The Indonesian president has signed a decree giving the government the power to ban radical organizations, in a move aimed at outlawing groups behind an apparent rise in the political clout of hardline Muslims.
The measure announced yesterday by the country’s top security minister follows months of sectarian tensions in the world’s most populous Muslim nation that shook the government and undermined its reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam.
It amends an existing law regulating mass organizations, allowing the government to sidestep a potentially lengthy court process to implement a ban.
It is likely that Hizbut ut-Tahrir, a group that campaigns for Indonesia to adopt Shariah law and become a caliphate, is among the targets of the decree after the government announced in May that it planned to ban the group.
Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Politics, Security and Law Wiranto said the decree is aimed at protecting the unity and existence of Indonesia as a nation and not at discrediting Islamic groups.
Wiranto, who uses one name, said the decree was signed by Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Monday.
New York-based Human Rights Watch condemned the move, calling it a “troubling violation” of the rights to freedom of association and expression despite it being supported by moderate groups such as Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization.
Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch Andreas Harsono said the government already has the power to take legal action against any group suspected of violating the law.
“Banning any organization strictly on ideological grounds ... is a draconian action that undermines rights of freedom of association and expression that Indonesians have fought hard to establish since the Suharto dictatorship,” he said.
Hizbut ut-Tahrir, along with other groups, was behind months of protests against Jakarta’s Christian governor.
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