Indonesia: Treatment of Christians

According to the 1997 United States Department of State report "United States Policies in Support of Religious Freedom: Focus on Christians", Indonesia is the most populous predominantly Muslim country in the world and constitutionally guarantees religious freedom. The report, however, notes that:

There were several instances of religion-related mob violence during 1996. In July several Christian churches were burned in Surabaya. On October 10, rioters destroyed 24 churches and a Buddhist temple on the East Java coast, to protest the leniency of a sentence given to a Muslim by an Indonesian judge for slandering Islam. In the course of the riots a Protestant minister, his wife and child, and a church worker were burned to death.

After the riots the Government and local religious leaders took a number of actions. Fifty individuals were arrested, of whom five were tried and sentenced to 1 to 5 months in prison. Abdurahman Wahid, the chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)--Indonesia's largest Islamic organization--took moral responsibility for the riots, because many of the rioters were NU members. The churches destroyed in the October riots are being rebuilt with financial assistance from the provincial government. Through the efforts of Abdurahman Wahid, confidence and cooperation between these Christian and Muslim communities has been restored and become stronger.

In addition, in response to a riot in Situbondo, eight mass national student and youth organizations founded the Nationality Forum for Indonesian Youth (FKPI), an organization that brings together Hindu, Islamic, Protestant, and Catholic youth groups. The goals of the forum are to create a new spirit of nationality, to create a place for the expression of youth aspirations, and to provide a forum for cooperation between religious groups and for communication to the grass roots level to prevent further unrest.

These developments and efforts at reconciliation notwithstanding, religious tensions led to violence again in 1998 (examples follow). Human Rights Watch cites a number of factors that exacerbate these tensions: (i) government sponsored migration of predominantly Muslim people to "heavily Christian" areas, leading locals to suspect the government of plans for "Islamicization"; (ii) the role of Islam in national politics; (iii) general civil unrest brought on by the Indonesian economic crisis (9 Dec. 1998). It has also been pointed out that many of the religious conflicts have an ethnic dimension in that many members of the ethnic Chinese minority are Christian (AAP 23 Nov. 1998; ABC 7 Dec. 1998). For further information on the treatment of ethnic Chinese, please consult IDN30780 of 8 January 1999.

Anti-Christian rioting in Jakarta in November 1998 led to the deaths of at least 14 people in attacks on at least 11 churches (AAP 23 Nov. 1998; AFP 23 Nov. 1998a; Times Union 24 Nov. 1998). In the aftermath of the riots Christian schools were closed (ibid.). President Habibie blamed "provocateurs" for the violence (AFP 23 Nov. 1998b), while prominent Muslim leader Abdhurrahmann Wahid claimed that "thugs had carefully planned the riots" (Times Union 24 Nov. 1998) and Christian leaders claimed that attacks on churches since June 1996 were not isolated incidents but rather formed part of a "grand strategy" (Suara Pembaran 29 Nov. 1998).

A 1 December 1998 report in the Houston Chronicle stated that Christians had attacked mosques in the city of Kupang, where Christians form the majority, allegedly in retaliation for the November riots. A few days later, a church was attacked and set ablaze in the city of Ujang Pandang (BBC Online 4 Dec. 1998; ABC 7 Dec. 1998). Reports indicated that in late December 1998 the situation remained tense (AFP 24 Dec. 1998; ibid., 25 Dec. 1998). The city of Polo in Central Sulawesi province witnessed riots between Christian and Muslim youths (ibid., 30 Dec. 1998). At the same time, however, a church in the city of Palu that had reportedly been burned down by a mob was later found to have caught fire owing to faulty wiring and the situation in Palu was in fact described as very calm (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

AAP Newsfeed. 23 November 1998. Geoff Spencer. "Ethnic, Religious Tensions Trigger Riots in Indonesia." (NEXIS)

ABC News. 7 Dec. 1998. Andi Jatmiko. "Burning and Rioting; Indonesia Sees More Anti-Government, Anti-Church Unrest." [Internet] [Accessed 6 Jan. 1998]

Agence France Presse (AFP). 30 December 1998. "Indonesian Church Accidentally Burned." (NEXIS)

_____. 25 December 1998. "Indonesia's Christians in Solemn Celebration." (NEXIS)

_____. 24 December 1998. "Indonesia's Catholic Churches Scrap Midnight Mass Amid Security Fears." (NEXIS)

_____. 23 November 1998a. "Jakarta Tense as More Victims of Anti-Christian Riot Found." (NEXIS)

_____. [Hong Kong, in English]. 23 November 1998b. "Indonesia: Habibie Blames Provocateurs for Anti-Christian Rioting." (FBIS-EAS-98-327 23 Nov. 1998/WNC)

BBC Online. 4 December 1998. "Indonesian Church Torched." [Internet] <http://news.bbc.co.uk> [Accessed 10 Dec. 1998]

The Houston Chronicle. 1 December 1998. "World Briefs." (NEXIS)

Human Rights Watch. 9 December 1998. "Background Briefing on Indonesia: Urgent Action Needed to halt Communal Violence." [Internet] [Accesed 8 Jan. 1998]

Suara Pembaran (Internet Version) [Jakarta, in Indonesian]. 29 November 1998. (FBIS-EAS-98-334 30 Nov. 1998/WNC)

The Times Union [Albany]. 24 November 1998. "Indonesia's Christian Schools Close After Weekend Strife." (NEXIS)

United States Department of State. 22 July 1997. "United States Policies in Support of Religious Freedom: Focus on Christians." [Internet] [Accessed 8 Jan. 1999]