State of the World's Minorities 2007 - Indonesia
| Publisher | Minority Rights Group International |
| Publication Date | 4 March 2007 |
| Cite as | Minority Rights Group International, State of the World's Minorities 2007 - Indonesia, 4 March 2007, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/48a97133c.html [accessed 4 November 2019] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The last two years have seen a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority nation in the world. The country's first-ever direct presidential election, won by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2004 on a platform of reform and dismantling of the authoritarian state, has been followed by sustained progress on human rights. Democratic elections have been held at various levels and have served to dampen the ethnic tension that characterized the state for much of the 1990s. With policies of decentralization accompanied by devolved decision-making being offered (as manifest in the August 2005 peace agreement in Aceh), entrenched conflict appears to be ending.
Despite the Indonesian government's compliance with the Bush administration's counter-terrorism alliance, illustrated by the welcoming of President Bush by President Yudhoyono in November 2006, the visit was met with mass protest rallies across the country. There has been a revival in the representation of groups who have tried to bring in Islamic legislation in Indonesia: they have succeeded in garnering election victories through criticism of the corruption that still persists at every level of Indonesian society.
The rise of religious intolerance as manifest in attacks against Ahmadiyya mosques and Christian churches in Java and North Sumatra is indicative of the continued threat of Islamist extremists, and has already resulted in the installation of Sharia-inspired local laws in Aceh, Java, Sulawesi and Sumatra. Christian-Muslim tensions were particularly apparent in Sulawesi, where three Catholics, sentenced to death for their alleged role in the death of Muslims during religious riots, were executed in September 2006. Fearing outbreaks of violence, the Indonesian government deployed thousands of troops to protect Christian sites during the December 2006 Christmas celebrations.
In a radical shift from centuries of policies that favoured indigenous groups against Indonesia's Arabs, Chinese and Indians, the government passed a new citizenship law in 2006 in which 'indigenous' was redefined to include the ethnic Chinese population.
