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In January, Setara released a report based on data collected between 2007 and 2022 that revealed 573 cases of disturbances to worship and places of worship across Indonesia. These included the stopping of worship, rejecting the presence of places of worship, and the intimidation of worshippers. – The Straits Times/ANN
Indonesia to ease rules on minorities’ places of worship, but they fear that difficulties will remain
By Linda Yulisman (Indonesia Correspondent – The Straits Times)
Saturday, 28 Oct 2023 4:53 PM MYT
JAKARTA: President Joko Widodo is set to sign a presidential regulation that minority groups in Muslim-majority Indonesia hope would ease requirements to set up their places of worship.
The new law will replace two 2006 decrees passed by the religious affairs minister and home minister that have been blamed by minority groups for introducing tough conditions for the establishment of a church, temple or mosque for the minority Ahmadiyah Muslim group.
Under the decrees, proposers for a planned house of worship must produce a letter of support from at least 60 people living near the site, with the names confirmed by the village chief. Names and copies of identity cards of at least 90 worshippers who will be using the new facility also need to be submitted and verified by the village chief.
Before his second five-year term ends in October 2024, Mr Widodo is set to sign the new law, which officials said accommodates the changes that various religious groups have asked for.
Ahead of the 2014 presidential election, his campaign team has said that the 2006 decrees would be replaced as they have caused difficulties to minority groups to build prayer houses.
There was an attempt to address the issue through a Bill, which was among the 2015 to 2019 priority Bills to be deliberated by the House of Representatives.
But it had failed as Parliament “could not reach an agreement” with the government, said Dr Wawan Djunaedi, the director of the centre for inter-religious harmony at the Religious Affairs Ministry.
A draft of the new law, which has been circulating since July, has not allayed worries that the tough conditions would remain in place.
Rights activists who have had discussions with officials say they do not think things will change much under the new law, according to the draft they have seen, as key elements of the 2006 decrees will likely be retained.
“From what we know, there was not much change in the draft as the previous conditions (that restrict minorities from building new worship facilities) remain,” Mr Halili Hasan, executive director of Setara Institute, a rights group focusing on democracy and religious intolerance issues, told The Straits Times. He was referring to a draft the group received in mid-July.
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Mr Halili described the requirement of approval from local residents and worshippers as “the biggest source of discrimination” in the decrees.
He added that it has also been used as a means to justify rejection of plans to build houses of worship and he hopes for its removal from the draft of the presidential regulation.
It should be lifted “to fulfil the mandate of the Constitution”, in which the state guarantees the citizens’ freedom to have religions and worship according to their faiths.
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In January, Setara released a report based on data collected between 2007 and 2022 that revealed 573 cases of disturbances to worship and places of worship across Indonesia. These included the stopping of worship, rejecting the presence of places of worship, and the intimidation of worshippers. – The Straits Times/ANN
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