SETARA Institute: 221 Religious Freedom Violations Recorded in 2025
Jakarta — The SETARA Institute released findings on religious freedom and belief (KBB) violations in Indonesia throughout 2025, documenting 221 incidents of violations affecting 239 victims.
Executive Director Halili Hasan stated in Jakarta on Wednesday that whilst the figure represented a slight decrease from 260 incidents in 2024, the scale and impact of 2025 violations demonstrated that the state had not yet made substantive progress towards protecting religious freedom.
“One key contextual factor driving consistently high numbers of KBB violations over the past five years is the persistence of discriminatory and intolerant regulations targeting minority groups, particularly Christian and Catholic communities, and the Ahmadiyah congregation. These regulations continue to restrict the freedom of minority groups to practise their religious teachings and rituals,” Halili said.
Halili noted a strengthened contribution of violations by non-state actors, indicating that religious freedom violations no longer stem solely from structural breaches by state apparatus and institutions, but had become normalised at grassroots level.
Human rights researcher and security sector reform specialist Ikhsan Yosarie observed that non-state actor violations occurred across a wide spectrum, ranging from soft forms such as intolerance to extreme violence.
“The forced closure of a religious retreat in Cidahu, Sukabumi District, West Java, and attacks on a Christian prayer house in Padang Sarai, West Sumatra, exemplify how intolerance has become internalised in society,” Ikhsan said.
SETARA recommended that the President demonstrate strong leadership in guaranteeing religious freedom rights for all citizens, consistent with the 1945 Constitution. The institute called for accelerated preparation of a presidential regulation on maintaining religious harmony (PKUB) to replace the 2006 decree, ensuring the substance strengthens rights protection rather than maintaining social veto mechanisms against minority religious groups.
The President should also initiate review and repeal of all central and regional regulations that are discriminatory and restrict minority religious groups’ freedom, including those affecting the Ahmadiyah community and other minorities.
The Religious Affairs Ministry should initiate early detection and preventive intervention against religion-based violence, particularly in educational settings. Law enforcement agencies must apply consistent and non-selective prosecution of perpetrators of religiously motivated violence.
Government should ensure academic spaces remain protected from censorship and cancellation of activities based on particular community groups. Finally, parliament and regional legislatures should promote harmonisation of discriminatory regulations and ensure legislation aligns with non-discrimination principles.