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4 JSEAHR 335 (2020)
Dynamics of Shrinking Religious Freedom in Post-Reformasi Indonesia

handle is hein.journals/jseahr4 and id is 351 raw text is: Journal ofSoutheast Asian Human Rights,Vol.4 Issue. 2 December 2020 pp. 335-356 doi: 1OA918 : ' 46 © University of Jember & Indonesian Consortium for Human Rights Lecturers Dynamics of Shrinking Religious Freedom in post- Reformasi Indonesia Hurriyah Department of Political Science Universitas Indonesia Email: hurriyah@ui.ac.id Abstract Much of the studies on religious freedom in Indonesia have established a striking disconnection between constitutional protections and the actual implementation of religious freedom, underlining the state's failure as a protector of human rights. Yet, the emphasis on human rights has overlooked why the levels of governmental restrictions are substantially increased in democratized Indonesia, creating a trend of shrinking religious freedom. Using the perspective of civic space, this study analyses the dynamics of such a trend and the involvement of the state as a primary determinant. To demonstrate how and in what way the state engages in creating shrinking religious freedom, this study uses a combination of literature reviews and inspection on past measurements on the religious freedom situation in Indonesia. This study argues that rather than ideological factors, the dynamics of shrinking religious freedom is more related to the unrelenting endeavors from state-actors and agencies to control religion for the purpose of political motives and consideration due to the changing political landscape in a democratized Indonesia. Keywords: Religious Freedom, Constitutional Protection, Shrinkig Relgious Freedom, Governmental Restrictions, Minority Relgions I. INTRODUCTION Since embarking on the transition to democracy in 1998, Indonesia has been hailed by many as an example to other countries in the region. Democratization has opened more space for civil and political liberties. However, the issue of religious freedom and beliefs remains contentious and constantly debated. Despite having stronger framework for the protection of religious freedom, discrimination against minority religions and beliefs often happens in everyday life. Not only has the state failed to uphold the basic norms of religious freedom,' the state has deliberately engaged in the violation of rights to religious freedom: either by enforcing discriminative policies, 1 Syamsul Arifm, Attitudes to Human Rights and Freedom of Religion or Belief in Indonesia (Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kanisius, 2010).