Indonesia has progressed in religious freedom: U.S.

Indonesia has progressed in religious freedom: U.S.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia made progress in promoting respect for religious
freedom, but in a number of cases the government failed to punish
extremists responsible for murder and other crimes.

This was the view expressed in a yearend report on Indonesia
issued by the United States, part of the International Religious
Freedom Report 2003 released on Thursday. Covering the period of
July 1 2002 to June 30 this year, it was compiled by the Bureau
of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under the Department of
State and is accessible on
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2003.

"The government made considerable progress in some areas, such
as reducing interreligious violence in the Maluku islands and
Central Sulawesi, and arresting and prosecuting terrorists and
religious extremists for carrying out religiously motivated
attacks," the report said. "However, in several cases the
government failed to hold religious extremists responsible for
murder and other crimes."

The report was compiled in line with the U.S. 1998
International Religious Freedom Act, which instructs the
Secretary of State to submit such a report to Congress. The
report's summary states that religious freedom is a "central
tenet of U.S. foreign policy."

The Indoenesia report said that while the death toll fell
particularly in the Maluku islands, localized incidents of
interreligious violence continued in Maluku and Central Sulawesi.

In the promotion of religious freedom the progress cited was
the "cracking down on terrorists and other extremists who carried
out attacks in the name of religion".

"After members of Jamaah Islamiyah ("Islamic Community" or
JI), a terrorist organization committed to the goal of creating
an Islamic super-state in Southeast Asia, bombed two nightclubs
in Bali on Oct. 12, 2002 ... the government aggressively tracked
down and arrested at least 32 individuals."

However there were "some setbacks for respect for religious
freedom".

"The government did not prosecute Laskar Jihad members who had
killed and terrorized Christians in the Malukus and Central
Sulawesi, and allowed them to return to their homes, mostly in
Java, without legal recriminations," the report said.

It cited the arrest of Laskar Jihad's chief, Jafar Umar
Thalib, who was charged with inciting religious violence and two
other relatively minor offenses. On Jan. 30 he was acquitted.

The report noted that the government generally respects the
provisions cited in the Constitution that provides "all persons
the right to worship according to his or her own religion or
belief". Yet there are "some restrictions on certain types of
religious activity and on unrecognized religions," it said,
citing difficulties in gaining identity cards among minorities.

On "notable advances in interreligious tolerance and
cooperation" the report cited that "In the first half of 2003
many Muslims and Christians in Maluku and Central Sulawesi worked
together to repair mosques and churches".

However, "Increasingly, hard-line religious groups used
pressure, intimidation, or violence to silence those whose
message they found offensive".

It cited that in August 2002, Majelis Mujahiddin Indonesia
prompted a private television network to stop airing a commercial
that featured the phrase "Colorful Islam," aimed at promoting
tolerance and diversity. The group said the ad insulted Islam.

The report also pointed out that "Islamic hard-liners
sometimes criticized, threatened, or attacked other Muslims who
held a more moderate view of the faith".

There were "strong indications" that many attacks on
entertainment sites such as nightclubs "were linked to extortion
and kickback schemes, rather than to religious motives".

The report also noted efforts by some political parties to
amend the Constitution to adopt sharia nationwide.

The proposal was voted down. However the approval by the
People's Consultative Assembly to change the Constitution to
include a mandate that the government increase "faith and piety"
in education set the scene for a controversial education bill
that was passed in June, the report said.