Reverse Ban on Ahmadiyah Sect

Government Should Protect Religious Minority, Not Threaten Prison for Beliefs

(New York) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should reverse a decree that would permit criminal prosecutions of the Ahmadiyah community for their religious beliefs, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Ahmadiyah identify themselves as Muslims but differ with other Muslims as to whether Muhammad was the “final” monotheist prophet; consequently, some other Muslims perceive the Ahmadiyah as “heretics.”

On June 9, 2008, Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni, Home Minister Mardiyanto, and Attorney General Hendarman Supanji signed a decree ordering the Ahmadiyah community to “stop spreading interpretations and activities which deviate from the principal teachings of Islam,” including “the spreading of the belief that there is another prophet with his own teachings after Prophet Mohammed.” Violations of the decree are subject to up to five years of imprisonment.

“The Indonesian government should stand up for religious tolerance instead of prosecuting people for their religious views,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “President Yudhoyono should reverse this decision and make it clear that all Indonesians will be protected in their religious convictions and consciences.”

The decree followed the June 1, 2008 attack by more than 500 Islamist militants on around 100 men, women, and children holding a peaceful rally to support the Ahmadis at Jakarta’s National Monument. Video footage showed the attackers, who called themselves the Islam Troop Command, chasing, punching and kicking the activists and hitting them with bamboo and rattan sticks. More than 60 people were injured in the attack, some seriously. Victims included several Muslim scholars and activists who openly defended the Ahmadiyah faith. Several Ahmadiyah members were also hospitalized.

That morning more than 100,000 people had come to the National Monument to celebrate the anniversary of Pancasila, Indonesia’s unifying national ideology that future President Sukarno articulated in 1945 as a way of bridging Muslim, Christian, and other nationalist groups. Former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Sukarno, led the celebration. Helmy Fauzi, who helped organize the celebration, estimated that approximately 1,000 police officers were present to provide security. At 1 p.m. the Ahmadiyah supporters arrived. About 10 to 15 minutes later, they were attacked. Video footage shows that police were in the area but did little to stop the violence.

Three days later, on June 4, more than 1,500 police officers were deployed to arrest more than 50 persons at the head office of the Islamic Defenders Front in downtown Jakarta. Many of those arrested were members of the Front, a vigilante organization known for violent raids on bars and cafes, and which has publicly denounced Ahmadiyah and threatened to “personally” disband the organization. Its chairman, Rizieq Shihab, was arrested, but the man who allegedly organized the June 1 attack, Munarman, escaped.

Police have reportedly searched for Munarman at his home in Pondok Cabe, outside Jakarta, and have tried to monitor his movements since he eluded arrest. From his hideout, Munarman issued a video saying that he will not surrender if the Yudhoyono government does not ban the Ahmadiyah.

“The Indonesian government needs to show it takes attacks on religious minorities seriously by prosecuting those responsible,” said Adams. “If Munarman remains at large it will fuel suspicion of support in some government quarters for his aims. The government has a duty to protect Ahmadis and other religious minorities – that’s a bedrock principle of modern Indonesia.”

Indonesia ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in February 2006. In doing so, it agreed to comply with all the provisions of that treaty, including that, “No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice” (Article 18(2)), and “persons belonging to ... minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion” (Article 27).

Background

The Ahmadiyah faith was founded in what is now Pakistan in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. The Ahmadiyah community is banned in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and has come under attack in Bangladesh. There are approximately 200,000 Ahmadis in Indonesia.

The Ahmadiyah have come under increasing attack since a July 2005 edict issued by Indonesia’s Council of Ulemas, a senior body of Islamic clerics, saying they were deviating from Koranic teaching regarding the final prophet. Islamist groups attacked the Ahmadiyah headquarters near Bogor, and assaults on Ahmadiyah members were also reported in Lombok Timur, Manis Lor, Tasikmalaya, Parung, Garut, Ciaruteun, and Sadasari. Attacks on the Ahmadiyah community continued in 2006, forcing hundreds of Ahmadis to flee to a refugee camp in Lombok after local mobs destroyed their homes and mosques. Some Ahmadis asked for political asylum at the consulates of Australia and Germany in Bali.

In December 2007, mobs attacked Ahmadis, their mosques and their homes in Kuningan, West Java. On April 16, 2008, Indonesia’s Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society (Bakor Pakem) recommended banning the Ahmadiyah faith. Moderate Muslim leaders, including former president Abdurrahman Wahid and civil rights activists, responded by rallying support for the Ahmadiyah and the principle of freedom of religion in Indonesia. More than 200 signed a petition on May 10, saying the government should be protecting the Ahmadiyah from attack. The signatories included many Muslim scholars, Catholic priests, Protestant preachers, Confucianists, Buddhists, Hindus, poets, writers, and human rights campaigners.

The June 1 rally was organized to protest the proposed ban. Wahid was on his way to the rally when the attack took place. Later, when visiting hospitalized victims, he said: “This is not a jungle state. The police, like it or not, must arrest those people.”

Laskar FPI Umumkan Perang Melawan Ahmadiyah

Laporan Aboeprijadi Santoso mengenai Laskar FPI melawan Ahmadiyah

Panglima apa yang disebut "Komando Laskar Islam" Munarman SH menyatakan Insiden Monas 1 Juni hanya sebuah peringatan dan pemanasan. "Kami siap menjalankan perang!" katanya. Sementara itu AKKBB, yaitu Aliansi Kebangsaan Untuk Kebebasan Beragama dan Berkeyakinan, yang diserang ratusan anggota Laskar Islam tsb, dalam jumpa pers di Institut Wahid mengumumkan akan melanjutkan dengan aksi yang lebih besar 14 Juni mendatang. Kemarahan kaum muslim radikal menjadi symptom baru yang mengusik demokrasi Indonesia, namun Goenawan Mohamad yang aktif dalam AKKBB menyatakan optimis, republik ini "tak terancam oleh gerombolannya Munarman," katanya.

Munarman SH, mantan Direktur YLBHI Yayasan lembaga Hukum Indonesia YLBHI, menganggap aksi laskarnya hanya membalas kelompok Ahmadiyah yang dibela AKKBB. Dia mengelak bahwa laskarnya melakukan serangan sebelum AKKBB memulai aksi damai.

Kontak fisik
Munarman: Jadi ini kan provokasi ini sebenarnya sudah dilakukan sejak seminggu yang lalu, oleh pihak Ahmadiyah ya. Jadi aksi yang kemarin itu merupakan aksi pendukung Ahmadiyah, mereka mencaci maki Laskar Islam. Jadi kita kemarin itu menghadiri undangan dari pihak AKKBB, itu ada dimuat di Kompas, di koran Tempo. Itu undangan terbuka sifatnya, setelah mendengar AKKBB itu melakukan aksi. Yang menghina kita, yang menyatakan bahwa laskar ini laskar kafir, sehingga ketika dalam jarak yang sangat dekat, kontak fisik itu terjadi.

AKKBB ini demonstrasi pro-Ahmadiyah. Mereka menuduh kita ini anti Pancasila, anti kebersamaan, ingin mengubah, padahal mereka ke mana suaranya. Seharusnya polisi segera membubarkan Ahmadiyah menangkap Ahmad Mubarik karena dia yang mendisain acara kemarin, supaya terjadi kontak fisik.

Informasi yang dikeluarkan oleh Asfinawati, oleh AKKBB, oleh Hendardi, oleh siapa pun juga. LSM-LSM pendukung Ahmadiyah yang tergabung dalam AKKBB, itu pekerjaan saya dulu. Saya tahu persis bagaimana memanipulasi media massa. Saya sudah tobat menggunakan itu. Mereka yang meminta kita dengan serbuan verbal. Minta diserbu. Nggak ada FPI, Komandan Laskar Islam.

Membela Syariat Islam
Di balik itu, Munarman mengakui, itulah ijtihadnya, yaitu mengawali perang demi membela Syariat Islam.

Munarman: Iya dengan segala cara kita akan lakukan. Siapa pun juga yang menghalang-halangi tegaknya syariat Islam. Bahwa kemarin itu baru permulaan, iya! Saya sedang menyiapakan perang jangka panjang. Fisik maupun mental, maupun pikiran semua level, semua fron kita sedang siapkan. Saya tahu soalnya data-datanya ya.

Siapa itu Goenawan Mohamad terima dana dari Yahudi. Iya saya punya, saya katakan itu belum seberapa. Akan ada yang lebih keras kalau tidak ada tindakan apa pun terhadap Ahmadiyah.

Membela hak hidup = membela hak konstitusi
Goenawan Mohamad yang bersama Gus Dur dan banyak tokoh nasional lainnya meminta agar FPI (Front Pembela Islam) yaitu bendera yang digunakan Komando Laskar Islam tadi, mengingatkan bahwa membela hak hidup Ahmadiyah sama dengan membela konstitusi negara.

Goenawan Mohamad [GM]: Ya, kami sudah memperkirakan karena itu kami memberitahu polisi. Masalahnya apakah kami akan menggunakan kekerasan juga itu, soal lain. Kami tahu bahwa akan ada teror. Kalau waktu itu kami adakan perkelahian, itu kan bukan hal yang cocok untuk aksi damai.

Radio Nederland [RN]: Munarman merumuskan insiden kemarin sebagi suatu peringatan kepada gerakan yang membela Ahmadiyah.

GM: Saya kira dia tidak tahu apa yang dia katakan. Membela hak Ahmadiyah untuk hidup adalah bagian dari amanat konstitusi dan Pancasila. Kalau dia memisahkan perjuangan membela Ahmadiyah dengan perjuangan menegakkan Pancasila, dia salah. Tidak berarti bahwa kita hanya memperjuangkan hak Ahmadiyah. Kami memperjuangan hak Hisbut Tahrir untuk hidup di sini.

Dia kan di negeri lain juga dilarang. Tapi di Indonesia dibiarkan karena kami menganggap dia punya hak hidup. Tapi dia punya hak hidup, menikmati hak hidup itu dari perjuangan reformasi, dia menghilangkan hak hidup orang lain. Itu tidak bisa dibiarkan.

Ujian fisik baru
RN: Munarman misalnya mengumumkan ini baru peringatan. Artinya yang berikut adalah perang. Jadi ke mana kita ini?

GM: Ya, kalau dia mengancam perang fisik, memangnya orang lain tidak punya kekuatan fisik? Memangnya hanya Hisbut Tahrir punya pasukan dua ratus ribu? Aliansi ini bisa mengerahkan banyak ribu orang. Kami tidak menggunakan itu karena kami ingin menegakkan hukum. Tapi kalau diserang dan mengajak perang, masa kita harus memberikan pipi kiri kami. Terasa sekali bahwa aparat hukum tidak berdaya. Kalau aparat hukum tidak bisa menjaga keamanan, masyarakat sendiri harus menjaga keamanannya. Dan nanti masing-masing orang mempersenjatai diri.

Walhasil republik ini kini menatap ujian fisik baru, benturan yang makin nyata saja antara semangat kebangsaan yang majemuk, dan minoritas radikal Islam.