Melissa Crouch

Law and Religion in Indonesia: The Constitutional Court and the Blasphemy Law

A growing number of religious minorities have been prosecuted for the criminal offence of ‘insulting a religion’, specifically Islam, in Indonesia. Both local and international human rights organisations have condemned the perceived misuse of what is widely referred to in Indonesia as the ‘Blasphemy Law’. This article will analyse the application for judicial review of the Blasphemy Law, which was submitted to the Indonesian Constitutional Court in 2009. It will critique the various submissions made to the court and analyse the historic decision of the judiciary, which upheld the validity of the Blasphemy Law. In doing this, it will explore how the relationship between law and religion, particularly Islam, has been debated, negotiated and articulated in democratic Indonesia

Implementing the Regulation on Places of Worship in Indonesia: New Problems, Local Politics and Court Action

Abstract This article examines the local implementation of the national Joint Regulation 2006 on places of worship in Indonesia. It focuses on the case study of the Protestant Christian Batak Congregation, which became one of the first churches to successfully challenge the authority of a local leader to cancel its permit to build a church. I begin by exploring the history of the regulation of permits for places of worship in Indonesia and the various proposals for law reform that have been put forward since 1998. I then outline the provisions of the new Joint Regulation and highlight the ongoing problems for religious minorities at the local level because of the failure of local authorities to implement the national regulation. I will demonstrate how religious minorities are challenging the decisions of local authorities by complaining to independent watchdogs, taking court action and using the political process. In conclusion, I argue that the Protestant Christian Batak Congregation court case is part of a broader trend for local authorities to use conflict over places of worship as an opportunity for political gain in the highly competitive political atmosphere since the downfall of Suharto in 1998.

Asia-Pacific: Ahmadiyah in Indonesia: A History of Religious Tolerance under Threat?

Indonesia is a multi-religious society with a long history of religious tolerance. Ahmadiyah, a minority religious community that identifies with Islam, has existed peacefully in Indonesia for over 80 years. The Ahmadiyah community in Indonesia, however, is increasingly under threat of attack by radical Islamic groups, and there are ongoing demands from conservative Islamic groups that the state implement further legal restrictions on Ahmadis. An analysis of the recent decision of the Constitutional Court on what is known as Indonesia’s ‘Blasphemy Law’ will show the ongoing risk of Ahmadis being convicted for blasphemy, in addition to threats and violent attacks from radical Muslims.

The Yogyakarta Local Ombudsman: Promoting Good Governance Through Local Support

The Yogyakarta Ombudsman was established in 2005 as the first Local Ombudsman in Indonesia. Its introduction forms part of the democratic reforms aimed at tackling the problem of corruption within the bureaucracy. This article examines the Local Ombudsman’s first year of operation, and asks whether it is addressing corruption and promoting good governance as hoped.

Law and Religion in Indonesia : Conflict and the courts in West Java

1. Introdcution Part 1: Context 2. Hostility to Christian Activities: Origins and Policies 3. Religious Ideology, Representation and Reform Part 2: Legal Case Studies 4. Child Protection and Limits on Proselytization 5. Conflict over Sacred Sites 6. Insulting a Religion 7. Conclusion

Asian Legal Transplants and Rule of Law Reform: National Human Rights Commission in Myanmar and Indonesia

The adoption of public accountability institutions has become a crucial aspect of rule of law projects worldwide. This article focuses on National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in order to explore the process by which such legal models and ideas are adopted and borrowed from global actors, and the reliance on regional and sub-regional networks. Through case studies of Indonesia and Myanmar, it examines several possible meanings and sources of ‘Asian legal transplants’, particularly the role of regional networks as sources of legitimacy. It argues that the sub-regional NHRI network in Southeast Asia has evolved as an alternative site of legitimacy, and that the extent to which a NHRI in Southeast Asia may rely on it depends not only on the regime it operates under, but also on the relative position of the NHRI within the regional network.

Constructing Religion by Law in Myanmar

S ince 2011 the transition to a quasi-civilian government, a slate of legal reforms have seemed urgent, none more surprising and prominent than legislative reform on religion. Yet these laws come in the wake of serious anti-Muslim violence, and may have the effect of further restricting the behavior and activities of non-Buddhists. This article examines the relation between religion and law in Myanmar more broadly, and questions how law has been used by the state to construct the idea of religion and “acceptable” religious practice. It seeks to demonstrate that law has influenced the way religion is practiced and understood in Myanmar, shaping both relations between religious communities and the state, and relations between Buddhist and non-Buddhist communities. There are three areas where law has been used to regulate and limit religious life and practice in Myanmar since independence. The first area is personal law and inter-religious relations as regulated by statute and case law. The second realm is constitutional law and the role of religion in public life. The third area is the control of the Sangha through the legal regulation of disputes and education, and the application of criminal law. The way in which the state has engaged with each of these issues has changed over time and been tightened by successive socialist and military regimes. This has led to an instrumental relationship between law and religion in contemporary Myanmar. I demonstrate that the use of law as a control on religious affairs promotes a religion of legality, where the state uses law to redefine the parameters and legality of religion in Myanmar.

Proselytization, Religious Diversity and the State in Indonesia: The Offense of Deceiving a Child to Change Religion

Since independence in 1945, the Indonesian government has attempted to regulate and control religious diversity. In 1946, a Ministry of Religion was established, and by 1965, a Presidential Decision was passed that is widely understood to have officially sanctioned six religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, although a diverse range of religions and beliefs outside these are permitted to exist. Of these six religions, it is Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism that are recognized in Indonesia as “missionary” religions that aim to proselytize. The Ministry of Religion has the role of overseeing and regulating the religious affairs of these religions, including issuing guidelines or limits on proselytization. This chapter will argue, however, that in reality the regulations that have been created favor the religious majority. These regulations largely target and disadvantage Christians as members of the only other recognized religion in Indonesia, aside from Islam, that is considered to be a “missionary” or “proselytizing” religion.

The Expansion of Emergency Powers: Social Conflict and the Military in Indonesia

Abstract The exercise of emergency powers is always controversial. This article identifies the expansion of the type and scope of emergency powers through legislative reform. It does so by examining the Indonesian Law on Social Conflict 2012, which allows a state of social conflict to be declared at the national, regional or local level in response to social conflict, such as conflict between religious or ethnic communities. The deliberate choice of the term “state of social conflict”, rather than “state of emergency”, is an attempt to obscure the nature of these powers. Analysis of these powers and the debate that has ensued suggests that the law expands the types of situation in which powers usually only reserved for an emergency are used, and by delegating this power to local authorities, the law in effect amounts to the expansion of emergency powers. I suggest that this should lead to renewed focus on meaningful limits and checks on the exercise of power during times of emergency.

Shifting conceptions of state regulation of religion: the Indonesian Draft Law on Inter-religious Harmony

This article seeks to understand how and why states regulate the activities or affairs of religious communities. It does so through a case study of the Indonesian Draft Law on Inter-religious Harmony. The article draws out three general considerations to the study of the dynamics of state regulation of religious affairs: situating modern state approaches to the regulation of religion in historical context; recognizing the framework within which state and religion is structured; and acknowledging the influence of legal norms other than state law. The Indonesian Draft Law on Inter-religious Harmony addresses key debates between Muslims and Christians and within Islam, and it draws upon existing policies of the Ministry of Religion and also of the fatwa of the Indonesian Ulama Council. The shift in state attempts to regulate religion is therefore related to the dynamic and contested nature of the relationship between the branches of government and religious authorities in democratic Indonesia.