25th November, 2014
Indonesian authorities have used "oppressive" blasphemy laws to imprison people for their beliefs, according to an Amnesty International report.
Released last week, Prosecuting Beliefs found that at least 106 people have been prosecuted and convicted under a range of blasphemy laws since 2005 in contrast to the approximately 10 people prosecuted between 1965 – when blasphemy laws were introduced – and 1998.
"Scores of individuals have been imprisoned – some for nothing more than whistling while praying, posting their opinions on Facebook or saying they had received a ‘revelation from God’," said the organisation in a statement accompanying the report.
Among those imprisoned have been members of religious minorities including Christians and Shia Muslims as well as atheists and non-believers.
Noting that the blasphemy law was rarely used until former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono came to power in 2004, the report says new President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo – elected earlier this year – had "an opportunity to turn a page to a new era in which freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion are genuinely respected in Indonesia".
"It is encouraging that President Widodo has signalled his commitment ‘to guarantee the protection and rights to freedom of religion and thought, as well as to take legal measures against violence in the name of religion’ in his official vision and mission document during the recent presidential election campaign."
Rupert Abbott, Amnesty International’s South East Asia and Pacific research director, said the country’s blasphemy laws "fly in the face of international law and standards and must be repealed urgently".
"We’ve documented more than 100 individuals who have been jailed for nothing but peacefully expressing their beliefs – they are all prisoners of conscience and should be released immediately and unconditionally," he said.
Mr Abbott said the "shrinking space for religious freedom in Indonesia over the past decade is deeply worrying". He added that while it had been encouraging to hear President Widodo making human rights commitments, "now is the time to deliver and put those words into action".
– DAVID ADAMS
