Religious Minorities, Blasphemy Laws and Protection Gaps in Indonesia (2024)

Photo: Indonesia - César González Palomo

Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority democracy and constitutionally guarantees freedom of religion — but only for six officially recognised faiths: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Religious minorities outside this framework, including Ahmadis, Shia Muslims, indigenous belief practitioners (Penghayat Kepercayaan), and members of certain Christian denominations, face discrimination, violence, and prosecution under blasphemy laws. This report draws on the Setara Institute, Human Rights Watch, USCIRF, and the Indonesian Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS).

Blasphemy Law as a Weapon

Article 156a of Indonesia's Criminal Code criminalises blasphemy against religion with up to five years' imprisonment. Originally aimed at protecting all religions equally, the law has in practice been weaponised by Islamist groups to prosecute members of religious minorities, critics of Islamic orthodoxy, and even Muslims deemed insufficiently devout. The most prominent victim was Jakarta's former Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama ("Ahok"), who was imprisoned for blasphemy in 2017 following a campaign by hardline Islamist movements. The Setara Institute documented a consistent upward trend in blasphemy prosecutions since 2016.[1]

Ahmadis: Banned and Attacked

The Ahmadiyya community — which considers itself Muslim but follows the prophethood of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad — has been subject to a 2008 Joint Ministerial Decree prohibiting them from spreading their beliefs, using Islamic terminology, and operating as a Muslim organisation. In practice, Ahmadi mosques have been demolished by mobs, Ahmadis have been forcibly expelled from villages in West Java and Lombok, and individuals have been imprisoned for "defaming Islam" simply by practising their faith. Human Rights Watch documented at least 11 mob attacks on Ahmadi communities between 2020 and 2024.[2]

Ahmadis in Indonesia live under a permanent decree that brands their religious practice as illegal. The state does not persecute them directly in most cases, but it enables and legitimises the mob violence and social exclusion they face.
Human Rights Watch, "Indonesia: Religious Minorities Under Attack," 2023

Shia Muslims and Christians

Indonesia's Shia Muslim minority — concentrated in East Java — has faced forced displacement and mob attacks, with the most significant event being the 2011 attack on the Sampang Shia community that resulted in two deaths and the displacement of hundreds of families to a government shelter where they remain years later without resolution. Christian communities seeking to build or register churches face systematic obstruction: the 2006 joint ministerial regulation requiring 90 signatures from local residents and approval from local authorities has been used to deny permits for church construction in dozens of communities, resulting in worship in homes or rented spaces that are then raided.[3]