T

he Surabaya office of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has reported that 26 Shia refugees currently taking shelter at a sports center in Sampang, Madura, East Java, had been forced to sign statements saying that they were willing to convert to the Sunni branch of Islam.

Kontras Surabaya coordinator Andy Irfan said on Monday that the 26 Shiites, comprising nine families, had been forced to sign the statements on Nov. 1.

The statements say the Shia followers were willing to return to “the right path” and to obey Sunni clerics’ directives.

“Officials and even police officers witnessed the signings,” Andy said as quoted by tempo.com on Tuesday.

Andy said that such coercion violated Article 28 of the 1945 Constitution and Article 22 of Law No. 39/2009 on human rights. He urged the government to not yield to religious figures who spread hatred against different faiths and religions.

Muslim clerics in the Islamic Boarding Schools Forum admitted that the forum had been actively disseminating its teachings among Shia followers to “straighten out their religious understandings”.

Forum representative Nailul claimed that clerics had secured permission from the East Java governor to enter the sports center and carry out their mission.

“Madura has always been Sunni. So, it’s our job to set them on the right path,” Nailul said.

Hundreds of Sampang Shiites were forced to take shelter at the sports center after hundreds of Sunni Muslims attacked and set their houses ablaze in Nangkernang village in Sampang in August.

The police named seven people as suspects in the incident, including Rois Al Hukama, a brother of Tajul Muluk, a Shia leader in Sampang currently imprisoned for blasphemy against Islam.

Local media reports that the Sampang administration is expected to cut funding to the Shiite refugees; funding that supports living standards. Local officials in Sampang say they could no longer spend
Rp 30 million to pay for food and accomodation for the 192 Shiite followers who were displaced from their homes.

The Sampang administration said they would propose a new budget to the East Java government.