Rights activists slam ‘ repressive’ decree
> Indonesia’s move to disband hardline groups met with concern
JAKARTA: Civil organisations in Indonesia on Wednesday decried a move by the government to disband certain groups deemed to be in conflict with the state’s secular ideology.
The protests came after President Joko Widodo signed a decree on Monday widely believed to be aimed at containing the rise of hardline groups that call for syariah law in the world’s largest Muslimmajority country.
“This decree is proof that this regime is repressive, authoritarian, and even repeating what the New Order regime did,” Hizb-ut Tahrir Indonesia spokesman Ismail Yusanto said, referring to the rule of former strongman president Suharto.
Suharto ruled Indonesia for 32 years during which he demanded loyalty to the secular state ideology Pancasila – or “five principles” – and discouraged the organisation of religious groups.
His downfall in 1998 ushered in democratic reforms, and alongside them a new-found freedom for hardline religious groups, many of which have been involved in harassing and violently attacking religious minorities, feminists and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups.
Conservative Islamic civil society groups and human rights groups such as New York-based Human Rights Watch also criticised the government’s move.
The new decree allows for the government to disband organisations deemed to run counter to the Pancasila without taking them to court.
Hizb-ut Tahrir is a peaceful organisation that calls for Islamic law to be implemented in Indonesia and the government has said it will be disbanded.
“It must be underscored that this decree is not intended to discredit Islamic organisations or the majority Muslim population of Indonesia,” chief security minister Wiranto said on Wednesday.
“It has been issued in the national interest,” he told reporters, adding the decree had the backing of Indonesia’s biggest moderate Islamic groups, which have millions of followers.
The decree also said civil organisations are “not allowed to carry out activities that are the responsibility of law enforcement officials”, in a reference to vigilante and anti-vice groups accused of harassing minorities.
The decree comes after the downfall earlier this year of Widodo ally and former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian who was accused and subsequently jailed for insulting Islam .
The events, including massive and sometimes violent rallies led by hardliners and vigilantes, raised concerns about the erosion of Indonesia’s long-standing image as a tolerant and pluralistic state. – Reuters