INDONESIA: RELIGIOUS LIBERTY DETERIORATES DURING CRISIS

(Compass) – Mobs attacked five East Java churches, and six Ambon Christians were hacked to death in May in a sudden escalation of religious violence being played out against a backdrop of increasing political instability. The worst anti-Christian violence came in eastern Indonesia’s Maluku province, when Muslim jihad warriors attacked mainly Christian neighborhoods on the night of May 15. Violence spread to the more populous island of Java on May 29 when Muslim supporters of embattled President Wahid ran through the streets in Pasuruan, protesting attempts to impeach him. One church was destroyed and four others vandalized during the melee.