ISLAMIC SECT UNDER PRESSURE

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 000846 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, DRL/AWH, DRL/IRF NSC FOR EPHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2018 TAGS: PGOV KIRF PINS ID SUBJECT: ISLAMIC SECT UNDER PRESSURE REF: A. JAKARTA 823 ¶B. JAKARTA 789 ¶C. JAKARTA 161 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b+d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On April 27, a large crowd burned down a mosque located near Jakarta belonging to the Ahmadiyah sect. The crowd also vandalized an adjoining school run by the sect. No one was seriously injured. A handful of suspects were questioned by the police, but no arrests have been made. The attack comes on the heels of a government monitoring board's recommendation to ban the sect as "heretical" and despite a call by moderate Islamic leaders for non-violence. Mission continues to urge the GOI to respect religious freedom. END SUMMARY. ATTACK ON SECT'S FACILITIES ¶2. (U) A Muslim sect has come under renewed pressure. Arsonists attacked the Al Furqon mosque late on the evening of April 27 in Sukabumi, West Java, and vandalized an adjoining school. The two facilities belonged to the Muslim Ahmadiyah Sect. The attack happened despite the apparent presence of police, who were ordered to guard the mosque that morning due to increasingly strident demands that the government close it down. According to reports, hundreds of people took part in the attack. Eight people were questioned by the police, but there have been no arrests. No one was seriously injured in the incident. ¶3. (U) The Al Furqon mosque was the second-largest operated by the Ahmadiyah sect in Indonesia. Their largest mosque is located in Jakarta. That facility is reportedly under police guard. CRITICISM OF INCIDENT ¶4. (C) The attack has been criticized by members of Indonesia's human rights community. Echoing other comments we have picked up, Director of Jakarta Legal Aid Asfinawati (one name only) told POLOFF that the attack was sparked by the government's ruling that the sect was "heretical." (Note: Asfinawati also does legal work for the Ahmadiyahs.) She called for the police to be firm in protecting the Ahmadiyahs and their property. "The police must do much more to catch the perpetrators and to bring them to justice," she said. GOI PONDERS NEXT MOVE ¶5. (C) Although its official panel reviewing such matters has already labeled the sect heretical, the GOI has not taken the next step, which would be to ban the group. We have heard reports that the GOI is hesitant to do that, which is positive. In the meantime, in a bid to strengthen those in the GOI who support a tolerant approach, Mission continues to urge the government to respect religious freedom per Indonesian Constitutional guarantees. Mission has also spoken to Sunni Muslim groups urging that they take a more tolerant approach. HUME