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Discriminatory laws, impunity worsen Indonesia’s human rights situation: HRW
The human rights group urged President Prabowo Subianto to revoke hundreds of discriminatory regulations issued by his predecessors that allow authorities and the public to discriminate against minority and marginalized groups.
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Personnel from the Garut Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) seal off a building in the West Java regency that was used by the Ahmadiyah Islamic minority community, in this undated handout photo. (Antara/Handout/Satpol PP Garut)
T
he year 2024 saw the country’s human rights record deteriorate further because of problematic laws that undermine free elections and prolong violations of the public and especially of the rights of vulnerable groups, as suggested by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The group issued in the past week its World Report 2025, the annual review of human rights conditions based on events unfolding last year.
For Indonesia, HRW highlighted that under the leadership of former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, which ended in October of last year, the government condoned abuses of religious freedom, unrest in Papua and discrimination against women.
Last year saw the persecution of religious minorities, such as the Ahmadiyah minority community which saw its mosques in Garut and Kuningan regencies in West Java closed by authorities in July and December, respectively. Local authorities claimed that the closure was caused by a lack of permits obtained by the community to open a place of worship.
In March 2024, a local Muslim group raided a religious service held by a Christian group in Tangerang, Banten, claiming that the latter had no permit to conduct services in the location.
Read also: Thousands of Ahmadiyah members stranded as authorities ban mass gathering
At the heart of such attacks was a joint ministerial decree issued in 2006, which required religious congregations to obtain signatures from local residents before building a house of worship.
