Indonesian Gov’t Fails to Prevent Violent Acts Towards Christians

ICC Note: The State Department’s recently released 2012 report on International Religious Freedom has chided the Indonesian government for failing to protect religious minorities from acts of violence. The forced closure and even destruction of dozens of Christian churches over the course of 2012 with the backing of local governments and police was stark evidence of this analysis. Christians living in the “hotbeds” of radical Islamic activity such as Bekasi or Aceh province face the greatest amount of pressure to abandon their churches and their is little indication that the government is interested in stepping in to protect the religious freedom that is guaranteed by Indonesia’s constitution. 
6/18/2013 Indonesia (The Jakarta Post) – The US Department of State’s 2012 Report on International Religious Freedom has revealed that the Indonesian government has failed to properly address the banning and assault of religious minority groups.
The annual report was released by the US Embassy in Jakarta on Tuesday.
“The Indonesian government honors the freedom to choose religion but fails to prevent violent acts toward religious minority groups,” a statement in that report said as quoted by Antara news agency.
The report said the Indonesian government respected six official religions but that some religious sects were deemed as deviant by clerics.
The report also said that the police tended to be lenient on hard-liners that tried to implement laws that limited religious freedom.
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