmadiyah activity has caused unrest among Bekasi residents. [The decree was] issued to prevent conflicts resulting from different beliefs among local residents,” Agus said.

The decree was signed by acting Bekasi mayor Rahmat Effendi, and involved all city institutions contained under the Regional Consultative Council (Muspida).

The decree accentuated a 2008 joint ministerial decree, and an Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) edict from 2005, demanding Ahmadiyah be disbanded because it was heretic and blasphemous.

There are around 200 Ahmadiyah followers in Bekasi, according to the city administration.

Commenting on this latest development in Bekasi, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator Usman Hamid said it was time for all civilians to rise up and conduct forms of civil disobedience in protest against a government that has legitimazed a discriminative regulation that basically violated the spirit of the Constitution, which guarantees people’s religious freedoms and rights.

“Civil disobedience is not intended as a violation of the law but as a [peaceful] protest. The law, right now, no longer represents the rights of minorities,” Usman told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Usman also said that the Bekasi administration’s move was a sign that the values of democracy in the country have faded away.

“The main pillars of democracy are equal citizenship and human rights. Without them, there can be no democracy. Democracy does not stop with the ballot box.”

Separately, Ahmadiyah spokesman Mubarik said that the nation’s legal system had done little to support minorities.

“The most horrific example is the fact that the murderers of three Ahmadiyah followers have not been brought to trial until now,” Mubarik said, in referring to an incident that occurred earlier this year when three Ahmadiyah followers were brutally murdered by a mob of fundamentalists in Cikeusik, Banten.

Mubarik, however, stressed that for the time being, Ahmadiyah followers would comply with the Bekasi decree, banning their activities.

“Our compliance does not mean that we are not going to fight back.

We will fight for our rights through our legal representatives, who have submitted a judicial review to the Supreme Court on every discriminative decree and regulation issued in the country,” he said.

“It will be a long fight. But people need to realize that Ahmadiyah followers are basically free citizens. Their right to freedom [of religion] must not be curtailed. Any decree or regulation that curtails citizens’ rights is a violation of the Constitution and, therefore, for the sake of the law, such decrees and regulations must be annulled,” he added.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/...banned.html

Ahmadiyah a test of dialogue, law

OPINION Fri, 04/15/2011 7:30 AM

Ahmadiyah a test of dialogue, law

Andy Fuller, Surabaya

In the wake of attacks against Ahmadis on Feb. 6, 2011, many have called for a dialogue between the members of Ahmadiyah and groups — such as Front Pembela Islam. In other instances, commentators have emphasized the legality of citizens to practice their religion in the manner that they choose.

The practice of dialogue and the enforcement of particular laws, however, will not necessarily bring about the easy resolution to conflicts between groups such as FPI and a religious minority such as Ahmadiyah. Dialogues and laws also offer the opportunity for some to further their will upon others.

Although a “dialogue” is a welcomed alternative to physical violence, a dialogue is not without its own pitfalls and needs to be judged on its own merits. It is worth questioning, for example, as to who participates in the dialogue and for what ends.

A dialogue is not something that can be forced to take place. Dialogues also present an opportunity to perform a kind of discursive violence: a violence, which even if only spoken, still rejects the other participants in the dialogue.

In the days after the attacks on Ahmadis in Cikeusik, Banten, some leaders referred to the belief of Ahmadis as being blasphemous of Islam. Elsewhere, in Sabili a conservative (and popular) magazine, Ahmadiyah members are blamed for inciting the violence against them.

Moreover, they are referred to as being intolerant of non-Ahmadis. There has been a rush to be considered as “tolerant”, as well as a claim to being “offended”. Discourses regarding religious orthodoxy and deviancy somehow become more important than the criminality of three killings performed in broad daylight.

Dialogue, however, might be more useful as a tool to prevent violence, rather than to solve cases or ease tensions after grave violations of one’s rights has already taken place. Since the killings and other attacks, no one has volunteered a statement in which he or she acknowledges a kind of complicity in sharpening attitudes against Ahmadis.

Calls for dialogue, thus, become an effort to avoid accountability. Groups that have participated in discursive and physical violence against others, should not participate in public “dialogues” unless they are willing to acknowledge the violence of their actions and words. Ahmadis or others, do not need to validate such calls for dialogues, until those who are guilty have faced public and criminal censure.

Some commentators have pointed to the weakness of the state in allowing the killings of Ahmadis. That is, the state has not been able to implement laws that protect Ahmadis (just as it should for any other citizen) from criminal acts of violence.

One of the curious elements of recent attacks on Ahmadis, however, is the presence of the state.

Throughout the footage that shows the killings in Cikeusik, police are present. They are shown to be passive in watching the killings as they occur.

Some publications have continued to report on how different levels of the police force knew about the impending attacks on Suparman’s house in Cikeusik. Here, the state is clearly present: but it is a state that is willing to take sides with an outraged and violent mob.

Just as public forums have served to discriminate against Ahmadis, so have the decrees of various governors sought to criminalize belief. These laws are curious as they seemingly go against the laws that are part of the Constitution that state that each citizen is able to hold his or her belief in accordance with their wishes.

It seems that these governors, however susceptible they are to different political interests, are willing to give in to the demands of different radical groups. Instead of moving to protect Ahmadis from further discrimination and violent attacks, the state through laws issued at the provincial level have provided more room for discrimination against Ahmadis.

Hate-speech is normal when talking about Ahmadiyah. So, the state is present and laws are being created. These laws, however, have followed the demands of “the mob”, rather than referring back to the authority of the Constitution and the state ideology, which states “unity in diversity” and “social justice for all”.

The clashes between a self-proclaimed mainstream Muslim majority and that of a minority Muslim sect (Ahmadiyah) are representative of a conflict between “the orthodox” and “un-orthodox”. The orthodox and those who claim to be so, are unwilling to accept those who divert from what is considered to be “the true” or “the real” Islam.

This is seen clearly in recent attempts to re-convert Ahmadis away from their chosen faith and back to “the real”, “the right” and “the true” Islam. In such an instance, the orthodox clearly consider themselves to be the paternal representatives who know what is best for the infantile “other” who has strayed from “the straight path”.

A negotiation of values was strikingly absent on that morning of Feb. 6, 2011. It was a moment when “dialogue” was no longer possible. It was a moment for violence and rejection of the other.

Decrees at the provincial level have further normalized violence against Ahmadis. A dialogue “after the fact” won’t solve anything until the injustices against this particular minority are recognized.

It is not the time for a dialogue, but the time for openness and arguments: where people are willing to accept the legitimacy of others to hold their beliefs. Until guilt and culpability is established, a monologue of violence — both physical and discursive — will persist.

The writer is based at the Asia Institute, the University of Melbourne, Australia. This is an English language version of a presentation given at Sunan Ampel State Islamic University, Surabaya.

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The banal rhetoric of imperialism, colonialism

OPINION Fri, 04/08/2011 8:00 AM

The banal rhetoric of imperialism, colonialism

Al Makin, Yogyakarta

The current campaign waged by the US and its allies against Col. Muammar Qaddafi’s merciless dictatorship also entails a war of ideas.

Qaddafi and his followers have shielded themselves from democratic protesters with a predictable and boring rhetoric of anti-imperialism and anti-colonialism.

Libya will be occupied by the West, just as Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam were occupied! Colonial powers harbor nothing but jealousy of the Third World’s advancing wealth! Oil is at the root of every problem!

The rhetoric evokes the bitter experience of the Islamic world under a long period of Western colonialism. It is not surprising that the US and its allies have been branded as crusading armies bent on destroying their Muslim enemies.

Conspiracy theorists have already drawn analogies between colonialism and the recent Libya campaign. Some Indonesian politicians have promoted this rhetoric in public. Whether anyone wants to listen is a different issue.

Hidayat Nur Wahid, a senior politician of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said that the goal of the current war in Libya was “to seize the nation’s oil”, adding that “European countries have suffered from an economic recession. They need new resources to revive their economy.”

It sounds like the rhetoric of Iranian president Ahmadinedjad, except in an Indonesian format. Compare Hidayat’s words with those of Ahmadinedjad on the Libyan crisis: “The Westerners have to cast aside their colonialist ambitions.”

The rhetoric of imperialism and colonialism can also be found in the case of Ahmadiyah, the minority Islamic sect that has suffered repeated harassment at the hands of Indonesian radicals.

According to the hard-liners, the European Union, the UN and US congressmen asked the Indonesian government to pay serious attention to the plight of Ahmadiyah. Many Indonesian officials, rather than heeding their warnings, fired back at perceived international pressure.

Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi, for instance, rejected demands to revoke laws that discriminate against the Islamic sect. Gamawan’s response to the US congressmen does not surprise us, as he warmly welcomed the FPI leaders’ proposal to disband the group. You can guess which faction the man sides with.

On March 23, I was invited to speak at the Religious Affairs Ministry’s dialogue and public hearing on Ahmadiyah that was held in Central Jakarta.

I made myself as clear as possible to other participants that the failure to protect any citizen of Indonesia means the beginning of the nation’s collapse. I reminded the audience about the domino effect. After Ahmadiyah, the Shiite, Christian minority, and liberals, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah — all groups that are not considered purely “Islamic” by Islamists — will be targeted by the radicals.

I realized that most of the participants disagreed with me. Before my turn to speak I listened to members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) — an organization whose fame lies in their radical stances and terrifying tactics — give their threatening opinions.

The Religious Affairs Ministry used to be a place where the idea of religious pluralism and other progressive concepts were incubated under the leadership of A. Mukti Ali, Alamsjah Ratuprawiranegara and Munawir Sadzali. Now the ministry has become a rendezvous for the FPI leaders.

I am afraid that Ahmadiyah will be disbanded by a more “authoritative” law, enacted after the government’s “consults” with different groups.

In fact, nobody is sure that the government listened the sound judgments conveyed by scholars and activists at the seminar. As usual, politicians placed political interests ahead of all other concerns.

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, who also chairs the United Development Party (PPP), revealed his true colors.

At a conference in Samarinda he urged fellow party members not to hesitate to make Islam as an ‘ideology’ (The Jakarta Post, March 27, 2011). He also denounced liberal thinking (The Jakarta Post, Feb. 23, 2011).

Indeed, at the ministry’s dialogue I heard a moderator provoke the audience when he said that the US and Western powers were meddling in the case of Ahmadiyah — a form of intervention that we must not bow down to.

This rhetoric reminds us the way Abu Bakar Ba’asyir often defends himself in the court. He has repeatedly said that he was arrested under orders from the US. The conspiracy theories then followed: the Indonesian government was a mere toy of the world superpower, the US.

I am afraid to draw some points of similarities among the opinions conveyed by Qaddafi, Ahmadinedjad, Hidayat Nur Wahid, the FPI leaders, Ba’asyir, two of the President’s current ministers and perhaps other state officials. I question to what extent radical thinking has penetrated the government.

Has this government and other political leaders already knelt down before the FPI’s leaders?

The writer is a lecturer at Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Yogyakarta.

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URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/04/08/the-banal...

Ahmadiyah Decree Triggers Violence: Amnesty Int’l

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Ahmadiyah Decree Triggers Violence: Amnesty Int’l

Elisabeth Oktofani & Putri Fitria | April 7, 2011

An Ahmadiyah congregation performing Friday prayers At al-Hidayah Mosque in Sawangan, Depok, earlier this month. The mosque was sealed off by a mob of residents on March 19. (Antara Photo)

Amnesty International called on the government on Wednesday to revoke the decree that bans Ahmadiyah members from proselytizing, saying the regulation was one of the primary causes for an increase in religious violence in the country.

Saman Zia-Zarifi, director of the Asia-Pacific program at the Amnesty International, said the time had come for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to get serious about tackling religious violence in the country.

“I had an open and frank discussion with the National Police chief, Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah and church groups in Indonesia,” Saman said. “We urge Indonesia to fulfill its obligation to protect its citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs, in line with the Indonesian Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“The 2008 joint ministerial decree needs to be revoked. The country should not intervene in people’s religious choices.”

The police, Saman added, needed to publicly reiterate their commitment to protecting the rights of all Indonesians, regardless of their religious beliefs.

“The Indonesian police must ensure the trials of those who commit violence in the name of religion are free from intimidation toward victims, witnesses and their lawyers,” he said.

Last month, the Religious Affairs Ministry held a national dialog on the minority Islamic sect, where the 2008 joint ministerial decree featured in discussions.

The Indonesia Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) declined to attend the event. They complained they had too little time to prepare and only received four seats at the conference.

The results of the dialog are expected to be used by the government to decide on the fate of the sect and the controversial 2008 decree.

Meanwhile, a regional leader of one of the groups accused of leading attacks on Ahmadiyah followers, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), said he did not condone violence against the group.

“Ahmadis are human beings. They have families,” Bambang Teddy, head of the FPI in Yogyakarta, said on Tuesday. “The way to diminish the influence of Ahmadiyah is not with violence.”

However, Bambang said, Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono was running out of time to issue a decree banning the activities of Ahmadiyah in the province. As a special region, Bambang said, the sultan should be able to make a decision independent of the central government.

If the sultan did not respond soon, he said, the local branches of the FPI would coordinate with FPI headquarters, led by Habib Rizieq, who has previously advocated violence against the sect.

“I’m worried that a war could break out against Ahmadiah in Yogya. I don’t want Yogya to be unsafe,” Bambang said.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/ahmadiyah.../433932

Government Still Unsure How to Resolve Ahmadiyah Issue

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Government Still Unsure How to Resolve Ahmadiyah Issue

Camelia Pasandaran | April 7, 2011

The Indonesian government has admitted that it still does not know what to do about the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect.

The government was expected to announce the results of a national dialogue on the fate of the Ahmadi on Tuesday, but Coordinating Minister of People’s Welfare Agung Laksono said he was not able to comment.

“We accepted input from many sides, but we have not taken a stance: Whether to ban the organization, disband it or guide them,” Agung at the Vice Presidential Palace on Thursday.

“We haven’t decided anything,” he reiterated, “but to listen to input from various sides.”

Bowing to international criticisms that it was not doing enough to protect the persecuted minority, the government last month held four days of discussions with various government ministries and organizations.

Representatives of the Ahmadiyah were not present, arguing that the invitation was received late and that the Ministry of Religious Affairs was not a neutral venue to hold talks.

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali has previously called for the sect to be banned, drawing condemnation from human rights organizations and calls for him to resign.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/government.../434072

RI moving in wrong direction: Amnesty

HEADLINES Thu, 04/07/2011 8:00 AM

RI moving in wrong direction: Amnesty

Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The rising number of attacks against minority groups in Indonesia is a sign that the country, which aims to play a greater role on the global stage, is moving in the wrong direction, Amnesty International says.

“The Indonesian government still has not accomplished its promise to deal with the prolonged problems related to the persecution of minorities. I just heard that the Ahmadis in Lombok continue to be dismissed from their homes. This is not the direction Amnesty is hoping for. This country is going in the wrong direction,” Saman Zia-Zarifi, the Asia-Pacific director of Amnesty said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

“We are here to call on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to fulfill his responsibility to ensure that all citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs, benefit from the human rights enshrined in the 1945 Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Indonesia ratified in 2005,” he added.

London-based Amnesty was delivering a joint statement along with a number of Indonesian human rights groups, namely the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Imparsial, Elsam, the Wahid Institute, the Setara Institute and the Bhinneka Tunggal Ika National Alliance (ANBTI).

Zia-Zarifi cited documentation collected by local NGOs showing that attacks against Ahmadiyah communities across the country had increased sharply in 2011 compared to the previous two years.

A particularly alarming development was the involvement of the Indonesian Military and police officers in intimidating and forcing the conversion of Ahmadis in villages in West Java in the last two months.

“Indonesia is one of the most diverse countries and becomes a model for international communities. However, the central government’s inability or lack of desire to address this issue is potentially catastrophic,” Zia-Zarifi said.

During his short visit to Jakarta, Zia-Zarifi met with National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Nanan Soekarna and visited Indonesia’s two largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, and the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) a few days earlier.

“We had very open discussions and we share similar concerns that attacks and violence cannot be justified,” he said.

Zia-Zarifi also said the 2008 Joint Ministerial Decree forbidding Ahmadis from propagating their beliefs could justify vigilantism and lead to increasing violence.

“Regulations like this, especially if they are implemented differently by administrations at regional and district levels, could instead provide green lights to extremist forces to attack religious communities targeted by the regulations,” he said.

According to the coalition, there are already 20 regional regulations and decrees banning followers of Ahmadiyah from practicing their religion publicly.

Last month, 27 US congressmen signed a letter to President Yudhoyono to revoke “prosecuting” bylaws.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos from Setara said Yudhoyono’s reluctance to address the issue was linked to his party’s political preparation ahead of the 2014 elections.

“Yudhoyono will not contest again and his charismatic figure will no longer help the Democratic Party gain an enormous amount of votes. That is why the party’s politicians really take what radicals want into account because they are wary about losing votes from hardline Muslim communities,” he said.

On Tuesday evening, five houses belonging to Ahmadiyah followers in Ciaruteun Udik village in Bogor, were severely damaged due to a series of mob attacks. Those attacks were the third in the last two month.

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URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/04/07/ri-moving...

Ahmadiyah’s Fate Known Soon: Religion Minister

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Ahmadiyah’s Fate Known Soon: Religion Minister

Camelia Pasandaran | April 1, 2011

Religious Minister Suryadharma Ali has said decrees on Ahmadiyah and places of worship are enough to maintain religious tolerance in Indonesia. (Antara Photo)

Though no Ahmadiyah representative attended the national dialog attempting to resolve a nationwide dispute over the sect, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said on Thursday that the forum was a valuable exercise and a decision should be issued soon.

“Both those who support [Ahmadiyah] and those who oppose it were invited,” the minister said at the Presidential Palace.

He said all the institutions that took part in the debate would compose drafts detailing their conclusions.

Those drafts would be used by the government to decide the fate of Ahmadiyah in Indonesia, he said, including whether to continue the joint ministerial decree that bans sect members from carrying out religious activities.

Among those present at the dialog were representatives from the Home Affairs Ministry, the Religious Affairs Ministry, the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, the Attorney General’s Office, the National Police and other civil organizations.

Zafrullah Pontoh, the national secretary of the Indonesia Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI), previously said the invitation to the dialog had arrived too late for it to send representatives.

He also complained that the group had been allocated just four seats at the event.

Wednesday’s talks saw a majority of the representatives agreeing to the complete disbandment of Ahmadiyah.

In recent years, persecution and violent attacks have marked the lives of Ahmadis across Indonesia, with the government accusing them of leading more and more Muslims astray.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/ahmadiyahs-fate...

Ahmadiyah Urge W. Java to Revoke Ban That Fuels Violence

NEWS

Ahmadiyah Urge W. Java to Revoke Ban That Fuels Violence

Yuli Krisna | March 31, 2011

Bandung. The Indonesia Ahmadiyah Congregation has issued an urgent request to West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan to revoke a recent decree issued to ban activities of the Ahmadiyah.

The congregation, or the JAI, says a decree banning the religious activities of the sect is fueling further violent attacks against them.

“I request that the governor revoke the decree because it is neither easing tensions nor preventing anarchism. Instead, it is driving groups toward anarchy,” Rafiq Ahmad Sumadi Gandakusuma, spokesman for JAI in the western part of West Java, told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.

“The effect of such decrees have been disastrous. So many believe we, the Ahmadiyah, have been banned when actually what has been banned [are our activities] which are in violation of the core teachings of Islam, which are listed in the joint ministerial decree.”

In recent years, persecution and violent attacks have marked the lives of Ahmadis across Indonesia, with the government accusing them of leading more and more Muslims astray.

Rafiq said the persecution and attacks were continuing. On Tuesday night, he said, the house of at least one Ahmadi follower was vandalized in the Sukagalih area of Tasikmalaya, West Java.

“The attack was conducted by 40 men. They were not locals from Tolenjeng village, Sukagalih, where the attack took place. Police were there, but they were just watching. I heard they are questioning witnesses, but what is the point?” he said.

“I would therefore like to question the governor’s statement that the decree was issued to keep the peace and to guarantee security conditions in the regions. That is completely wrong.”

Rafiq also spoke of other attacks. On March 10, he said, an Islamic boarding school in Sukabumi was sealed by locals and security officers.

On March 13, electronic equipment and books thought to belong to the sect were burned in Cipeuyeum, Cianjur,

He said more violence followed on March 14-15 in the villages of Cibuntu and Ciareuteun Udik in Bogor, leaving at least eight homes damaged.

In addition to the violence, Rafiq said the Ahmadiyah congregation continued to face intimidation. This included numerous instances in which sect members were forced to convert to mainstream Islam through signed statements.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/ahmadiyah-urge...

Int’l groups ask RI to stop prosecuting Ahmadis

NATIONAL Fri, 03/18/2011 11:35 AM

Int’l groups ask RI to stop prosecuting Ahmadis

Bagus BT Saragih and Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The international community has turned its eye on Indonesia’s continuing persecution of minority sect Ahmadiyah with 27 members of the US Congress signing a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to revoke “prosecuting” bylaws.

In the letter dated March 15, the congressmen expressed “deep concern” on decrees issued by provincial authorities, including the East and West Java governors, banning Ahmadiyah followers from practicing their religion publicly.

“We also ask that you immediately revoke the decree that bans Ahmadiyah from conducting religious activities in the country and repeal the country’s long-standing blasphemy law, which is used to prosecute religious minorities who exercise their right to freedom of religion expression,” they said in the letter made available to The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

The congressmen also addressed the brutal attack on Ahmadiyah followers in Cikeusik, Pandeglang, Banten, last month, in which three Ahmadis were murdered in the presence of police officers. The congressmen also contended that the decree banning Ahmadiyah had led to escalating violence toward religious minorities.

“Not only do the decrees recently issued in East and West Java run contrary to the principles of international human rights, but we also fear that they will only serve to embolden extremists and exacerbate violence against the Ahmadiyah community,” they said.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Thursday he had not received any letter from US congressmen.

Bylaws banning Ahmadiyah have been issued in five of the country’s 33 provinces, including West Java and East Java, the country’s most populated provinces. Administrations in seven regencies and four cities have also followed suit.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo earlier mulled issuing similar regulations but dropped the idea last week.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto said banning Ahmadiyah violated the Constitution. Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali and Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi, however, backed the regulations, saying they were in line with a controversial 2008 joint ministerial decree banning Ahmadis from propagating their religious beliefs.

International human rights groups have also protested Indonesia’s lack of willingness to investigate the Cikeusik incident and the recent report over the Indonesian Military’s (TNI) involvement in intimidating Ahmadis in West Java.

Amnesty International urged the Indonesian government to “investigate reports that the military in West Java were involved in the intimidation of Ahmadiyah followers and had forced them to renounce their faith”.

A coalition of several Indonesian human rights groups previously reported that soldiers had carried out Operasi Sajadah (Operation Prayer Mat), which was aimed at converting Ahmadis to the “right path” of Islam.

The coalition claimed they had recorded at least 56 acts of intimidation by soldiers against Ahmadis in the province after the Cikeusik attack.

West Java’s Ahmadiyah Indonesia Congregation (JAI) protested the acts and filed a complaint to the West Java Legislative Council.

The TNI denies its soldiers were ordered to influence people’s decisions, adding that its involvement was acceptable provided no coercion was involved.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/03/18/int%E2%80%99l-groups...

US Lawmakers Urge Yudhoyono to Revoke Ahmadiyah Bans

NEWS

US Lawmakers Urge Yudhoyono to Revoke Ahmadiyah Bans

March 17, 2011

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has received a letter from 27 US lawmakers urging him to immediately revoke recent provincial decrees and the 2008 national decree banning Ahmadiyah activities.

“Not only do the decrees recently issued in East and West Java run contrary to the principles of international human rights, but we also fear that they will only serve to embolden extremists and exacerbate violence against the Ahmadiyah community,” the letter states.

The letter cites the recent attack on Ahmadis in Cikeusik village, Banten, where three Ahmadiyah followers were beaten to death.

The 27 congressmen and women who have signed the letter also urged the Indonesian government repeal the country’s blasphemy law.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/us-lawmakers-urge...

Indonesia: Revoke Provincial Decrees to Ban a Faith

Indonesia: Revoke Provincial Decrees to Ban a Faith

Religious Affairs Minister Should be Removed for Promoting Discrimination

March 15, 2011

Repeated calls by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali to ban the Ahmadiyah fan the flames of violence against the group. President Yudhoyono should signal that such discrimination has no place in a society that promotes religious tolerance and remove Suryadharma Ali from his post. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia should void decrees recently adopted by two provinces that ban activities by the Ahmadiyah religious community, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch repeated its call for the president to revoke the national anti-Ahmadiyah 2008 decree, which bars public propagation of the Ahmadiyah faith.

On February 28, 2011, the provincial government in East Java, which has a population of 37 million, banned the activities of the Ahmadiyah community, outlawing the display of their mosque and school signs and the use of “electronic media” to extend their teachings. On March 3, the government in West Java, Indonesia’s most populous province, with 43 million people, also banned the Ahmadiyahs’ activities. Both provincial governments based their laws on the June 2008 national decree by the Yudhoyono administration, violations of which can result in prison sentences of up to five years. Jemaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia, the religious group’s leadership, reports that 16 provinces and regencies in Indonesia have issued anti-Ahmadiyah decrees since 2006.

“Indonesian national and provincial authorities risk being complicit in anti-Ahmadiyah violence by stripping this religious community of their basic rights,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These decrees place officials on the side of militants who increasingly have been carrying out attacks on the Ahmadiyah.”

The Ahmadiyah movement was founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. The Ahmadiyah identify themselves as Muslims but differ with other Muslims as to whether Muhammad was the final monotheist prophet. As a result, some other Muslims perceive the Ahmadiyah as heretics. Approximately 300,000 Indonesians follow the faith.

On February 6, a mob of 1,500 people attacked 21 Ahmadiyah members in Cikeusik, a village in the Banten province in western Java, killing three people and seriously wounding five others. About 30 police officers were present but did little to stop the attack. A videographer recorded the brutality, and the video was later posted by various individuals and organizations on YouTube. Widespread national and international condemnation of the attack ultimately prompted the Indonesian police to investigate the attack and arrest 12 suspects.

Additional attacks on Ahmadiyah communities soon followed. On March 11, villagers attacked four Ahmadiyah houses in Ciareuteun village, in Bogor. The police took no action against the assailants but arrested and questioned seven Ahmadiyah members and forced them to sign a document to renounce their faith. On March 13, in the nearby Bogor village of Cimanggu, assailants attacked four Ahmadiyah houses, causing the residents to flee. Local police later assigned guards around the Ahmadiyah properties in Cimanggu.

Since the February 6 attack, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali has repeatedly urged the cabinet to issue a total ban on the Ahmadiyah, claiming justification in a 2005 fatwa issued by the Indonesian Ulemas’ Council and the 2008 national anti-Ahmadiya decree. Ali has also recommended that the government declare the Ahmadiyah faith a new religion that is not permitted to make use of Islamic symbols such as the Quran, its rituals, and the Prophet Mohammed. He also has frequently urged Indonesia to follow the “Pakistan road,” to ban and criminalize Ahmadiyah activities.

“Repeated calls by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali to ban the Ahmadiyah fan the flames of violence against the group,” Robertson said. “President Yudhoyono should signal that such discrimination has no place in a society that promotes religious tolerance and remove Suryadharma Ali from his post.”

At least one senior Indonesian military officer has similarly called for restrictions on the rights of Ahmadiyah. On March 9 the West Java military commander, Major General Moeldoko, openly asked his soldiers in Bandung to support banning the Ahmadiyah and urged Muslims “to invade” and “to occupy” Ahmadiyah mosques. Soldiers under his command and police officers went to an Ahmadiyah mosque in Bandung during Friday prayers on March 11 and demanded that the Ahmadiyah imam, Ahmad Sulaeman, be replaced by Asep Zaenal Ausof of the Indonesian Ulemas’ Council’s Bandung branch.

“Indonesia’s top army commander, General George Toisuta, should order all officers to respect the rights of all religious communities and take immediate action against those harassing the Ahmadiyah or other faiths,” Robertson said.

Indonesian law facilitates discrimination against the Ahmadiyah. The June 2008 decree, the “Joint Ministerial Decree on Warning and Ordering the Jemaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia and Others,” requires the Ahmadiyah to “stop spreading interpretations and activities that deviate from the principal teachings of Islam,” including “spreading the belief that there is another prophet with his own teachings after Prophet Muhammad.” Human Rights Watch has consistently called for the government to rescind this decree, as it violates the right to freedom of religion. At the time the decree was signed, officials said it was necessary to help stop further violence.

Since the national anti-Ahmadiyah decree was issued, violence against the Ahmadiyah community has increased dramatically. The Setara Institute, a respected nongovernmental organization that monitors religious freedom in Indonesia, recorded a rise from three attacks in 2006 to 50 in 2010.

Prohibiting the Ahmadiyah from practicing their religion is in violation of Indonesia’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Indonesia in 2006, which protects the right to freedom of religion and to engage in religious practice “either individually or in community with others and in public or private.” The treaty also protects the rights of minorities “to profess and practice their own religion.” It provides that the protections in the treaty shall extend throughout a state “without any limitations or exceptions,” thus obliging provincial and other local governments to abide by its provisions.

Human Rights Watch urged concerned countries to call on the Indonesian government to protect the rights of religious minorities in the country. Specifically, foreign embassies in Jakarta should raise their concerns and seek reforms not only in contacts with national officials, such as Yudhoyono and Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi, but with provincial leaders, including the West Java governor, Ahmad Heryawan, and the East Java governor, Soekarwo.

“Provincial officials are no less responsible than their counterparts in Jakarta for ensuring that the rights of their populations are fully protected” Robertson said.

URL: www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/15/indonesia...

NGOs suggest reviews on Ahmadiyah bans

NATIONAL Fri, 03/11/2011 9:50 PM

NGOs suggest reviews on Ahmadiyah bans

Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A number of NGOs concerned with human rights suggested Friday that civil society file a legal lawsuit and judicial reviews against regulations and decrees issued by local leaders banning Ahmadiyah.

“Any efforts to ban Ahmadiyah followers from conducting their rituals are against, not only the 1945 Constitution, but also a number of laws,” Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violences (Kontras) coordinator Haris Azhar told a press conference.

He cited Article 28 of the Constitution, which guarantees every citizens’ religious rights.

Regulations made by provincial, regency and city administrations can be reviewed by the Supreme Court if considered not in line with higher regulations or laws.

Regulations in the form of decrees made governors, regents or mayors can be annulled by the State Administrative Court in all cities as well as regental and provincial capitals.

As of March 2011, there are 12 local administrations which have issued regulations banning Ahmadiyah, according to NGOs. The latest regions include East Java province, West Java province, South Sumatra province, Pandeglang regency and Samarinda municipality.

A number of laws considered as assurance for Ahmadiyah to exist in Indonesia included the 1999 Law on Human Rights and the 2006 Law on the Ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Fajri Nursyamsi from the Center for Legal and Policy Studies said.

Most of the local bans on Ahmadiyah were made based on the 1965 Blasphemy Law, he said. “The law is already too old and no longer in line with the current situation.

Last year, a number of NGOs filed a judicial review with the Constitutional Court to challenge the 1965 Law. The court, however, rejected the request and upheld the law.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/03/11/ngos-suggest-reviews...

Fight Ahmadis With Prayers, Not Punches: Military Chief

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Fight Ahmadis With Prayers, Not Punches: Military Chief

Yuli Krisna & Dofa Fasila | March 08, 2011

Bandung. A military commander in West Java has warned against using brute force against the Ahmadiyah, saying there were more “elegant” methods to suppress the group.

Maj. Gen. Moeldoko, chief of the Siliwangi Regional Command, said on Monday that the use of violence against the minority Muslim sect would attract unwanted attention from international human rights groups.

“We should be handling [the Ahmadiyah] with gloved hands, and not with violence,” he said. “Through the preaching of Islamic teachings, let their faith be weakened. [We must] guide them to follow the right path.”

“I believe this is a far more elegant and respectful way, even in the eyes of the world. We already have the tools to implement this plan,” he added.

Moeldoko was speaking after he met with West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan, the provincial police chief and other officials on Monday to discuss implementing a ban on the sect’s activities.

Ahmad had issued a gubernatorial regulation on Friday barring Ahmadis from practicing their faith in the province.

The ban, adopted by at least 10 other regional governments, was based on a 2008 joint ministerial decree declaring the Ahmadiyah a deviant sect for its divergent view on Islamic prophets. The decree prohibits Ahmadis from spreading their beliefs.

In a tactic he dubbed “an attack of prayer rugs,” Moeldoko suggested converting the sect to Islam by opening their mosques to mainstream Muslims.

“I ask all of you [Muslims] to sit inside their mosques, which are exclusive for the Ahmadis,” he said. “Let us fill their mosques with Islamic activities and the correct teachings of Islam.”

Similarly, the West Java governor said the sect’s mosques should be accessible to all mainstream believers.

“All mosques believed to belong to the Ahmadiyah can be used by anybody and everybody,” he said. “A mosque, after all, should not belong to a certain community. It is open to each and every Muslim.”

The governor also said the sect’s members should be invited to join other Muslims during Friday afternoon prayers.

“Let us put all of our prayer mats side by side. Islam after all, does not teach exclusivity. It does not teach us to close ourselves up,” he said.

The Ahmadiyah, founded in India in 1889, has been targeted by hard-liners in a series of bloody riots and clashes across the archipelago in recent months.

In the latest sign of simmering religious tensions, a group of people in Bandung were forced to dig up the body of an Ahmadi from a tomb on Thursday and abandon it in a graveyard.

The Ahmadiyah said the incident was “troubling” and constituted an attack on the sect.

“If this matter had been communicated to us, or if the body had been buried on land belonging to the Ahmadiyah, we wouldn’t have this problem,” Ahmad said on Monday.

Over the past few weeks, Islamic organizations have demanded that the government disband the sect, triggering heated public debate on religious rights in Indonesia.

Contrary to his peers in other regions, however, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo vowed not to ban Ahmadis from practicing their faith.

He said Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, had warned officials against enforcing such prohibitions.

“His instructions were clear. There should not be a gubernatorial decree or any kind of regulation issued in this country that would violate the Constitution,” Fauzi said on Monday.

He said the 2008 ministerial decree listed “everything needed to ensure security, order and harmony” in the capital.

Earlier, Fauzi had suggested following East and West Java’s lead in issuing regulations to ban Ahmadiyah activities. However, Fauzi backtracked on Monday after his proposal earned widespread public criticism.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/fight...chief/427316

Fauzi Bowo U-Turn: No Ahmadiyah Ban

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Fauzi Bowo U-Turn: No Ahmadiyah Ban

Dofa Fasila | March 08, 2011

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo says a city ban on Ahmadiyah is now unlikely. (JG Photo)

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo on Monday backed away from comments in which he suggested his administration was considering following the lead of West and East Java in imposing restrictions on the minority Ahmadiyah sect.

Fauzi, who drew widespread criticism from Jakarta Globe Web site and Facebook followers for suggesting the capital could implement similar regulations, said the administration would not place bans on Ahmadiyah.

He said he would follow the instructions issued by Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs.

“His instructions were clear,” Fauzi said. “There should not be a gubernatorial decree or any kind of regulation issued in this country that is in violation of the Constitution.”

Initially, Fauzi said the administration would first analyze and review the controversial regulations issued in the Indonesian provinces.

“In any case, everything that is needed in order to ensure security, order and harmony in the lives of Jakartans is already listed in the [2008] joint ministerial decree,” Fauzi said.

The 2008 joint ministerial decree prohibits Ahmadiyah from proselytizing, though critics say the legislation encourages attacks on the sect.

There are widespread concerns Indonesia is becoming less tolerant toward minority faiths.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/fauzi...ban/427263

MUI urges government to ban Ahmadiyah

NATIONAL Tue, 03/08/2011 8:59 PM

MUI urges government to ban Ahmadiyah

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has urged the government to place a ban on Ahmadiyah to prevent further problems from flaring up.

“If [the Ahmadiyah congregation] is not banned, then [religious] fanatics will keep on harassing them,” MUI chairman Umar Shihab said on Tuesday.

He added that the ban placed by certain administrations on the Ahmadiyah congregation would make the Ahmadis conscious that they have diverged from Islam.

The government, he further said, must follow suit with the action taken by certain administrations which have imposed bans on the Ahmadiyah congregation.

“That’s why the government needs to ban [the Ahmadiyah congregation]…similar to the MUI which has banned the teachings [of the Ahmadiyah] which have deviated from the teachings of Islam,” he said, as quoted from Antara news service.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/03/08/mui...html

Jakarta will not outlaw Ahmadiyah: Governor

HEADLINES Tue, 03/08/2011 11:39 AM

Jakarta will not outlaw Ahmadiyah: Governor

Andreas D. Arditya and Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As more regional governments stepped up their campaigns against the Ahmadiyah sect, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo backtracked from his declaration about banning members of the sect from publicly practicing their faith, saying that no new action would be taken against the group.

“The Jakarta administration has decided that religious issues are regulated under the joint ministerial decree. The city government is only responsible for maintaining security and order, not handling religious issues,” Fauzi said.

A joint ministerial decree issued by the government in 2008 banned members of the Ahmadiyah Indonesia Congregation (JAI) from propagating their religious beliefs, but allowed them to maintain their faith and perform their daily religious duties.

The Governor said the administration decided to drop its plan to issue a bylaw against Ahmadiyah following a statement by Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto late on Sunday warning of the illegality of such bylaws.

“Local government can’t issue ordinances that go against these articles. The message is clear, there should be no bylaws or gubernatorial decrees that contradict the state’s Constitution,” Fauzi said.

Djoko said local ordinances on the issue should be consistent with Article 28 and 29 of the 1945 Constitution and the joint ministerial decree.

Article 29, section 2, stipulates state guarantees for the freedom of faith and worship.

Djoko also said the government could not ban a belief. “One way or another, we can’t stop or outlaw a religious belief,” he said.

An official from the Attorney General’s Office also said Ahmadiyah could not be disbanded.

The Junior Attorney General for Intelligence, Edwin Pamimpin Situmorang, meanwhile, said the Coordinating Board for the Monitoring of Mystical Beliefs in Society (Bakor Pakem), chaired by the Attorney General, was no longer authorized to outlaw a religious belief.

“Bakor Pakem only evaluates reports from the public regarding certain beliefs and submits its analysis to the Religious Affairs Ministry,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

However, Ahmadis could be prosecuted under the 1965 Blasphemy Law if they cause unrest in the society,” Edwin said.

On Monday Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi said there should be no problems with the local governments issuing bans and they would not contradict the joint ministerial decree.

“The joint ministerial decree mandates that local governments to issue regulations consistent with the decree, but in principle these local governments could not disband Ahmadiyah,” Gamawan said.

There were 188 mystical beliefs and religious sects in Indonesia as of 2010, according to AGO records.

Calls from hard-line Muslim groups to ban Ahmadiyah have mounted in recent weeks following a deadly attack against Ahmadis in Cikeusik, Pandeglang, Banten.

Local administrations in East and West Java and South Sulawesi have issued bans against the sect members practicing their faith. The Pontianak city administration in West Kalimantan said on Monday that it would issue a similar ban later in the week.

The Tegal chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in Central Java Khumaidi said as quoted by Antara that it supported the government and regional administrations banning Ahmadiyah followers from propagating their belief.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/03/08/jakarta...governor.html

Indonesia province announces Ahmadiyah curbs

Asia-Pac

3 March 2011 Last updated at 13:23 GMT

Indonesia province announces Ahmadiyah curbs

By Kate McGeown
BBC News, Jakarta

Anti-Ahmadiyah sentiment has been gathering momentum in recent months

Authorities in Indonesia’s West Java have issued a decree which severely limits the activities of a small Islamic sect called the Ahmadiyah.

Members will not be able to publicly identify themselves and are being urged to convert to mainstream Islam.

Indonesia is a secular country, where freedom of religious expression is enshrined in the constitution.

But recently the government has been under pressure from hardliners to ban the sect completely.

Low profile

The province of West Java is home to Indonesia’s largest community of Ahmadis, but there are estimated to be more than 200,000 throughout the country.

But now they will be much harder to find.

The local authorities want them to limit their activities, take down signs identifying their mosques and schools, and - ideally - to re-educate and re-integrate themselves within mainstream Islam.

They are even encouraging other people in the area to monitor what the Ahmadis are doing.

Lawyers for the Ahmadiyah say the decree violates a law protecting people’s rights to worship how they choose.

But hardline Islamic groups say the order is perfectly legal, claiming that the sect’s beliefs deviate from the tenets of Islam and therefore violate the country’s rules against blasphemy.

The hardliners have repeatedly petitioned the government to outlaw the Ahmadiyah completely, and they are finding an increasingly positive reception.

Even the minister for religion supports a ban.

The Ahmadis have already been keeping a low profile since three of their members were killed last month by an angry mob.

This decree is yet another sign that their way of life is no longer welcome in a country often lauded for religious tolerance.

BBC © MMXI
URL: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12635671

Indonesia: For Ahmadiyah, the Official Line Kills

Indonesia: For Ahmadiyah, the Official Line Kills by Elaine Pearson Published in: The Jakarta Globe February 24, 2010

Elaine Pearson

Last July, violence erupted when municipal police and hundreds of people organized by militant Islamist groups tried to break into an Ahmadiyah mosque in Manis Lor village, West Java.

At the time, I made an eerily prescient statement to the media: “When the Indonesian authorities sacrifice the rights of religious minorities to appease hard-line Islamist groups, this simply causes more violence. While the police rightly stopped mobs from entering the mosque, their failure to arrest a single person will only embolden these groups to use violence again.”

Seven months later, on Feb. 6, a mob of some 1,500 people struck again in western Java, attacking about 20 Ahmadiyah members in Cikeusik village, Banten.

This time the mob broke in, destroyed and burned a house, van and motorcycle. They ordered the Ahmadiyah men to strip naked, and video footage shows them being gruesomely beaten with wooden sticks, hoes and machetes. Three died and six were wounded.

Militant Islamist groups clearly feel emboldened by the police’s failure to respond to attacks against religious minorities.

This effective impunity, combined with the government’s support for an anti-Ahmadiyah decree and Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali’s call for an outright ban on Ahmadiyah, has sent a message that the Ahmadis are fair game.

Yet when Ahmadiyah members try to protect themselves from violence, conspiracy theorists and some journalists and bloggers accuse them of making it all up and provoking attacks.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has rightly ordered a full investigation into the Feb. 6 killings, including into the police response. On Feb. 11, National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo removed the chief of the Banten Police, Brig. Gen. Agus Kusnadi, and the Pandeglang Police chief commissionaire, Fauzy Rasyad, who was in charge of Cikeusik.

Yudhoyono has also ordered that groups advocating violence should be shut down. But his administration should have acted earlier to prevent these killings by publicly upholding minority communities’ right to religious freedom and ensuring their protection in the face of growing attacks.

Yudhoyono should revoke the 2008 decree that requires the Ahmadiyah community to “stop spreading interpretations and activities that deviate from the principal teachings of Islam.” Violations of the decree can result in prison sentences of up to five years.

But three days after the attack, Suryadharma yet again called on the Yudhoyono cabinet to ban Ahmadiyah. He argued that the ban should be based on a 2005 edict issued by the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) and the 2008 decree. Yudhoyono should publicly refute these comments.

Since the edict and the decree, vigilante groups have increasingly attacked the Ahmadiyah community.

Following the 2005 edict, Islamist groups attacked the Ahmadiyah headquarters near Bogor. Assaults on Ahmadiyah members were reported in East Lombok, Manis Lor, Tasikmalaya, Parung, Garut, Ciaruteun and Sadasari.

Attacks continued in 2006, forcing 187 Ahmadis to flee to a camp for displaced persons in Lombok after mobs destroyed their homes and mosques. In December 2007, mobs attacked Ahmadiyah followers in Kuningan, West Java.

Following the June 2008 decree, things got even worse. In 2008, Islamist militia groups attacked an interfaith gathering at the National Monument in Jakarta, beating activists and threatening to attack prominent figures like former President Abdurrahman Wahid, presidential adviser Adnan Buyung Nasution and rights commissioner Asmara Nababan.

In 2008 and 2009, there was anti-Ahmadiyah violence across the archipelago - Ternate, Lombok, West Java, West Sumatra, Southeast Sulawesi, North Sulawesi and across Kalimantan. Then, in July 2010, came the Manis Lor attack.

Just a week before this month’s Cikeusik attack, on Jan. 28, police “evacuated” members of an Ahmadiyah congregation from its mosque in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, amid increasingly threatening protests by the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). Militants then attacked the mosque, destroying property and windows.

Throughout these attacks, police have often been present and have sometimes tried to negotiate or safely remove the Ahmadis before violence started. But police have failed spectacularly in preventing attacks or holding those fomenting religious violence accountable.

As a result of what happened in Manis Lor, Ahmadiyah leaders felt compelled to bring attention to attacks on their members and mosques in order to make the violence stop.

They set up an emergency team to help Ahmadiyah communities in danger and trained advocates to negotiate with the police.

The Ahmadiyah board also asked a TV station in Jakarta to train some Ahmadis as journalists - to prepare news stories, verify information and use cameras. The video journalist who recorded the Cikeusik violence was one of these Ahmadiyah activists.

Based on the police’s poor track record, the Islamists involved in Cikeusik are probably surprised that they may be held accountable for the attack that killed three. So far, police have arrested at least six suspects.

Given the clear evidence of criminal offenses on the video, police should ensure they redouble their efforts to find and arrest all the perpetrators.

And if Yudhoyono is serious about ending religious violence, he should do more than ensure that the police adequately investigate this tragedy. He should quickly revoke the decree that whips up this sentiment.

Elaine Pearson is deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

URL: www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/24/indonesia...line-kills