Indonesia Still Struggling With Violence, Religious Intolerance

Daniella White & Eileen McInnes | February 03, 2013 

 Jakarta Globe | The year 2012 was a turbulent time for minority rights in Indonesia. Incidents of violence, sometimes resulting in death, were frequent and countless communities are still being denied the opportunity to practice their religion, despite laws guaranteeing their inherent rights. 

An annual report by Human Rights Watch released this week suggested that very little effort was being made to protect religious minorities’ rights in Indonesia. The watchdog organization says that radical decentralization as well as discriminatory and ineffective legal infrastructure are major obstacles to achieving equality. 

The report focused on Indonesia’s religious violence, discriminatory local bylaws and the imprisonment of Papuan and Moluccan activists as inhibiting Indonesia’s path to becoming a “rights-respecting democracy.” 

The group will issue a separate report on religious freedom in Indonesia at the end of the month. 

Joseph Saunders, the New York-based deputy program director at HRW, said on Thursday that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s lack of leadership on the issue was damaging. 

He said that Yudhoyono, not considering the issue a “political winner,” avoids confronting it in any meaningful manner. 

“This isn’t something that is going away quickly,” Saunders said. “This is something that has grown over time. It’s something [that has] roots a generation or two ago, and the manifestation is now. 

“And the question is, do you want it to be better in 10 years, 20 years, or do you want it to be worse? Our fear is that it’s being allowed to fester, and it’s growing worse. It could get a lot worse.” 

Figures from the Setara Institute, an Indonesian human rights watchdog, show that cases of religious intolerance have been steadily increasing over the past five years. 

The group recorded 264 incidents of intolerance last year, almost double from 135 cases in 2007. 

Setara is not optimistic for the coming year, especially taking into account the upcoming elections, according to its Report on Freedom of Religion and Belief in 2012, released in December. 

Yudhoyono has not been silent on the issue. In January, in a lecture organized by the Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI), he urged the country to respect minority beliefs and cultures. 

“The views and aspirations of the majority indeed have to be accepted, but we should not ignore the voice of minorities, of the different groups in this country,” the president said. “Every community should build a culture of resolving conflicts in a peaceful manner that avoids the use of force.” 

Saunders says that Yudhoyono’s words on the issue are mostly “empty rhetoric.” The president “needs to take decisive action against acts of violence,” he said. 

“That hasn’t happened at all … often it is the victim that ends up behind bars … it’s disturbing.” 

According to HRW, one of the primary barriers to minority rights and freedom of religion is “radical decentralization,” the shift of power away from a central government in favor of local administrations, since the fall of authoritarian leader Suharto. 

The power of the Supreme Court is often limited or unable to be enforced in local disputes. 

A 2012 report by the International Crisis Group, a nongovernmental organization that advises governments and intergovernmental bodies on conflict resolution, found that local institutions are allowing conflicts to simmer after being empowered by decentralization. They ignore the country’s highest courts with “impunity.” 

“If the regions become overconfident in their new powers and the central state continues to respond weakly, this lack of commitment to rule of law could encourage more conflict as the national political temperature rises ahead of the 2014 presidential election,” the report said. 

That sentiment is echoed by HRW. 

“Local officials refuse to implement laws,” Saunders said. 

He said that there needed to be a provision in the contempt of court act that “expressly gives ability to dismiss someone who doesn’t implement a ruling.” 

However, the existing constitution can at times be considered discriminatory in itself, recognizing only six official faiths. 

“If you don’t fit into the category you are much more vulnerable,” Saunders said. 

Yudhoyono’s most recent attempts to quell various conflicts have been his Presidential Instructions on security. As a result, governors, mayors and district heads will have greater powers in dealing with communal conflicts. He said they were intended to increase the ability of administrations to “swiftly” solve conflicts. 

“There should be no more delays in addressing [conflicts] and no one is allowed to stop something preventable from being prevented. Something that could be solved should also not be left unsolved. Don’t keep a time bomb,” he said on Monday in a meeting with government officials in Jakarta. 

However, the move has been criticized by some rights groups. 

Rights lawyer Asfinawati Ajub said the newest security measures from the president will only result in further weakening of the rights of minorities, as local governments gain more power to take decisive action in conflicts. Local governments, she explained, are usually representative of the majority. 

“The local governments should not arrange security. It should be the Indonesian government that has the power, not the local government,” she said. 

In two well-known cases, the Filadelfia Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP Filadelfia) in Bekasi and the Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI Yasmin) in Bogor have been closed since 2007 and 2006 respectively, denied permits to operate by local authorities. 

Even after a ruling in its favor was handed down by the Supreme Court, GKI Yasmin has still not been granted permission by the Bogor administration to reopen. 

Every two weeks, the churches come together and hold a service outside the State Palace in Central Jakarta to remind Yudhoyono of their constitutional right to worship, and his obligation to uphold it. 

In some Christian-majority areas, similar problems exist for Muslim citizens. In Kupang, the predominantly Christian capital of East Nusa Tenggara, construction of a mosque was halted in 2011 as a result of public protests.

Source: Jakarta Globe

Sebuah Pesan Kemanusiaan dari GKI Yasmin untuk Indonesia

Bapak SBY, Presiden Republik Indonesia, pernah cerita ke Pdt. Yewangoe yang bertamu ke Puri Cikeas beberapa waktu lalu tentang keperihatinan Presiden SBY yang tergerak dari pesn singkat (SMS) salah seorang warga Jemaat GKI Taman Yasmin, Bogor, yang sampai ke handphone Ibu Ani Yudoyono. Pesan singkat itu bercerita tentang seorang ibu rumah tangga yang kini sulit menjelaskan kepada anak-anaknya karena hilangnya toleransi beragama, bahkan di lingkungan tetangga-bertetangga.

Cerita yang sama disampaikan kepada utusan GKI Yasmin yang mendadak dipanggil bertemu dengan Sekretaris Kabinet RI, Dipo Alam, yang segera mendapat perintah khusus untuk menangani kasus ini.

Kini, setelah waktu berlalu, aduan pesan singkat ibu rumah tangga ini hanya berhenti sebatas cerita belaka. Tak ada balasan lagi dari handphone sang ibu Negara, tak ada kesigapan lagi dari sang ajudan presiden yang gigih membela kewibawaan atasannya.

Mungkin, aduan tentang anak-anak sekokah minggu yang polos bertanya-tanya? “Ma, kenapa kita diusir ketika kita beribadah? Yang kita tulis besar-besar dan disampaikan ke penjaga Istana Merdeka pun tak lagi pun tak lagi punya makna.

Dan cerita menjadi lain tatkala Jemaat GKI Yasmin yang didera nasehat (solusi non-hukum) untuk memilih alternatif tempat lain. Gedung megah yang dijanjikan dibangun, segala kemudahan dijamin negara, sepertinya membuat Jemaat kelihatan “bodoh” bila tidak mau ambil kesempatan ini.

Bila ada yang menasehati, “Kenapa tidak terima saja relokasi dan berhenti mengunjungi trotoar depan Istana?”. Bagi GKI kami, sama halnya telah menisbikan kepastian hukum hanya demi citra kosong belaka. Sama halnya upaya menisbikan GKI Yasmin yang cuma sebuah bakal Pos kecil yang tidak akan berpengaruh kepada GKI secara keseluruhan bila dihilangkan.

Dan inilah cerita sengsara memikul salib kebenaran, bukan saja untuk sebidang tanah kecil untuk wahana doa kepada Sang Kuasa, tetapi juga sengsara rakyat yang tetap ingin menjadi warga negara Indonesia.

“Minggu Sengsara Yasmin, Minggu Sengsara Warga Indonesia”
Salam, Warga GKI Yasmin Indonesia

GKI Yasmin: Negeri yang Terkoyak

Pada siang Minggu (11 Maret 2012), sekitar 60 orang jemaat GKI Yasmin, Bogor kembali menggelar peribadahan di depan Istana Negara, Jakarta. Upaya ini sengaja dilakukan oleh Jemaat GKI yang telah memegang kekuatan hukum tetap dari Mahkamah Agung RI untuk menuntut komitmen Presiden menyelesaikan pelanggaran hak beribadah dan berkeyakinan bagi GKI Yasmin.

Sejak Walikota Bogor, tanpa adanya alasan yang legal dan konstitusional, mencabut Izin IMB GKI Yasmin dan mensegel secara paksa Gereja, Jemaat GKI Yasmin harus beribadah di trotoar sejak 2009. Padahal, IMB GKI Yasmin telah dikeluarkan sendiri oleh Walikota Bogor dan Walikota telah memberikan sambutannya dalam peletakan batu pertama pembangunan Gereja.

Pancasila dan UUD 1945 sebagai dasar Negara Indonesia menjamin hak setiap warga Negara untuk beribadah dan memeluk agama. Hal ini juga diturunkan melalui peraturan perundang-undangan lebih rendah. Sejak awal berdirinya, melalui para founding fathers-nya, Indonesia telah menetapkan bahwa Negara yang beranekaragam ini dibentuk untuk menaungi seluruh elemen masyarakat. Dengan kata lain, Indonesia dibentuk bukan untuk satu golongan tertentu, sehingga adalah salah besar bila berpandangan bahwa Indonesia adalah khusus untuk kelompok tertentu.

Di sisi yang lain, Pemerintah Pusat seolah tutup mata dengan permasalahan ini. Alih-alih untuk memberikan solusi dan mendorong Walikota Bogor untuk menjalankan Putusan MA dan sejumlah lembaga Negara yang terkait, Pemerintah Pusat justru mentoleransi pelanggaran hak-hak dasar kehidupan berbangsa dan bernegara.

Demikian pula dengan DPR RI, meskipun diangkat dan dipilih oleh rakyat, ternyata tidak mampu menjawab permasalahan real warga Negara. Hanya beberapa segelintir Anggota DPR yang mendukung GKI Yasmin, padahal jelas-jelas posisi GKI Yasmin adalah kuat secara hukum. Entah sampai kapan permasalahan GKI Yasmin ini tetap menjadi komoditas politik Walikota Bogor. Entah sampai kapan pula manipulasi kelompok Islam intoleran yang bergerak demi kepentingan ekonomi terus menggerogoti kedaulatan Negara kita. Hanya Tuhan yang tahu sampai di mana cerita ini, tapi sebagai manusia yang mencintai kedamaian dan mendukung Indonesia yang plural (beragam), harus tetap menyuarakan pembelaan bagi kelompok yang tertindas.

Muhammad Saw. sebagai Nabi yang diakui oleh umat Islam telah mengajarkan sikap toleransi bagi seluruh kelompok. Gereja, merupakan salah satu tempat yang tidak boleh dirusak atau diserang tatkala terjadi peperangan. Demikian pula dengan pembebasan Palestina oleh Umar bin Khattab, ia justru membiarkan gereja berdiri dan digunakan oleh masyarakat sekitar untuk beribadah. Lalu mengapa kita yang sangat jauh kadar keimanan dan takwanya dibandingkan dari Rasulullah atau Umar ibn Khattab “sok” lebih mengetahui tentang eksistensi umat lain, bahkan menghakimi mereka secara tidak fair dan legal.

MH