26 Nov Policing Vigilantism againts Religious Minorities in Indonesia
Paper presented at Conference on “Pluralism vs Intolerance,” Centre for Democratic Institutions, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, November 26, 2012.
(Please, do not to be cited without permission)
Human rights institutes in Indonesia report an increase of incidents of sectarian and interreligious conflict in Indonesia. These include attacks against followers of Ahmadiya (in Lombok Island and in Pandeglang) and Shi`ah (in Sampang, Madura), indicating that sectarian conflict or conflict between different sects within one religion is an increasingly important type of conflict in Indonesia. Another type of conflict involves members of different religions, mostly over places of worship, especially churches. Salient incidents include the Yasmin church in Bogor and Filadelfia church in Bekasi. These conflicts create headlines in the media, attract the attention of researchers and observers, and illustrate the challenges of pluralism and religious diversity in Indonesia. In dealing with incidents of attacks and vigilantism against religious minorities, human rights organizations criticized the police for weak and belated responses, and for passively watching such incidents without taking firm action (Freedom House 2010).
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