INDONESIA: Ahmadiyya group threatened and prevented from holding Friday prayers

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rigth Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding an Ahmadiyya congregation being prevented from holding Friday prayers. Vigilante groups, namely Islamic Defender Front (FPI) in Bukit Duri Tebet, Jakarta, Indonesia, have threatened the Ahmadiyya congregation that if they continue the worship they will be attacked and forcibly dispersed. Threat, intimidation, and violence against minority religions and belief groups recurs in Indonesia as the police fails to protect the right to freedom of religion. Acts of vigilante groups have caused serious human rights violations, such as murder, sealing of places of worship, demolition, and vicious attack.

CASE NARRATIVE

On Friday, 12 June 2015, a vigilante group, Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), blocked Ahmadis from performing their Friday prayers at their own An Nur Mosque in Bukit Duri Tanjakan RT 02/RW 08, Tebet, South Jakarta. FPI forced the Ahmadiyya congregation to stop using the place of worship; the Ahmadis were forced to observe their prayers on the street in front of the Mosque.

Ahmadis cannot pray inside their Mosque ( AHRC File Photo)

Around 25 people joined the vigilante group that came to the mosque at 10 a.m. to warn and threaten the Ahmadiyya congregation that was yet to start their Friday prayer. Around 5 of the vigilantes wore Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) uniforms, while others included a local preacher (ustad), namely Mr. Syakir, and his followers.

After they warned and threated the Ahmadis, they left the Mosque and returned at 1 p.m. to threaten the Ahmadis again. They told the Ahmadis to stop the prayers; if the Ahmadi were to continue to stay, they would not hesitate to use violence, was the message delivered.

Furthermore, FPI also provoked the local community in Bukit Duri Tebet to hold a public protest and attack the Ahmadis in Bukit Duri if the Ahmadis continue to use the An Nur Mosque. The intolerant vigilantes have also displayed banners in front of the Mosque; the banners say Ahmadis are prohibited from pray and must stop using the Mosque.

The Ahmadiyya congregation has filed a report with the local police seeking seeking protection and guarantee of safety to exercise their right to freedom of religion and belief. The police, however, have not made any significant effort to prevent harassment and threats against minority religions and belief groups.

While the Ahmadiyya are one of the minority groups that suffer the most in Indonesia, the government has showed no inclination to address the religious intolerance problem. Furthermore, the State, in particular the police, tends to ignore any violence, threat, intimidation, as well as serious crimes, committed and conducted by vigilante groups. For instance, there is the case against Ahmadis in Cikeusik, West Java Province (2011), in which intolerant vigilantes killed three people. In Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara Province, hundreds of persons have been internally displaced since 2005 due to the same intolerance. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 

Human rights violations against religious and minority groups occur widely in Indonesia. In the past five years, the violations have also targeted the Christian minority; Congregations of Filadelfia Church in Bekasi Regency, and Yasmin church in Bogor City, West Java Province have been prohibited from worshipping. The AHRC has also documented the sealing off of 17 worship places in Aceh Province conducted by the FPI. Additionally attacks against local belief groups have been rampant. The attack against Ustad Tengku Aiyub (a local belief leader) and his congregation is an example. In this case, Tengku Aiyub was beheaded to death, and his place of worship was destroyed, and his family and congregations were made to suffer serious trauma.

Another example is that of the Syia congregation in Madura Island, East Java Province, which suffered a mass attack. One congregation member died, and others have been rendered internally displaced persons, without the government giving them requisite attention till today. They were forced to leave their villages due to demolition of their houses conducted by an intolerant mob.

The year 2011 saw a heinous attack against Ahmadis in Cikeusik, West Java Province. The attack, conducted by an intolerant vigilante mob resulted in the death of three Ahmadis and serious injury to several others. A video related to the Cikeusik case can be watched here. 

Such acts of intolerant vigilantes are in violation of the right to freedom of religion and belief guaranteed in the 1945 Indonesian Constitution. Article 29, Paragraph 2 states the following: “State ensure the freedom of every citizen to choose their own religion and to worship according to their religion and belief itself”. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the authorities listed below, asking them to ensure the protection of the right to freedom of religion and belief. The government must prosecute whoever is involved in such violations that have resulted in social disharmony, and the government must ensure that the Minister of Religion should take initiative to intensify interfaith dialogue to minimize harassment, conflict, and acute discrimination.

The government must be urged to implement the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee in its Concluding Observation on the initial report of Indonesia in 2013. The report states the following: “The State party should take all measures to protect victims of religiously motivated attacks; to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of these attacks and ensure that, if the perpetrators are convicted, appropriate sanctions are imposed; and to provide victims with adequate compensation.”

The AHRC will also be writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of religion or belief calling for his intervention into this matter.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER