INDONESIA USCIRF–RECOMMENDED FOR SPECIAL WATCH LIST KEY FINDINGS I n 2020, religious freedom conditions in Indonesia stagnated. The administration of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) continued to pursue a policy of promoting its favored interpretation of Islam through state efforts that included attempting to revamp the state ideology of Pancasila, establishing a voluntary certification program for religious officials, and installing “moderate” voices inside the quasi-governmental Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI). However, these measures aimed to combat rising extremist or hardline Islamist trends and to promote tolerance exclusively among officially recognized religions; they did not promote greater religious freedom or expand recognition of other religious minorities. Religious extremists continued to represent a serious threat against religious minorities and others. In June, a militant extremist attacked the deputy police chief in Central Java with a knife. In Sulawesi, the radical Islamist group, East Indonesia Mujahideen (MIT), carried out a series of sectarian attacks, killing four Christians and burning a home that local Christians used for a house of worship. The enforcement of blasphemy laws, which Indonesia inherited from the Dutch colonial period but expanded under Presidential Decree No. 1/PNPS/1965 and the Law on Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE), continued to impact all religious communities. In May, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) indicated an increase in blasphemy allegations, primarily through application of the ITE law—even as the coronavirus pandemic raged. For example, in March authorities in Probolinggo Regency, East Java, arrested a local man for sharing lewd religious images online; in July, the State Court of East Java sentenced him to four years’ imprisonment and fined him five million Indonesian rupiah ($350 USD). Beginning in April, a number of people across the country faced arrest and blasphemy charges for sharing a song about a wife of the Prophet Muhammad with altered lyrics that some religious conservatives found offensive. These detainees included a popular YouTube celebrity who was arrested in April in Medan, North Sumatra, and sentenced in October to seven months’ imprisonment, as well as three young adults in Gorontalo Province who were arrested in May after posting a video of them dancing and singing to the song in question. While these cases involved the dissemination of potentially offensive material, none included incitement to violence. In July, hardline Islamist organizations and their supporters actively demonstrated against interfaith activities in West Java and contributed to obstructing government efforts to reform the official ideology of Pancasila due to concerns about both communism and secularization. In West Sumatra, the governor successfully petitioned for the removal of a Christian Bible app in the minority Minangkabau language from the Google Play store due to concerns about Christian proselytization to the Muslim-majority community. In May, acting Governor of Aceh Nova Iriansya was likewise successful in removing the Aceh Holy Bible app from the Google Play store. Last year, USCIRF reported on the September 2019 attempt by the Indonesian legislature to replace the existing Criminal Code, which dates back to the Dutch colonial era. This new code would have expanded the criminalization of blasphemy to include insulting a religious leader during a religious service, persuading someone to become an atheist, and defiling or unlawfully destroying houses of worship or religious artifacts. Civil society groups led massive protests in response to these and other proposed restrictions, leading the government to delay the bill indefinitely. Throughout 2020, this draft code was neither amended nor removed from consideration in the legislature. NGO reports indicate that the government has failed to soften the provisions in the code that would violate international human rights standards, including religious freedom. RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT • Include Indonesia on the U.S. Department of State’s Special Watch List for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA); • Urge the Indonesian government to revise the draft Criminal Code bill to remove criminal sanctions for blasphemy; to repeal or amend the existing blasphemy laws, including Indonesia’s ITE law; and to release all individuals currently detained or imprisoned on blasphemy charges; • Urge the Indonesian government to repeal or revise existing legislation and regulations on houses of worship, including the 2006 Joint Regulation; • Incorporate training on international human rights standards related to religious freedom—including concerns related to enforcement of blasphemy laws—into U.S.funded programs, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Harmoni and MAJu projects, and work with the Ministry of Education to incorporate KEY USCIRF RESOURCES & ACTIVITIES • Factsheet: Rohingya Refugees in Southeast Asia • Factsheet: Indonesia’s Pancasila 70 USCIRF | ANNUAL REPORT 2021 programming on tolerance and inclusivity into compulsory education courses on religion; and • Urge the Indonesian government to take the regional lead on human rights and religious freedom in its capacity in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, including by publicly advocating on behalf of Uyghurs and other persecuted Muslims throughout the region.