FORCED CHURCH CLOSINGS CONTINUE IN WEST JAVA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 005772

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SECSTATE FOR EAP/IET AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KIRF KJUS KISL ID
SUBJECT: FORCED CHURCH CLOSINGS CONTINUE IN WEST JAVA

REF: A. 05 JAKARTA 14621 "DRAFT DECREE TO DISADVANTAGE

MINORITIES"

B. 05 JAKARTA 14281 "CHARGE LOBBIES ON RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM"

C. 05 JAKARTA 16065 "POST AND NGOS LOBBY ON DECREE"

D. JAKARTA 1649 "RELIGIOUS DECREE EASES RESTRICTIONS"

E. JAKARTA 04972 "DECREE ENDS IN COMPROMISE"

JAKARTA 00005772 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER LISSA M MCATEE, REASON 1.4 (B) AND (D)
.

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (SBU) Local Muslim communities, assisted by militant
outfits, have forcibly closed 13 small unlicensed churches
despite the government of Indonesia's newly promulgated
revised decree on the establishment of houses of worship on
March 23 (ref E). The new decree legally protects existing
unlicensed places of worship by allowing them up to two years
to come into compliance with licensing requirements. Local
governments in West Java appear to lack understanding of the
late March decree and political will to enforce its
provisions. According to some accounts, police do not
prevent church closures in these cases because they see their
role as keeping the peace by not confronting the will of the
predominantly Muslim communities. Christian leaders complain
of extortion by militant Islamic groups. While a lag in
awareness of the new decree is understandable in Indonesia's
decentralized system of governance, Jakarta authorities need
to step up their efforts to increase understanding and
respect for the revised
regulations, and prepare to intervene when local governments
fail to comply. End Summary.

CHURCHES CLOSED DESPITE NEW DECREE
--------------


2. (SBU) Local Muslims, egged on by militant groups like the
Islam Defender's Front (FPI) and the Alliance of
Anti-Apostates (AGAP),have closed down eight churches in
Bogor, three in Bandung, and two in Bekasi, all cities in
West Java, according John Simon Timorason, Chair of Forum for
Christian Communication (FKKI) in West Java. Many of the
targeted churches in Bogor were private residences that held
religious services. Thus far there has been little coverage
of the church closings in the national press, possibly
because of a lack of public sympathy for small denominations
holding services in residences and rented store fronts.


3. (SBU) Recent church closings are likely the result of
local governments' lack of understanding of the new decree
and political will to implement its provisions. The decree
legally protects existing unlicensed places of worship by
granting such establishments two years to comply with the
requirements for establishing a licensed house of worship.
The central government held a meeting to educate governors
around the country about the legal implications of the
decrees, but Timorason said the information had not trickled
down to the regency level or lower. Perpetrators of church
closings used more restrictive local laws to justify the
forced closure of places of worship even though the new
decree legally subsumes such local laws. Timorason said that
in order for the decree to be successfully implemented the
central government needed to compel local governments to
enforce the new decree and scrap conflicting local laws;
until then, it is easier for local government to be
complacent, and sometimes complicit,
in church closings.

ROLE OF THE POLICE
--------------


4. (C) Another key component to the implementation of the
decree is the role of the police. According to some
accounts, police do not prevent church closures in these
cases because they see their role as keeping the peace by not
confronting the will of the predominantly Muslim communities.
It is likely that unless the police take action against
militant groups who forcibly close churches without legal
authority, they will continue regardless of the decree.
Timorason said that in a meeting with Muhammad Mumin, head of
AGAP, Mumin shrugged off the legal protections provided in
the revised decree and said he would continue to close down
"illegal" churches. Commissioner for Religious Freedom at

JAKARTA 00005772 002.2 OF 002


the Nation Commission for Human Rights (Komnas Ham),Chandra
Setiawan, told us that he will draft a letter to the Ministry
of Religion to request that they coordinate with the police
to stop closures. He said he would also press the Ministry
to "take more responsibility" for the implementation of the
decree.

EXTORTION
--------------


5. (C) Christian leaders told us privately that groups like
FPI were largely motivated by money. Timorason cited the
recent example of when the police arranged a meeting between
himself and member(s) of FPI to discuss a specific church
that they threatened to close. During the meeting, FPI
offered to refrain from closing the church in exchange for
the Rupiah equivalent of $50,000. (Note: Timorason did not
say who in the police arranged the meeting or whether they
were aware of FPI's attempted extortion. End Note).
Reverend Richard M. Daulay, General Secretary of the
Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI) confirmed that FPI
conducted extortion. He added that generally churches cannot
afford the amount FPI demands. Both Timorason and Daulay saw
this as a dangerous sign of the kind of corruption that could
become prevalent with the formation of the community forum
groups (FKUB) with the power to make recommendations as
proscribed in the revised decree (ref E). The decree allows
local governments up to one year to form an FKUB, and it
remains to be seen who will sit on the forum and how it will
operate.

DECREE NOT PERFECT
--------------


6. (C) Timorason is currently collecting data and researching
the weaknesses of the implementation of the decree to share
with the central government. He said that in discussions
with the Ministry of Religious Affairs Head of Research and
Development Affairs, H.M. Atho Mudzhar (ref C),Mudzhar
admitted that the his Ministry rushed to complete the
revisions to the decree and that it was "not perfect".
Daulay summed up best what many involved in the drafting of
the decree expressed to us: "The revised decree is bad, but
previous draft revisions were worse, and the original decree
was the worst; therefore, I support the revised decree."

COMMENT
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7. (C) Not surprisingly in Indonesia's decentralized system
of governance, the late March decree on houses of worship did
not filter down immediately to many local communities in West
Java, which continue to record closings of small home and
store-front churches. If the new decree is to increase
protection for religious minorities, the Indonesian
Government will need to step up its efforts to educate local
governments on the revised system and prepare to intervene
when community-level authorities ignore its provisions. In
the meantime, we will express our expectation to the central
government that they take measures to end unauthorized
closures until the decree has taken root.
PASCOE