Violence and Discrimination Against Christians in Modern Indonesia
Forced circumcisions and forced conversions of Christians occurred during the 1999-2002 Muslim-Christian conflict in Maluku, along with attacks on churches throughout Indonesia. The army, especially the special forces unit Kopassus, was accused of aiding the attacks in Maluku, and official response to these attacks was lacking, while the full force of the law was used against those Christians involved in revenge attacks. The 2006 execution of three Catholic citizens in Sulawesi nurtured further fears that the Indonesian state favoured Muslims while penalizing the Christian minority.
Even after the Maluku conflict subsided, Christians are victims of minor, but regular, attacks by radical Muslim organizations such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). In 2005, Indonesians were shocked by the beheadings of three Christian schoolgirls, perpetrated by Muslim extremists in Sulawesi.
In 2010, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found, for purposes of U.S. immigration law: "he record compels a finding that Christians in Indonesia are a disfavored group." The definition of this term is "a group of individuals in a certain country or part of a country, all of whom share a common, protected characteristic, many of whom are mistreated, and a substantial number of whom are persecuted" but who are "not threatened by a pattern or practice of systematic persecution." The court blamed the rise of anti-Christian sentiment on Suharto consorting with militant Islamic groups in the 1990s in order to maintain his power, noting that he had 'purged his cabinet and army of Christians and replaced them with fundamentalist Muslims', adding that support and protection for violent Islamic militia such as Laskar Jihad by the military and political elite had continued since Suharto's exit from power. According to the ruling: "Christian churches throughout Indonesia have been burned, bombed, and vandalized by Muslim extremists. These attacks are often accompanied by threats, such as: 'God has no son. Jesus could not help you. Until doomsday, Muslims will not make peace with Christians. Death to all Christians.'"
On February 8, 2011, trial spectators attacked the defendant, prosecutors and judges and Muslim rioters severely vandalized Protestant and Catholic churches, schools, and other property in Temanggung, Central Java in protest that prosecutors only demanded that the court sentence Antonius Bawengan to five years in prison (the maximum sentence permitted by law) for his alleged blasphemy against Islam via distributed leaflets. A local Muslim cleric allegedly demanded that Antonius receive a death penalty. The judge immediately sentenced Antonius to five years in prison. Local Muslim residents reportedly protected a Catholic priest and tried to minimize damage. The local Muslim cleric later received a one year sentence for inciting the Temanggung riot. The Temanggung riot occurred two days after 1,500 Sunni Muslims attacked Ahmadiyya Muslims in Cikeusik, Banten, murdering three.
On the other hand and also in February 2011, a local FPI leader and followers each received at most a 5.5 months sentence and were released based on time served after members of the group struck an HKBP pastor in the head with a wooden plank and stabbed an HKBP elder in the abdomen. The planned, drive-by attack occurred in Bekasi, West Java while the victims were walking to church service and related to local Muslims' objection to church construction. While local human rights activists expressed disappointment in the minimal sentences, no riots occurred. Earlier, in 2010, hundreds of FPI members had attacked congregants during an HKBP church service in Bekasi, beating many women. Police were on site, but provided little protection.
On early Ramadan in August 2011, group of Muslims attacked and burned three churches on Kuantan, Sengingi, Riau Province. Police not giving any clue for reason of burning, Police says its for sake of keeping ramadan peacefully for Muslim.
Non-Muslims experience ongoing discrimination, including obstacles to university entrance and civil service jobs. A survey conducted in 2002 in Jakarta noted that 80% of respondents wanted faiths other than Islam outlawed, 73% wanted non-Muslims excluded from teaching in government schools, and 42% did not want churches constructed in their area. Of particular concern to non-Muslim religious organizations, a 2006 joint ministerial decree on house of worship (signed by the Religious Affairs Ministry and Home Ministry) requires a religious group to obtain the approval of at least 60 households in the immediate vicinity before building a house of worship. This decree has been used frequently to prevent construction of non-Muslim places of worship and has been cited by radical Muslim organizations for various attacks on non-Muslims.
Read more about this topic: Christianity In Indonesia
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