JAKARTA, Indonesia (Compass Direct News) – A moderate Muslim research institute focusing on interfaith issues in Indonesia reported 35 cases of government violations of religious freedom – including 28 against Christians – and 93 instances of community intolerance of churches in 2009.

The Wahid Institute issued a year-end report of violations that included the revocation of the building permit for the HKBP Cinere Church – later overturned in court – opposition to a Catholic Church in Purwakarta and an order forbidding worship by the Filadelfia Huria Kristen Batak Protestan Church (HKBP) in Bekasi, West Java.

The highest number of violations occurred in West Java, with 10 cases, including seven against Christians; next was East Java with eight, including four against Christians, followed by Jakarta Province with four (three against Christians). In Central Java, two of three religious violation cases were against Christians, and in West Nusa Tenggara, one of the three violations violated Christians’ rights. more >>

JAKARTA, Indonesia (Compass Direct News) – In the past week hundreds of students from Arastamar Evangelical Theological Seminary (SETIA) were evicted from two sites where they had taken refuge after Muslim protestors drove them from their campus last year.

With about 700 students earlier evicted from Bumi Perkemahan Cibubur (BUPERTA) campground, officers appointed by the West Jakarta District Court on Monday (Oct. 26) began evacuating more than 300 students from the former municipal building of West Jakarta.

In response, the more than 1,000 evicted SETIA students demonstrated in West Jakarta on Tuesday (Oct. 27), clogging traffic and leading to altercations with police that led to the arrest of at least five students. Six officers were injured. more >>

A powerful earthquake rocked western Indonesia Wednesday, killing more than 500 people and exasperating international relief groups that have been juggling between two other disasters that struck in the past week.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the latest quake had a magnitude of 7.6 and hit about 150 miles (240 kilometers) south of Padang, a coastal city of 900,000 and capital of West Sumatra province.

A total of 529 people were confirmed dead and 440 were seriously injured, the Social Affairs Ministry's crisis center reported. It said 376 deaths occurred in Padang. The rest were in four surrounding districts. more >>

At least 100 people were likely killed by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that rocked Indonesia's main island of Java last week, an official said Monday.

So far 74 deaths have been officially confirmed, Priyadi Kardono, a spokesman for Indonesia's Disaster Management Agency, told Agence France-Presse.

Another 34 people are believed to have been buried and likely dead under dirt and debris from the earthquake-triggered landslide in the West Java village of Cikangkareng, 80 miles south of the capital Jakarta, the government official added. more >>

Christian relief groups are coming to the aid of the thousands in Indonesia who were affected by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake earlier this week.

Wednesday’s quake, which has so far has resulted in 64 confirmed deaths, flattened or seriously damaged more than 10,000 homes, offices, schools and mosques on the western side of the densely populated island of Java.

The country’s Disaster Management Agency reported Friday that around 28,000 people were in need of shelter, more than 400 injured, and dozens still missing – feared dead. more >>

JAKARTA (Compass Direct News) – Members of several Muslim organizations joined a demonstration on June 27 to protest construction of a Huria Kristen Batak Protestant (HKBP) church building in Plaju, outside of Palembang, capital of South Sumatra Province.

The South Sumatra Muslim Forum (FUI Sumsel) organized the demonstration. Carrying a copy of a mayoral decree dated May 2009 ordering a halt to construction, the protestors gathered outside the building site, listened to speeches and then destroyed a bridge leading to it before demanding that the government ban the building project.

A spokesman from FUI Sumsel who goes by the single name of Umar, said the group objected on grounds that the church had not secured permission from the local Interfaith Harmony Forum nor a building permit; both are required by a Joint Ministerial Decree regulating the establishment of places of worship. more >>