Indonesia: Marchers demand end to intolerance

Hundreds of people including religious leaders from various denominations and faiths took to the streets yesterday to peacefully protest against restrictions on freedom to worship. The rally, organized by the Religious Leaders Forum in Greater Jakarta, followed the recent closure and demolition of places of worship by local authorities and officials from the government’s Public [...]

Indonesia: Humble pope may signal change for Asia

Catholic leaders and civil society organizations said on Friday that the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis signals hope that the Vatican will pay closer attention to the needs of the poor throughout the world, particularly Indonesia. Archbishop Johannes Maria Trilaksyanta Pujasumarta of Semarang said the selection of the name Francis, which is [...]

Death of nun and two children: ex-priest confesses

A man claiming to be responsible for the death of three people, whose remains were recently unearthed in the compound of a seminary in East Nusa Tenggara, has turned himself in to police. A Sikka district police official and head of the criminal investigation unit said Tuesday that Herman Jumat Masan was in their custody [...]

Indonesia: Flooding kills two in Jakarta

Floods in Jakarta have killed two and forced more than 10,000 people into emergency shelters with water levels reaching three meters in some areas of the city on Wednesday. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) reported that a 13-year-old drowned on Tuesday in western Jakarta after a river burst its banks and on the same [...]

Indonesia: Soldier accused of journalist assault

A journalist covering a New Year’s Eve celebration in Ambon, the capital of Maluku province, was kicked and threatened and his camera smashed after the KOMPAS.com contributor took pictures of soldiers chasing a man shortly after midnight. Around 12:30 a.m., Rahmat Rahman Patty and some other journalists saw dozens of soldiers chasing a member of the Maluku [...]

Indonesia: Muslims attack Protestant congregation

About 200 Protestants from the Batak Society Christian Church (HKBP) Philadelphia in West Java were attacked by Muslims as they gathered to attend a Christmas Eve service on Monday. Church members, who are involved in a dispute with local officials after being denied a permit to build a place of worship in Bekasi district, had [...]

Indonesia: Police under fire over rights abuses

Almost one third of alleged human rights abuses reported so far this year were committed by the police, the head of the country’s top rights watchdog said yesterday. Out of 5,422 abuses reported, 1,635 cases were committed by the police, said Otto Nur Abdullah, chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM). Police [...]

Indonesia: Christians protest with postcards to president

Protestants at two churches in West Java have sent 6,000 postcards to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, urging the end of restrictions on worship ahead of Christmas. A member of GKI Yasmin, one of the two restricted churches along with the Batak Society Christian Church (HKBP) Philadelphia in Bekasi, handed the postcards to the State Secretariat [...]

Indonesia: Call for increased oversight on migrant workers

The government has reacted to the release of 95 Indonesian domestic workers after a raid in Malaysia over the weekend, by saying the placement of migrant workers must be evaluated in order to protect them from abuse. “We call on the National Police to be more aggressive in arresting those sending illegal Indonesian migrant workers [...]

Indonesia: Religions hindering AIDS fight — minister

Indonesia will experience a sharp rise in the number of HIV/AIDS cases if attitudes towards condom use by men and religious leaders don’t change soon, the health minister has said. Warnings by the UN that the country would see 76,000 new HIV cases annually if preventive efforts are not taken seriously were likely to become [...]

Indonesia: President vows action on sectarian clashes

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has promised a series of measures to prevent increasing incidents of communal and sectarian violence across the country. “Communal and sectarian conflicts are happening often. This cannot be ignored. There must be something wrong when people find it hard to find security and tranquility,” he told cabinet members yesterday. Direct instructions are [...]

UN envoy slams rights record

Visiting UN rights envoy Navanethem Pillay said she was “saddened” to hear of attacks and other abuses against minorities in an assessment that condemned police inaction. Speaking in Jakarta yesterday at the end of a two-day visit, Pillay encouraged the government to abandon the blasphemy law, revise discriminatory legislation against the minority Muslim Ahmadiyah sect [...]

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