Jakarta – A survey by human rights watchdog Setara Institute has found that West Java was the least tolerant province in 2011, registering the largest number of religious violence cases

Panca Nugraha, Mataram – A community of Ahmadis living in a village in West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, are still fearing for their future both as workers and citizens of their country,

Irawaty Wardani, Jakarta – Representatives of the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) Yasmin congregation were disappointed Friday as high-ranking government officials did not attend a me

Ezra Sihite & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The House of Representatives has bowed to calls by several lawmakers to hold a meeting to discuss the controversial case of the GKI Yasmin c

Camelia Pasandaran – A statue of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in a cave sacred to many millions of Indonesian Catholics has been beheaded less than ten days before Christmas, a senior chu

The central government is proposing an alternative solution to end the GKI Taman Yasmin church-closure case by offering the church options to move to a new location provided by the loca

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Demonstrators representing 27 Muslim groups rallied in Bandung on Monday, demanding that the West Java governor remove the Garut regency secretary for his al

Fitri, Mataram – Hundreds of villagers in East Lombok have attacked and set alight a hut used by a small group deemed to be a deviant sect, forcing police to evacuate and save the sect

Vento Saudale – The continued blockade of the GKI Yasmin church in Bogor by the local administration and hard-line Muslims has drawn the ire of the World Council of Churches, which warn

Theresia Sufa, Jakarta – President of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev.

Bayu Marhaenjati – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stressed on Sunday the importance of preserving religious harmony in Indonesia and condemned religious groups' intimidation of othe

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – The Golkar Party and the Democratic Party factions at the Bogor Legislative Council (DPRD) support Mayor Diani Budiarto's stance to keep GKI Taman Yasmi

Ulma Haryanto – Islamic hardliners rallied in front of the Bogor City administration on Wednesday in support of the mayor's internationally condemned decision to revoke a building permi

Vento Saudale, Bogor – Hundreds of hard-line Muslims rallied outside the Bogor City Hall on Sunday to decry the "arrogance" of a beleaguered church in the city that remains shuttered by

Theresia Sufa, Bogor, West Java – Two groups engaged in a scuffle on Sunday, hurling verbal abuse at each other in defending their position over whether the Bogor municipal administrati

Vento Saudale & Ronna Nirmala, Bogor – The conflict over the GKI Yasmin church has dragged on for so long that West Bogor residents have formed a group and taken to the streets to u

Andreas D. Arditya, Jakarta – The Jakarta administration denies any religious predilection in sealing off an Ahmadiyah mosque in East Jakarta this week.

Jakarta – East Jakarta officials sealed off a mosque belonging to a group of Ahmadiyah followers in Duren Sawit on Thursday, saying that the place of worship violated zoning regulations

Vento Saudale, Bogor – It's been almost a year since he was found guilty of falsifying signatures in a case that led to the troubles of the embattled GKI Yasmin Church, but local reside

Supreme Court Chief Justice Harifin Andi Tumpa has told Bogor's controversial mayor Diani Budiarto to stop making excuses and implement a ruling to lift a ban on the GKI Yasmin church.

Novia D.

A United States government commission has called on US President Barack Obama to speak out against Indonesia's growing religious intolerance when he meets President Susilo Bambang Yudho

Human Rights Watch on Wednesday urged United States President Barack Obama to tackle Indonesia's leaders during his visit this week on issues including outbreaks of mob violence against

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

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 – Vigilante groups in Bekasi, West Java, issued a threatening warning to the local Ahmadiyah community on Monday, claiming that the followers of the Islamic sect had not abided

Ulma Haryanto – A draft bill on religious harmony being prepared at the House of Representatives is likely to promote intolerance rather than counter it, a human rights watchdog said on

Ulma Haryanto – More than 30 people claiming to be from the notorious Islamic Defenders Front besieged an Ahmadiyah mosque in the Jatibening area of Bekasi on Monday, demanding it be se

November 14, 2011

The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:

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

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

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

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 – 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,

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,

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

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

Index: ASA 21/032/2011

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

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