Jakarta – Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned the National Police for "tolerating" hate crimes in South Sulawesi during the attack on an Ahmadiyah congregation recently.

"The Indonesian Police may have thought they were taking the Ahmadiyah out of harm's way, but they let the mob go on a rampage," Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at HRW said Thursday. "The authorities need to send a message that hate crimes won't be tolerated by prosecuting those responsible."

On Jan. 28, police "evacuated" members of an Ahmadiyah congregation from their mosque in Makassar, South Sulawesi, amid increasingly threatening protests by members of the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI). The FPI later attacked the mosque, destroying property and breaking windows.

Pearson added that police should arrest those responsible for the attack, as well as protect vulnerable religious minorities throughout the country.

She asserted that the attack on the Ahmadiyah community underscored a troubling trend in Indonesia.

"Religious extremists are harassing religious minorities, particularly members of the Ahmadiyah community, and law enforcement officials are failing to hold those responsible to account."

The Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, a Jakarta-based group working on religious freedom, recorded 50 attacks in 2010 against Ahmadiyah followers.