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recent study by human rights watchdog Setara Institute reveals that the government has failed to guarantee equal opportunities for followers of minority faiths, despite evidence of stepped up measures to promote and protect human rights in the country.

According to Setara, discrimination against religious minorities was a ticking time bomb that could explode in the near future with the country undergoing political campaigning ahead of the 2014 legislative and presidential elections.

“Religious sentiment could be turned into a strategic option to be used to win over voters in areas of the country where religious issues are sensitive. This is exacerbated by the government’s biased policies in favor of certain groups,” Setara deputy director Bonar Tigor Naipospos said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

In its survey, Setara recorded around 200 discrimination cases against religious minorities nationwide up to October this year. Setara said that annually, an average of 250 cases were reported.

Although in previous years the targets for attacks were largely members of Muslim minority groups like Ahmadis and Shiites, as well as Christians, this year, Buddhists have also been subject to attacks especially in the wake of the conflict between Rakkhine and Rohingya ethnic groups in Myanmar.

“People [especially those with limited access to communications] were told that the country’s Buddhists were responsible for the sufferings of the majority Rohingya Muslims. This apparently stirred the emotions of some Muslims who began attacking Buddhists and their religious symbols here,” Bonar said.

He cited the attack on Kwang Kong Buddhist temple in Makassar during a rally protesting the killing of Rohingya Muslims last August as an example.

Apart from violence against religious groups, Setara expected that discrimination against the country’s indigenous groups would also escalate in the future, following the government’s policy of the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia’s Economic Development (MP3EI).

Setara warned that disputes over land acquisition would mean the government needed to prepare measures to prevent them from turning into violent conflicts.

Setara recommended that to prevent such conflicts, the government must take initiatives such as providing land certificates for local people, particularly those who control customary lands to avoid their rights being trampled on for the sake of “economic development”.

Setara’s study also found that failure to resolve past rights abuses, including the communist purge in 1965, would continue to encumber the government.

“So, it is urgent for the government to amend the Law No. 26/2000 on human rights courts,” Setara director Hendardi said.

Hendardi also highlighted the importance of amending Law No. 39/1999 on human rights to strengthen the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), which many see as lacking the authority to force the government into following its recommendations or bringing alleged rights abusers to testify.

Komnas HAM has recently submitted a draft amendment to the human rights law to the House of Representatives Legislative Body (Baleg).

The House has said it will give priority to the deliberation of the draft next year.