International human rights has been a major and influential discourse of human dignity, equality and justice, as well as a regime of treaties, institutions, and legal norms to protect humans across the globe. In the national context, such as the democratizing Indonesia, the challenge to realize human rights have come from the state as well as society. ICRS research project on religion, law and human rights concern the legal as well as political and cultural dimensions of the encounter of the global and the local.
The focus of ICRS research is on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) but also its interaction with other rights. For example, with the advent of social media, new issues at the intersection of FORB and other rights, especially freedom of expression, have emerged and increasingly become new, unprecedented challenges. This has underlined the need for better knowledge of FORB in relation to new challenges. A more recent issue, and an ongoing topic of research at ICRS, is on religion in the new Indonesian Criminal Code (2023). ICRS had engaged with other organizations in advocating for a better formulation of the Criminal Code, i.e. in line with Indonesia commitment to human rights; and now is working with them again for interpreting the new Code before it is implemented in 2026.
From 2021 to 2023 (ongoing) the Oslo Coalition for Freedom of Religion or Belief and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies of Brigham Young University have supported ICRS, together with CRCS, to build and disseminate knowledge on FoRB. In 2023-2024, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands also supported ICRS works on religion in Indonesian laws and regulations. Previously, in 2018, the Embassy has supported a study entitled “Bridging the Unbridgeable: Dialectics of Religious Freedom and Harmony in Post-Reform Indonesia”, which convened four Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) in Medan, Surabaya, Makassar and Jakarta. The paper was presented in the International Conference on Islam and Religious Freedom (Jakarta, December 2018). In addition, the research produced a Policy Brief which was presented to the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Published works and events:
- Three panels on the new Indonesian Penal Code at the 5th ICIR, Solo (22-23 November 2023).
- Series of roundtable essays convened by Zainal Abidin Bagir in the journal Interreligious Studies and Intercultural Theology (2023) (https://journal.equinoxpub.com/ISIT/issue/view/2074). The articles are:
- Zainal Abidin Bagir, “Emerging Discourses on Freedom of Religion or Belief in Indonesia”, pp. 189–195
- Suhadi Cholil, “Freedom of Religion amid Polarization and Religious Moderation Policy”, 196-204
- Samsul Maarif, Asfinawati, “Toward a (More) Inclusive FORB: A Framework for the Advocacy for the Rights of Indigenous People”, pp. 205-212
- Ihsan Ali-Fauzi, Raditya Darningtyas, “Religious Freedom and Mediation: Some Notes on Three New Initiatives in Indonesia, pp. 213-221
- Roundtable presentation at AIFIS conference 2022. Watch the discussion here: https://tinyurl.com/PanelFORB
- Roundtable presentation at Religion and Human Rights Conference (in Bahasa Indonesia) Watch the video recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JQr7YnKZTc&list=PLnlQ3m1p5a0o3M4_g5LzHjJMSDDpF7Hue&index=9
- Interviews with experts:
- What Men Have to Do with Women's Position in Freedom of Religion: An Hour of Truth with Nelly van Doorn-Harder, https://www.icrs.or.id/news/what-men-have-to-do-with-womens-position-in-freedom-of-religion-an-hour-of-truth-with-nelly-van-doorn-harder
- Freedom of Religion and Belief in Europe: An Interview with Lena Larsen, https://www.icrs.or.id/news/freedom-of-religion-and-belief-in-europe-an-interview-with-lena-larsen
- FoRB Contribution to Genuine Peace should be ‘noisy’, instead of ‘tranquil’, https://www.icrs.or.id/news/forb-contribution-to-genuine-peace-which-should-be-noisy-instead-of-tranquil
- Discussing Human Rights, FoRB, and Islam with Prof. Syamsul Arifin, https://www.icrs.or.id/news/discussing-human-rights-forb-and-islam-with-prof-syamsul-arifin
- Religious Moderation and Freedom: Critical Perspectives (in Bahasa Indonesia; eds. Zainal A. Bagir and Jimmy Sormin; Elex Media Publishing, 2022). Jointly published by ICRS and PGI (Indonesian Communion of Churches)
- Massive Open Online Course “Religion and Human Rights” (in Bahasa Indonesia: Agama dan Hak-hak Asasi Manusia): https://fabo.org/icrs/KBB
- Research project “Digital Performance of Religious Minorities”, led by Leo C. Epafras: Conducted in 2022 and 2023, this research on micro minorities (Buddhism, Hinduism, the Ahmadiyya, the Baha’i, and several indigenous religious groups), looks at how they make use of digital media, to what extent it helps public awareness—and, consequently, recognition—of their existence, which, in turn, may affect their FoRB situation. Several outputs of this research are:
- A conference paper presented during the 15th IISS 2022 & The 1st IWESC 2022 in Bali, 18-29th October 2022. The paper was titled “Digital Performance of Religious Minorities during the Pandemic: A Preliminary Report”, written by ICRS lecturer, researcher, and student (Leonard C. Epafras, M. Irfan Syaifuddin, and Hendrikus Paulus Kaunang).
- A conference abstract and presentation, for the 4th ICIR, Pontianak, 28-30 November 2022 by Leonard C. Epafras.
- Proceedings of the IISS Conference entitled “Digital Performance of Religious Minorities during the Pandemic” published January 2024.
- A popular article in the popular Indonesian magazine (Intisari) on the Ciptagelar community, an indigenous/religious community in West Java, written by Ida Fitri. Another article by Ida Fitri is in the process of publication by the Indonesian National Geographic Magazine.
- A newspaper op-ed piece on freedom of expression and religion of religious minorities in the digital media (in Indonesian; published in Media Indonesia) and in ICRS website and kbb.id, written by Hendrikus Paulus Kaunang entitle Kebebasan Ekspresi Beragama/Berkeyakinan Kaum Minoritas di Media Digital [https://mediaindonesia.com/opini/544646/kebebasan-ekspresi-beragamaberkeyakinan-kaum-minoritas-di-media-digital].
- Research project “Religious freedom in the revised Criminal Code” led by Zainal A. Bagir, focuses on the evolution of articles on religion/religious freedom in the new Indonesian Criminal Code (2023). The research was part of a larger collaboration advocacy program. Among the research outputs:
- “Half-hearted progress: religious freedom after the new Criminal Code” an essay in English evaluating the articles on religion in the new Criminal Code, published by Indonesia at Melbourne website (https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/half-hearted-progress-religious-freedom-after-the-new-criminal-code/) by Zainal A. Bagir (Bahasa Indonesia version is published at CRCS website, https://crcs.ugm.ac.id/agama-dalam-kuhp-kemajuan-setengah-jalan/, and kbb.id).
- New Criminal Code: the Death of the Living Law?
- Two Policy Briefs on articles related to religion in the Draft of the new Indonesian Criminal Code (2022). (The briefs are available at https://kbb.id/2022/12/13/agama-dalam-rkuhp-usulan-organisasi-masyarakat-sipil/)