Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – The violence that followed the massive rally in Jakarta, on Friday, has prompted activists to renew calls for the government to review the obsolete 1965 Blasphemy Law.
Despite such pressure, the government appears to wish to uphold the draconian law for the sake of preserving social order among religious groups, but with few efforts made to improve the mechanism to protect minorities.
The law was used by Islamic hard-liners to mobilize tens of thousands of Muslims from different regions to rally against Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama.
They accuse Ahok, a Christian, of committing blasphemy when he cited a Quran verse during an official visit to Thousand Islands regency in September.
During the massive rally calling for Ahok's prosecution on Friday several protesters were seen carrying black posters stating "Blasphemy is a threat to democracy".
"The government has tried to accommodate majority interests in order to protect social cohesiveness, but in reality, violations against religious freedom have increased and the problem is [intolerant groups] often refer to the Blasphemy Law when acting," researcher Wahyudi Djafar from the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) told The Jakarta Post.
In 2010, the Constitutional Court rejected a judicial challenge seeking to repeal the law. However, in the ruling, the court's justices acknowledged that the law should be revised. Six years have passed, however, and neither the government nor legislators have made significant efforts at revision.
"The recent case against Ahok has also shown that the Blasphemy Law and Article 156 of the Criminal Code have rather problematic elements when they come to implementation," he said
Article 156 of the Criminal Code (KUHP) stipulates that those found guilty of publicly displaying hostility, hatred or contempt toward a group of people could face a maximum prison sentence of five years.
Human rights group Imparsial's deputy director Gufron Mabruri said the 1965 law had also become a major problem in upholding freedom of belief because "it is used [by pressure groups] to increase intolerance among the public".
Ahmadiyah and Shia believers have also been subject to repeated attacks. The Ahmadis, who are considered heretics, have faced numerous types of discrimination ranging from the closing of mosques to being denied public services.
In June last year, Banda Aceh District Court found six members of the controversial Fajar Nusantara Movement (Gafatar) guilty of blasphemy and sentenced them to between three and four years in prison for defaming Islam by claiming local preacher Ahmad Musadeq was a prophet.
Musadeq, founder of Al-Qiyadah Al-Islamiyah and the leader of Gafatar, was himself sentenced to four years in prison in 2008 by the South Jakarta District Court.
The UN Human Rights Council's quadrennial Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2012 recommended that Indonesia amend or revoke laws and regulations that "banned religious freedom", including the Blasphemy Law and the 2008 joint ministerial decree on the Ahmadiyah.
Indonesia is expected to have a hard time during the third session of the UPR, set to be held in Geneva in May 2017, after a group of NGOs submitted a report detailing the government's poor job in protecting human rights in the country.