Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The House of Representatives has completed a draft of the so-called religious tolerance bill, which observers claim would threaten the very essence of pluralism a

Jakarta – The GKI Yasmin church congregation, which has been deprived of its place of worship after its church was sealed off, says it is seeking protection from the Nahdlatul Ulama Exe

Human rights organization Setara Institute has urged the House of Representatives to cancel a bill that aims to boost tolerance in the country, arguing that it would instead exacerbate

Jakarta – Members of the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) congregation were again prevented from holding mass as police officers and soldiers blocked access to their seale

November 14, 2011

The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:

Hans David Tampubolon and Theresia Sufa, Jakarta, Bogor – Religious Affairs Deputy Minister Nasaruddin Umar says the government has been slow to resolve religious conflicts, particularl

Emily Rauhala – A year ago Barack Obama returned to Indonesia, where he lived as a boy, as President of the United States.

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Amid various acts of discrimination and the persecution of followers of the Ahmadiyah sect, a UN official says blasphemy should not be categorized as a crime

Jakarta – Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi said that West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan should intervene in the imbroglio involving the GKI Taman Yasmin Church and the Bogor municipal governm

A disabled member of the Indonesian's minority Ahmadiyah religious sect survived a brutal attack by an unknown assailant but had both his ears partially severed with a machete, it was r

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The Golkar Party is maintaining its support for Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto who has already lost the backing of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle in

Rahmat, Makassar – Three members of the hardline Islamic Defenders Front appeared in court in Makassar on Tuesday to answer to charges of assault and property destruction stemming from

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – More political parties are distancing themselves from Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarjo for his intransingence over the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Churc

Vento Saudale, Bogor – One of Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto's former political allies will question him and his administration over the Supreme Court-defying decision to shut the GKI Yasmi

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) says that it has retracted its political support for Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto because he has persi

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – The congregation of the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) was again confronted by Muslim hard-liners outside its place of worship in Bogor,

Vento Saudale, Bogor – Hundreds of men from a local Muslim hard-line group occupied the roadway in front of the GKI Yasmin church on Sunday, forcing congregation members to hold their s

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A new bill drafted to boost religious tolerance in the country may serve as a tool for the government to inhibit religious freedom and foment intolerance,

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – Members of the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) performed their Sunday service under the watchful eyes of the Bogor Police, who earlier managed to s

Camelia Pasandaran & Antara – A proposal for a new law on religious issues that may soon make its way to the House of Representatives has been welcomed by some, but others warn that

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – The Bekasi municipality has officially banned the religious practice of the Ahmadiyah sect on Thursday, a move pluralists deemed as the legitimation of

Index: ASA 21/032/2011

Camelia Pasandaran – The Ombudsman commission on Thursday sent a letter to the president and Supreme Court reporting the Bogor mayor's continued defiance of legal orders to unseal the e

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Rampant religious intolerance in North Sumatra has brought the government's commitment to upholding religious freedom into question, says the North Sumatra Join

Vento Saudale & Ulma Haryanto – The controversy-plagued Yasmin church in Bogor has received a "final ultimatum" from local authorities seeking its relocation.

Jakarta – The moderator of the World Council of Churches, Walter Altman, paid a visit to the embattled GKI Taman Yasmin congregation in Bogor, West Java, on Tuesday.

Vento Saudale – Bogor public order officers violently dispersed worshipers outside the controversy-plagued GKI Yasmin church on Sunday.

Jakarta – "I'll pray for GKI Yasmin so that [the church] will open again and people can pray there. Keep the spirit! Lord Jesus loves GKI Yasmin."

Vatican City – Islamic fundamentalists in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, are attacking Christians with impunity, the head of Indonesian bishops said on Tuesday duri

Index: ASA 21/031/2011

Theresia Sufa, Jakarta – As the Bogor Municipal government remains steadfast against reopening Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI), members of the congregation suffered more

Vento Saudale, Bogor – Sunday prayers at the controversy-plagued GKI Yasmin church in Bogor were obstructed again over the weekend.

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – Members of the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) congregation clashed with officers from the Bogor Public Order office who prohibited them from condu

Bandung – The West Java Pentecost Church Association has accused the Bandung and Sumedang administrations of failing to empower local Christians in conducting religious activities in th

Ulma Haryanto & Nivell Rayda – An Australian human rights researcher detained by Indonesian authorities on Monday remains in detention awaiting what is likely to be her imminent dep

Ulma Haryanto & Nivell Rayda – Prominent Human Rights Watch activist Andreas Harsono and an Australian researcher were taken into custody by police in Sampang, East Java, on Monday

Anita Rachman & Vento Saudale – The Indonesian Ombudsman said on Sunday that it would report the mayor of Bogor to the president for his continued refusal to reopen a church in dire

Yuli Krisna, Bandung – Four statues depicting characters from traditional Javanese puppetry were vandalized and burned on Sunday in Purwakarta, West Java.

Jakarta – Dozens of residents held a demonstration in front of the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) Yasmin on Friday in Bogor, West Java, to express support for Bogor Mayor Diani Budia

Anita Rachman – Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto was criticized by lawmakers on Thursday for employing "misleading" and "sick" logic in his continued defiance of a Supreme Court ruling on the

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Most Indonesians insist on rejecting any form of religiously motivated violence and are worried that recent violent incidents against certain minority religi

Vento Saudale – Human Rights Watch visited the GKI Yasmin church in Bogor on Sunday to make first-hand observations of the congregation conducting its service on the sidewalk due to the

Jakarta – Members of the executive board of the Islamic Student Association (PB HMI) submitted on Saturday a document detailing the dispute between the GKI Yasmin church and the Bogor a

Ronna Nirmala – Most Indonesians oppose the use of violence against the minority Muslim sect Ahmadiyah and think its followers here are their compatriots and should not be facing oppres

Chrestella Tan – For months Deden Sujana had to be treated in a Jakarta hospital.

Elisabeth Oktofani & Fitri – Not all Muslims celebrated Idul Fitri with jubilance and excitement.

Andreas Harsono – On Sunday morning, February 6, 2011, about 1,500 men approached a house in Cikeusik village in West Java, about a seven-hour drive from Jakarta, the capital of Indones

Makassar – The South Sulawesi administration says it forbids members of the Ahmadiyah Muslim community to conduct religious activities during the upcoming Idul Fitri holiday.

Fitri, Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara – Nothing has changed at the Transito shelter in the five and a half years that it has served as home to 138 members of the beleaguered Ahmadiyah Isla

Jakarta – More than 50 percent of Indonesian journalists agreed that the religious sect Ahmadiyah and Playboy magazine should be banned, while sharia and anti-pornography laws should be