Home ADVISING GOVERNMENT Government Correspondence 6/01/2010: Indonesia: USCIRF Asks President Obama to Address Religious Freedom on His Trip
6/01/2010: Indonesia: USCIRF Asks President Obama to Address Religious Freedom on His Trip PDF Print

June 1, 2010

The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama,

wish you a safe and productive visit to Indonesia. A USCIRF delegation visited Indonesia two
weeks ago and found that many Indonesians eagerly await your upcoming trip. We understand
that your visit will inaugurate the U.S.-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership, a framework we
trust will solidify a growing bilateral relationship and expand Indonesia’s capacity to protect
religious freedom and related human rights. Your visit also offers a unique opportunity to
frankly discuss, in a spirit of friendship and better relations, ongoing religious freedom problems
that weaken Indonesia’s democratic foundations and undermine its reputation for religious
tolerance and pluralism.

We concur with the National Security Strategy’s assessment of Indonesia as an “emerging
nation…with tolerance, resilience, and multiculturalism as core values.” We were able to
witness firsthand Indonesia’s democratic vitality, strength of civil society, and depth of religious
devotion. We were impressed by the commitments made, at many different levels, to advancing
religious freedom and related human rights as essential to Indonesia’s democratic future.
Nevertheless, there continue to be strong political forces, terrorist networks, and extremist
groups which constitute obstacles to Indonesia’s democratic trajectory and are a source of
ongoing, serious violations of religious freedom and related human rights in that country.
Religious organizations, religious political parties, religious leaders, as well as religious
extremist groups will continue to play a prominent role in shaping Indonesia’s future. U.S.
policy and programs should take into account this reality in seeking to bolster Jakarta’s ability to
address past religious freedom problems and face new ones. A creative and sustained diplomacy
focusing on religious freedom can positively affect a whole range of issues, from the rule of law
to the rights of women, the protection of religious minorities from societal violence, to the
development of the social capital needed to strengthen democratic institutions and ensure
economic expansion. Therefore, we urge the Administration to see religious freedom as being
deeply intertwined with U.S. security, economic, and political interests in Indonesia and as an
indispensable component of the U.S.-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership.

We would also like to highlight a few observations about current religious freedom conditions in
Indonesia and offer some recommendations for U.S. policy.

Rise in Societal Violence Perpetuated by Religious Extremists

USCIRF remains concerned about the troubling rise in societal violence against religious
minorities and human rights defenders at the hands of extremist groups seeking to enforce a
single, hegemonic version of Islam. Too often, the police and local government officials tolerate
or aid this violence. We understand that the influence of extremist groups far exceeds their size
or electoral appeal. Nevertheless, religious leaders and other civil society representatives
expressed to us their lack of confidence in the Indonesian government’s will and capacity to
address ongoing issues of police impunity and societal violence. In some parts of Indonesia, a
culture of impunity exists in which religious extremists operate with little or no consequences,
forcibly closing places of worship, extorting protection money from religious minorities, and
situations are the main source of religious freedom abuses in Indonesia.

Need to Reform Laws Restricting Religious Freedom

Extremist groups too often justify violence with reference to vague and problematic national and
provincial laws or decrees. Indonesia’s Constitution contains strong language protecting
freedom of religion and belief, but laws, police practices, and judicial process frequently fail to
uphold constitutional protections. For example, provincial level perda syariah laws often restrict
the rights of women and some non-Muslims, vague laws governing the building of religious
venues often lead to forced closures or destruction or properties and, national blasphemy and
defamation laws curtail freedom of expression and are used to detain or disband “deviant”
religious groups, such as the Ahmadiyah.

During your visit, we hope you will discuss issues of impunity, legal reform, and societal
violence with Indonesia’s political leaders and representatives of civil society groups. We also
urge you to speak out publicly about why religious freedom protections, particularly as they
relate to the rule of law, are a critical element of U.S.-Indonesia bilateral relations and are pivotal
to the development free, prosperous, and peaceful societies. We believe that the vast majority of Indonesians will warmly receive this message.

Priorities for the U.S.-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership

As part of the Comprehensive Partnership, we also urge the Administration to develop a results
based human rights dialogue with Indonesia consistent with a broader set of proposals contained
in our just-released 2010 Annual Report. Such a dialogue would establish a structure through
which human rights problems and ongoing religious freedom violations could be addressed. We
also believe a dialogue should aim to strengthen the legal institutions and civil society practices
needed to protect religious minorities, end discrimination based on religious affiliation, provide
training to end human rights and religious freedom abuses by police and local officials and
counter religious extremism. We recommend that future technical assistance funds should be
tied to the establishment of measurable benchmarks for improvements in religious freedom and
related human rights, and should work with civil society groups and religious organizations alike
that undertake such work.

We hope your trip is successful in further strengthening U.S.-Indonesia relations.

Leonard Leo

cc: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton


To interview a USCIRF Commissioner contact Tom Carter, Communications Director at 202-538-2044 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .