Background
The Indonesian democracy, still fresh from its implantation within the last 15 years, is frequently
lauded by world leaders and media. Former US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said “If you
want to know whether Islam, democracy, modernity and women’s rights can coexist, go to
Indonesia” (1). A 2014 New York Times headline read “In Southeast Asia, Indonesia Is an
Unlikely Role Model for Democracy.” The international community stated that the recent
presidential election of carpenter Joko Widodo reaffirmed Indonesian democracy’s strength. But
is Indonesian democracy as successful as many claim? At least in terms of religious
discrimination and other human rights violations Indonesia still gets a failing grade.
Newly elected President Joko Widodo
Religious Discrimination
In 2011, three members of an offshoot of Islam known as Ahmadiyya were brutally murdered.
They were beaten to death in the street because of their religious beliefs (3). In 2010 a mob
attempted to attack a mosque used by members of the Ahmadiyya sect. One Muslim belonging to
the Ahmadiyya offshoot describes being stripped naked and beaten with a machete at his neck.
He was then dragged down the street (4). The government has done little, if anything to stop
religious discrimination. In 2008 a nationwide decree was signed stating that anyone of the
Ahmadiyya religion could be prosecuted for, “the spreading of the belief that there is another
prophet with his own teachings after Prophet Mohammed,” as well as, “stop spreading
interpretations and activities which deviate from the principal teachings of Islam”(5). The
national government said the legislation was to help prevent violence against the sect, but local
governments have used it to pass their own legislation. Additionally, according to Human Rights
Watch, not only the Ahmadiyya sect but also Christians and Shia Muslims are targeted
consistently in Indonesia (6).
Police walk by a burnt Ahmadiyya mosque
Other Questionable Practices
In the last few days, reports out of Indonesia tell of “two-finger virginity tests” for aspiring
female police officers. Already, Indonesia only allows unmarried women under the age of 23 to
enlist. Now it is also clear that Indonesia only allows virgins, and their method for determining
virginity is crude and degrading. A 19 year old woman who underwent the examination recalls
how she was made to remove all her clothes in front of strangers and lie on a table as the doctor
gave the “two-finger” test. The woman called it “humiliating” and “discriminatory” (7). Who can
disagree? In my eyes, this is not successful democracy.
Female Indonesian police officers
Why? And How Should Indonesia Proceed?
It seems to me that the central cause of discrimination is a failure to uphold the rule of law. The
Indonesian Constitution specifically states that “Every person shall be free to choose and to
practice the religion of his/her choice” (8). While discriminatory legislation does still exist, most
of it is on a small scale like a citywide law. The biggest factor in discrimination, according to
Elaine Pearson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch in Asia, is that "Indonesia has often
failed to successfully prosecute crimes targeting religious minorities, exacerbating a culture of
violent persecution” (9). For example, when 3 Ahmadiyya men were brutally murdered in 2011,
their attackers were handed prison sentences of only 4-6 months (1). President Widodo should
take a hardline stance against religious discrimination, but at the end of the day, local
governments and law enforcement must uphold the rule of law.
Sources
1. Harsono, Andreas. “No Model for Muslim Democracy.” The New York Times, 21 May 2012.
2. Cochrane, Joe. “In Southeast Asia, Indonesia Is an Unlikely Role Model for Democracy.” The
New York Times, 4 Sept. 2014.
3. Shishkin, Philip. "The Persecution of Indonesia's Ahmadi Muslims." Newsweek, 13 Feb.
2011. Web.
4. Rogers, Benedict. “Indonesia's Rising Religious Intolerance.” The New York Times, 21 May
2012. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
5. Robertson, Phil. “Indonesia: Guarantee Freedom of Religion and Stop Attacks on Ahmadiyah |
Human Rights Watch.” Human Rights Watch, 3 Nov. 2010.
6. “Indonesia: Religious Minorities Targets of Rising Violence.” Human Rights Watch, 28 Feb.
2013.
7. McKirdy, Euan and Kathy Quiano. “Indonesia's 'discriminatory, cruel and degrading' test for
female police recruits.” CNN, 19 Nov. 2014.
8. “The 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.” International Labour Organization.
9. Pearson, Elaine. “Indonesia’s growing religious intolerance has to be addressed.” The
Guardian. 5 Feb. 2014.
COMMENTS
1. How would you suggest Indonesia go about improving how the law enforcement and local
governments uphold the law? Is it necessary for the country to create a stronger judicial branch
to review the actions of the legislative and executive branches, or is there a different system in
place that is supposed to ensure that officials uphold the law? Why should they obey the Indonesian
Constitution if there is no consequence for violating the people's rights specified in the document? You
quoted the Constitution saying that "every person shall be free to choose and to practice the religion of
his/her choice," but does the government have a system to ensure that this right is protected? By this I
mean, are the violations of human rights because of the lack of a system of accountability or simply
because the system is too weak?
Thanks!
Frances
2.
Based on your evidence, I very much agree that a number of aspects of Indonesia’s democracy
are failing, but your procedures for what Indonesia should do are not the way to go. You said: “President
Widodo should take a hardline stance against religious discrimination, but at the end of the day, local
governments and law enforcement must uphold the rule of law.” I agree with the first statement, that
President Widodo should take a strong stance against religious discrimination and human rights
violations. However, I think the national government needs to be the focus for enforcing legislation. The
problem with just letting local governments and local law enforcement in charge of enforcing laws is
that they have the power to enforce or not enforce whatever they want. In the US, for example, juries in
the south would be composed of all white members, so they could rule unfairly and not give all the
citizens all their rights. We have also seen a number of examples of lack of national enforcement leading
to nothing happening. One example of this was in schools in the 1900s in the US. The case of Brown v.
Board of Education ordered the desegregation of schools in 1954, yet many states didn’t desegregate
their schools for a while longer because of the local racist enforcement in power. Without the help of
the national government, minorities can be overpowered and have their rights taken away, which is not
the goal of democracy. In Indonesia, the central government needs to extend its power to enforce its
laws and protect religious freedom and human rights, because just telling local governments what they
need to do will not help the citizens or the power of the national government.
- Solomon
3. I knew that Indonesia has massively violated human rights in the past, as in their brutal war against
East Timor's independence in the 1970s and 1980s. The cases that you brought to my attention were all
new to me. Thank you for that. The most compelling components were the story about the Ahmadiyya
and your analysis that the cause of the problems is "The failure to uphold the rule of law." It does make
a difference when the highest law of the land sets out a right versus when discrimination is woven into
that highest law. (For example, Brown v Board of Education only succeeded in America thanks to the
14th Amendment.) The quotation from Pearson at Human Rights Watch in Asia is your strongest piece. I
would be very interested to see some sort of graph showing the scale of violence and discrimination
over time. I wish Pres. Widodo well. He seems to be a true reformer who will take these issues to heart.
- Rich