USCIRF Raises Concerns Over Religious Minorities’ Rights in Indonesia - Faith & Freedom News

Despite Progress Against Terrorism, Indonesia’s Laws Continue to Restrict Religious Freedom

📅 September 5, 2025 📍 Washington, DC

USCIRF Official Report

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released a comprehensive country update on Indonesia, revealing that despite government efforts to promote religious tolerance and reduce terrorism, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation continues to employ legal frameworks that systematically restrict religious freedom for minority communities.

🇮🇩 Indonesia at a Glance

With 267 million citizens, Indonesia represents a complex religious landscape where constitutional guarantees of religious freedom clash with restrictive legal frameworks and social intolerance.

87%

Muslims (99% Sunni, <1% Shi'a, 0.2% Ahmadiyya)

Protestant Christians

2.9%

Roman Catholics

2020

Year USCIRF began recommending Special Watch List designation

The USCIRF report, released following a commissioner-led delegation to Indonesia in May 2025, presents a troubling picture of religious freedom conditions despite some positive developments. While Indonesia has made efforts to combat religiously motivated terrorism and promote interfaith dialogue, the government continues to utilize presidential decrees, the Criminal Code, and the Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law to regulate religion, criminalize blasphemy, and broadly infringe on freedom of religion or belief.

⚠️ Key Challenges Facing Religious Minorities

Building Permit Exploitation

Both government and intolerant groups exploit the IMB (building permit) system and the 2006 Joint Decree on Houses of Worship to target minority communities, making it nearly impossible for churches to obtain legal construction permits.

Violent Disruptions

Christian churches face regular harassment, with mobs disrupting services, authorities dragging pastors from worship sites, and civil servants forcing congregation relocations.

Ahmadiyya Persecution

Ahmadiyya Muslims face forcible mosque closures, banned gatherings, and over 6,000 adherents left stranded when authorities canceled their annual meeting under pressure from hardline groups.

Rising Antisemitism

Following the October 2023 Hamas attack, Indonesia’s small Jewish community faces death threats, forcing rabbis and synagogues to operate in secret while community websites are taken down for safety.

Indonesia’s retention and enforcement of blasphemy laws represent some of its most persistent and systematic violations of freedom of religion or belief, with comedians, social media users, and religious figures facing imprisonment for alleged religious offenses.

The situation is particularly dire in the Papua region, where an estimated two million people—primarily Christians—face discrimination, arbitrary arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings. Nearly 80,000 people have been internally displaced due to armed conflict, with limited access to basic necessities and international oversight severely restricted.

✅ Positive Developments in 2024

Added a seventh category—kepercayaan (belief)—as a recognized religion on national ID cards, benefiting smaller religious groups
Allowed Christians to use indigenous Indonesian term “Yesus Kristus” instead of Arabic “Isa al-Masih” for Jesus Christ during major holidays
Pope Francis visited in September to promote interreligious harmony and tolerance
U.S.-Indonesia elevated relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with focus on pluralism and human rights

However, these positive steps are overshadowed by the implementation of a new Criminal Code in 2026, which will introduce additional blasphemy restrictions and deepen systematic repression of religious freedom. The election of Prabowo Subianto as president—a former army general who supported a 2017 rally backing blasphemy laws—has raised further concerns about the future of democracy and human rights in Indonesia.

🎯 USCIRF Recommendations

Include Indonesia on the State Department’s Special Watch List for tolerating severe religious freedom violations
Work with Indonesia to repeal or amend blasphemy laws and the 2006 Joint Decree on Houses of Worship
Include freedom of religion or belief issues in Papua region discussions
Grant access to independent international observers to monitor conditions in Papua
Hold congressional hearings to advocate for the release of religious freedom prisoners

USCIRF has consistently recommended Indonesia for the Special Watch List since 2020, including in the 2025 Annual Report, recognizing the country’s systematic and ongoing violations of religious freedom. The commission emphasizes that while Indonesia presents itself as tolerant through its Pancasila ideology promoting religious pluralism, the implementation faces significant challenges that marginalize religious minorities and enforce specific interpretations of religion in public life.