SETARA Report, West Java Province With Highest Religious Violation, Followed By East Java And Aceh

Executive Director of SETARA Institute, Ismail Hasani (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - SETARA Institute reported 422 violations of freedom of religion and belief (KBB) that occurred during 2020 in Indonesia.

"Throughout 2020, the SETARA Institute recorded 180 incidents of KBB violations and 422 actions that occurred in Indonesia," said the Research Director of the SETARA Institute, Halili Hasan in a press statement in Jakarta, Tuesday.

Halili said the violations were spread across 29 provinces in Indonesia. The six regions with the highest incidents of violations were West Java with 39 violations, East Java with 23 violations, Aceh with 18 violations, DKI Jakarta with 13 violations, Central Java with 12 violations and North Sumatra 9 violations.

Halili explained that since 2007, SETARA has released an annual report related to a report on the condition of freedom of religion and belief in Indonesia. For 2020, this is the 14th report with the theme of intolerance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The methodological framework used is incident monitoring, in-depth interviews, regulatory studies and literature studies," said Halili.

According to Halili, COVID-19 affects all sectors of life, including religion and belief. The pandemic has increasingly discriminated against vulnerable groups, minorities, women and children.

Then various religious activities also had to be limited and canceled due to the PSBB. Community divisions were also inevitable due to spiritual unrest, politicization and widely circulated false information.

SETARA urged local and central governments to strengthen community programs that focus on inter-religious interactions and the social environment. The government is also expected to intensify the interfaith solidarity program in order to prevent divisions in society, handle hoaxes and deal with the politicization of COVID-19 based on religious doctrine.