Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The number of blasphemy cases soared during former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's era, leaving a lot of work to do for the new government in protecti

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has left a lot of work to do for the new government in relation to blasphemy prosecutions.

Bastiaan Scherpen, Jakarta – Slamming a skyrocketing rate of convictions based on questionable interpretations of a half-century old blasphemy law during the presidency of Susilo Bamban

Ansyor Idrus and Ina Parlina, Palembang – The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has supported a recent call from Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo to allow people who do not belong to one of the

Jakarta – Residents of Pontianak in West Kalimantan who do not list their religion on identification cards will not be allowed to access public services, the city's deputy mayor has sai

Margareth S.

Adelia Putri Anjani & Robertus Wardhi, Jakarta – Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo waded in to a heated debate after suggesting that people have the option of leaving the religion

Jakarta – Politicians from Islamic-based political parties have opposed the government's decision to grant the wish of people to have the religion column on their ID cards left blank.

Margareth S.

Jakarta – Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said on Thursday that he intended to allow the followers of religions that are not formally recognized by the state to leave the religion f

Margareth S.

Vento Saudale, Bogor – Since 2012, the congregation of Bogor's GKI Yasmin church has held prayer meetings outside the State Palace, to remind the government of the fact that their house

Adelia Anjani Putri, Jakarta – The lone minister to survive the cut in President Joko Widodo's cabinet from the previous administration has unveiled plans to draft a bill that would aff

Margareth S.

Jakarta – Representatives of Muhammadiyah, one of the largest Muslim organizations in the country, testified on Wednesday at the Constitutional Court that Islam did not recognize interf

Slamet Susanto, Sleman,Yogyakarta – Judges at Sleman District Court in Yogyakarta sentenced pesantren (Islamic boarding school) caretaker Abdul Kholik to three months in jail on Thursda

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Amid increasing calls to disband the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) for its record of violence, the hard-line Islamic group was permitted to present arguments during

Jakarta – The Indonesian government has sided with Islamic hard-liners in requesting the Constitutional Court throw out a challenge to the 1974 Marriage Law by petitioners seeking recog

Jakarta – Entering the last days of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's term in office, rights group the Setara Institute has highlighted his failure in promoting and defending harmony

Jakarta – Human rights activists have called on president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla to crack down on rising intolerance in the country as soon as t

Margareth S.

Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, Jakarta – Indonesia's recently appointed religious affairs minister said on Friday that he would start a dialogue with the hard-line group that rejects GKI Yasmi

Bambang Muryanto, Sleman, Yogyakarta – Five witnesses in a religious violence case in Sleman regency, Yogyakarta, failed to show up at the Sleman District Court on Monday.

Kennial Caroline Laia & Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – Five people filed a petition for a judicial review at the Constitutional Court on Thursday that, if successful, would legalize inter

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) plans to summon president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla to demand th

Margareth S.

Jakarta – The Setara Institute announced on Monday that this year's elections had reduced the number of violations against religious minorities, as people channeled their religious prej

Dina Manafe, Jakarta – The number of violations of religious freedom in Indonesia has decreased dramatically in the first half of the year, a watchdog said on Monday, adding however tha

Jakarta – The Indonesian Baha'i Society thanked the government on Thursday for officially recognizing the monotheistic faith as a religion, after Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim

Josua Gantan, Jakarta – The US State Department's 2013 Report on International Religious Freedom accuses the Indonesian government of having failed to ensure religious freedom in the na

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi defended on Monday the recent move by local authorities to prohibit hundreds of internally displaced Shia from returning to their home

Ina Parlina and Margareth S.

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – The Sleman regency administration in Yogyakarta province has brokered a peace agreement between the heads of the El Shaddai Pentecostal Church and Muslim

Arya Dipa, Bandung – Hundreds of Muslims from grassroots and marginalized communities joined breaking of the fast events held recently at two separate churches in Bandung, West Java, as

Arya Dipa, Bandung – The Indonesian Ahmadi Congregation (JAI) on Friday unsealed Nur Khilafat Mosque in Ciamis, West Java, which was had been closed by the regency's Public Order Agency

Jakarta – The National Police replaced on Friday Yogyakarta Police chief Brig. Gen. Haka Astana Mantika Widya with Brig. Gen.

The closure of an Ahmadiyya place of worship by local authorities in West Java is a disturbing and arbitrary move, and just the latest example of ongoing repression of religious minorit

Arya Dipa, Bandung – The Ciamis regency administration in West Java banned members of the Ahmadiyah community from undertaking religious activities at Nur Khilafat Mosque in Ciamis on T

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – While the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa ticket is embracing firebrand groups in its coalition, the Joko "Jokowi" Widodo-Jusuf Kalla ticket says it will enfor

Jakarta – Jakarta Acting Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said that he supported the removal of religion status from Indonesia's national identity card, or KTP, after a member of Indones

SP/Carlos Paath, Jakarta – The campaign team of presidential candidate Joko Widodo said that Joko would remove the designation of religion on the national identity card to prevent discr

Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – Yogyakarta Police have named the pastor of the beleaguered El Shaddai Pentacostal Church a suspect over an alleged building permit violation after an angry

Index: ASA 21/016/2014

Bambang Muryanto – One hard-line group allegedly involved in violent acts in Yogyakarta is the Islamic Jihad Front (FJI).

Sri Wahyuni and Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – Yogyakarta's reputation as a city of tolerance for people of all religions is slipping.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI) has called on the next government to step up efforts to safeguard religious freedom through legal means.

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – The government bears responsibility for the rise of religious intolerance across the archipelago over the past few years, according to Christian Solidarit

Sri Wahyuni and Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – Muslim leaders and activists in Yogyakarta have expressed regret over the preaching of cleric Ja'far Umar Thalib on Sunday that focused on

Bambang Muryanto and Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta – Preacher Ja'far Umar Thalib whose followers have been linked to alleged religion-based conflict, told Muslims in a Yogyakarta mosque on Su

Ainur Rohmah, Semarang – Religious intolerance is an ongoing problem in Central Java, as the province saw several cases of religious-based violence in the first six months of 2014, said