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Many people have been concerned about a general rise in religious intolerance throughout Indonesia over the last few years, and the Setara Institute has been carefully documenting specific incidents in which religious freedoms have been violated to highlight which areas of the archipelago have become the most problematic. According to the Indonesia-based NGO, which conducts research and advocacy on democracy, ... Read More »

Jakarta. Jakarta ranked at the bottom of the list of tolerant cities in Indonesia, due to a rise in religion-based identity politics prior to, during and after this year’s gubernatorial election, research by human rights group, the Setara Institute, showed on Thursday (16/11). The 2017 Index of Tolerant Cities is based on a study carried out in 94 cities nationwide between ... Read More »

JAKARTA, Indonesia — On a tree-lined side street in the Indonesian capital sits a colonial-era Protestant church with rustic wooden pews and stained-glass windows, and an antique pipe organ built into a large wall behind the altar. Across the street is a modern, 100,000-square-foot mosque with towering arches at its entrances and a cavernous prayer area laid wall-to-wall with red ... Read More »

JAKARTA, Indonesia — On a tree-lined side street in the Indonesian capital sits a colonial-era Protestant church with rustic wooden pews and stained-glass windows, and an antique pipe organ built into a large wall behind the altar. Across the street is a modern, 100,000-square-foot mosque with towering arches at its entrances and a cavernous prayer area laid wall-to-wall with red ... Read More »

According to media reports, Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs is poised to toughen the country’s blasphemy laws, expanding the definition of blasphemy. And that does not bode well for religious minorities in the world’s most populace Muslim-majority country. In addition, the government is considering lengthening the maximum sentence for blasphemy to six years in prison from the current five. The ... Read More »