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Home affairs minister criticized by all sides in religion ID debate
Jakarta Globe - November 8, 2014
The minister earlier said on Thursday that stating or not stating one's religion is "a matter of privacy," but later changed his statement saying that the option only applies to followers of religions that are not formally recognized by the state.
"The government should not meddle in citizens' choice of beliefs, providing [those beliefs] don't disturb the general order," he said earlier.
Indonesia formally recognizes only six religions, namely Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism. Followers of the six religions are required to fill the column, he said.
Religious freedom advocacy group, the Setara Institute noted that Tjahjo's stance does not differ much from the existing regulations set by his predecessor Gamawan Fauzi.
Under the current laws and regulations, observers of minority and indigenous religions such as Sunda Wiwitan, Buhun and Kejawen have their religion column left blank, regardless of whether they wish to state their faith or not.
It is not clear whether Tjahjo will allow observers of such faiths to openly state their religions on their identification cards.
For minority religions "we will consult about this with the Indonesian Council of Ulema, PGI [Indonesian Communion of Churches] and so on. Are these [minority religions] considered deviant or not. That is up to the Ministry of Religious Affairs and religious figures," he said.
"What is important is for people not to obtain their right [of acquiring an identification card] because their religions are not recognized [by the state]."
Haris Azhar, coordinator of human rights group the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said Tjahjo's remarks showed that the minister has no real standing on the matter.
"I think that it's better to delete the column. I don't understand – what's the use of a religion column on the identification card," he told the Jakarta Globe.
Haris highlighted cases where stating religion on identification cards can be dangerous, saying it was often used to identify enemies during bloody sectarian conflicts in Poso, Central Sulawesi and Ambon, Maluku between 2000 to 2005.
In the past, members of religious minority groups have had to identify themselves as observers of state-recognized religions, which could lead to criminal charges.
Former civil servant Alexander Aan, who was sentenced to two years in prison for writing "God does not exist" on his Facebook page also faced charges of giving false information for stating in his identification card that he was a Muslim.
Similar charges were also to several members of the Ahmadiyah group, who identify themselves as Muslims but are declared as deviant or even non-Muslims by other Muslim groups.
"Our constitution guarantees the freedom to choose a belief," said Poengky Indarti, executive director of the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial).
"Both religion and beliefs are personal human rights in which the state cannot intervene. Stating one's religion on an ID card is a form of government intervention. It's going to divide people and opens up opportunities for discrimination for certain religious groups, especially the minorities."
Poengky said only a few countries in the world require their citizens to state their religion on their identification cards, "most of them are countries where the citizens are suppressed when it comes to their religious choices."
Arwani Thomafi, a lawmaker from the Islam-based United Development Party rejected Tjahjo's plan. "Leaving [the religion column] empty can create the impression that the person has no religion. And observing a religion is the manifestation of Pancasila," he said referring to the state ideology.
Atheism is banned in Indonesia since the 1965 massacre against communist sympathizers.
"The religion column is important. It shows we are not a secular country although we are also not a country based on a particular religion," Arwani said. "It is important to state one's religion. [Otherwise] there will be problems such as marriages, child custody and so on."
Salahuddin Wahid, a prominent figure of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's biggest Muslim organization, said Tjahjo should consider the matter carefully as religion is a very sensitive issue in the Muslim majority country. "Discuss this first with other parties," he told Republika newspaper on Friday.
Salahuddin said he neither supports nor dismisses the inclusion of religion column on identification card but said both sides have valid arguments and should be accommodated by Tjahjo.
Tjahjo's remarks came after the government stated it wished to continue the graft-ridden electronic identity card program, which was stopped after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) found that tens of millions of dollars earmarked for the scheme has been siphoned.
It is unclear whether the recent controversy will further delay the program. The KPK on Friday gave the green light for the ministry to resurrect the program.
"As long as the Ministry of Home Affairs believes that the project should continue," Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) spokesman Johan Budi said. "The KPK has no right to reject or approve a project."
Johan said the KPK would continue to investigate the project, which it says has relieved the Indonesian taxpayer of Rp 1.12 trillion ($92 million) in corruption to date.
The e-KTP procurement was originally projected to cost Rp 5.8 trillion and confer a major technological upgrade on the country's identity card system. It was intended to offer more efficient applications and better, more secure data.
The project was mothballed, however, and many high-profile lawmakers were directly accused of having taken $500,000 bribes. Graft convict and former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin accused the previous home affairs minister, Gamawan, of having taken a kickback. While the man in charge of the tender between 2011-12 – Sugiharto – has also been named a suspect by the KPK.
Despite its past troubles Tjahjo believes the project could be rehabilitated. "So we are not halting the e-KTP project but we are evaluating it because there's a legal problem, so let's investigate to find out the core of the problem," Tjahjo said.
Antigraft activists have urged the KPK to prioritize the investigation of the e-KTP project, which they see as particularly egregious given the size of the bribes alleged to be involved and the paucity of formal charges issued.
Uchok Sky Khadafi, the investigations director of the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra), expressed surprise that the KPK had managed to net so few suspects after it had been investigating the project for some time.
"The KPK must find new suspects from the consortium of companies or from the ministry," he said. "So far there has been only one suspect and he has been sacrificed to take the fall."
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