News

COVID-19 has already infected Indonesia, with Jakarta being the epicenter of the spread (Taher, 2020). As of this writing, the number of positive cases in the country has reached 1.046, with 87 patients died and 46 patients recovered. Aside from these numbers, there are people categorized as monitored persons (Orang dalam Pemantauan/ODP) and monitored patients (Pasien dalam Pengawasan/PDP). Unfortunately, COVID-19 has ... Read More »

Jakarta. Alleged racism and police brutality against Papuan students in East Java on Saturday triggered violent protests in cities in Indonesia’s two easternmost provinces on Monday. Police said false information about officers killing Papuan students during raids in Malang and Surabaya went viral over the weekend, triggering public anger in their hometowns. Police maintain that no Papuan students had been arrested ... Read More »

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Human rights advocacy group Setara Institute urged President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to establish a national legislation center following many findings of regional regulation and legal products that promote intolerance. In a survey held from September 2018 until February 2019, Setara found many regional regulations promoting intolerance passed by provincial, regency, or city administration. “This research proves that the existence of discriminatory regional regulation is a ... Read More »

Many people have been concerned about a general rise in religious intolerance throughout Indonesia over the last few years, and the Setara Institute has been carefully documenting specific incidents in which religious freedoms have been violated to highlight which areas of the archipelago have become the most problematic. According to the Indonesia-based NGO, which conducts research and advocacy on democracy, ... Read More »

Jakarta. Jakarta ranked at the bottom of the list of tolerant cities in Indonesia, due to a rise in religion-based identity politics prior to, during and after this year’s gubernatorial election, research by human rights group, the Setara Institute, showed on Thursday (16/11). The 2017 Index of Tolerant Cities is based on a study carried out in 94 cities nationwide between ... Read More »

JAKARTA, Indonesia — On a tree-lined side street in the Indonesian capital sits a colonial-era Protestant church with rustic wooden pews and stained-glass windows, and an antique pipe organ built into a large wall behind the altar. Across the street is a modern, 100,000-square-foot mosque with towering arches at its entrances and a cavernous prayer area laid wall-to-wall with red ... Read More »

JAKARTA, Indonesia — On a tree-lined side street in the Indonesian capital sits a colonial-era Protestant church with rustic wooden pews and stained-glass windows, and an antique pipe organ built into a large wall behind the altar. Across the street is a modern, 100,000-square-foot mosque with towering arches at its entrances and a cavernous prayer area laid wall-to-wall with red ... Read More »

According to media reports, Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs is poised to toughen the country’s blasphemy laws, expanding the definition of blasphemy. And that does not bode well for religious minorities in the world’s most populace Muslim-majority country. In addition, the government is considering lengthening the maximum sentence for blasphemy to six years in prison from the current five. The ... Read More »

A new survey conducted by the Ministry of Education and Culture found a surprising number of students supported ISIS and the implementation of nationwide Sharia Law. Tolerance is losing ground in Indonesia’s public schools. The Ministry of Education and Culture surveyed students, teachers, and principals in four schools, two public, two private, about their views on pluralism, diversity, and religious ... Read More »

Govt aims to implement measures to ensure Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia members lose hard-line tag, adopt national ideology The Indonesian government says it intends to re-educate members of a recently dissolved hard-line Muslim group that wants to turn the country into a caliphate. Soedarmo, director-general of politics and public administration at the Ministry of Home Affairs, said something need to be ... Read More »

Hundreds of students in Yogyakarta have conveyed their pledge to uphold tolerance and maintain unity amid growing religious tension and sectarianism. In Bantul, a headmaster of a state high school was reported to have refused to support issues related to tolerance and Pancasila. It was also reported that he initially refused to send his school’s students to attend the Declaration ... Read More »