Members of various church congregations from Cianjur, West Java, have filed their complaints with the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) following a series of forced clo-sures of local churches, allegedly sponsored by the local administration.
The congregations, grouped under the Cianjur Churches Union, claimed the Cianjur government had forcibly closed seven churches in the area between December 2013 and January 2014, despite some of the churches operating legally since 1977.
"We feel our right to religious freedom has been severely limited because the seven congregations represented here today no longer have places to worship," said Oferlin Hia, a spokesman and priest of Cianjur's New Testament Protestant Church (GKPB), in Jakarta, on Monday.
Other churches affected by the closures included the Pentecostal Church of Cianjur (GGP) and the Cianjur Pentecostal Church of Bethlehem (GGPB).
Oferlin, along with several other priests from Cianjur regency, who came to Komnas HAM on Monday to protest, said all congregations already had permits from district and subdistrict administrations, as well as recommendations from the National and Political Unity Office (Kesbangpol) to practice their beliefs.
However, local government officials including the subdistrict police chief, demanded that the churches obtain permits from the Cianjur regent, a rule first stipulated in Joint Ministerial Decree No. 1/2006 of the Religious Affairs Ministry and the Home Ministry on the construction of places of worship.
"We've had the permit since 1977, and even renewed it in 1990 and 1991. […] But they are using the joint decree as a means to shut down our churches," said Oferlin.
Oferlin also said that emboldened by the local government's stance, local communities had also shown hostility toward the congregations, especially when they performed their weekly services.
Worshippers were often forced to conduct their prayers in private residences and even in a restaurant, a practice which had also drawn disapproval from local residents.
Worshippers had also been subject to intimidation from local hardline groups, including the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and the Islam Reformists Movement (GARIS), which had provoked local residents into shutting down the churches for fear it would "disrupt the stability of the neighborhood".
Cianjur is known as a conservative region where many attacks against religious minorities take place.
Responding to the demand, Komnas HAM said it would look into the case.
Komnas HAM commissioner Imdadun Rakhmat said complaints from the seven congregations would be the first case handled by the religious freedom task force that he chaired.
"The issue of religious freedom is a priority for Komnas HAM, because […] it is one of the issues in Indonesia that the international community closely monitors," Imdadun told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Imdadun also said the discrimination of religious minorities, including the closure of places of worship, would be an ongoing issue in the country as disputes were usually not fully resolved.
"This is why we consider these issues a priority," he said.
Religious minorities have faced heightened discrimination as a result of the government's failure to enforce human rights protections in 2013, according to the NGO Human Rights Watch in its 2014 report. (tjs)
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