Jakarta, Indonesia - An alliance of civil groups and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) joined the chorus of criticism here Tuesday against the civil registration bill, which they said could undermine freedom of religion.
They demanded that the House of Representatives drop the bill, due for passage on Dec. 7, or make major changes to it.
They also threatened to take the bill to the Constitutional Court for a review should it not be revised.
The alliance consisted of the Indonesian Conference of Bishops and non-governmental organizations Ahlul Bait Indonesia, the People's Legal Aid Institute, the Coordinating Board of Traditional Beliefs and the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI).
Komnas HAM member Chandra Setiawan said that if passed into law, the bill would mean followers of traditional beliefs would be discriminated against by the state.
"The bill's products will be identity cards and birth certificates which are based on the six official religions. Like before, the government will not list the faiths of traditional believers on their identity cards," he said.
Under the bill, he added, children will be registered but the identity and religion of their parents will not be listed on their birth certificates.
"This is a form of discrimination and will affect minority groups," Chandra said.
Priest Benny Sutrisno, from the Indonesian Conference of Bishops, urged the government to drop the bill because it contained flaws that could cause conflict among religious groups.
"The government is obliged to register all citizens no matter what their religion or belief is. With the bill, the nation has been trapped by the politics of identity and the House lacks wisdom in responding to the people's aspirations," he said, warning that identity politics could create sectarian conflict within society.
Chandra said he and other activists were disappointed with the House's working committee for unilaterally postponing a hearing with them to discuss the bill.
Ahlul Bait Indonesia leader Adi Gunardi said the government and the House needed to accept traditional beliefs as they did the six official religions -- Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism.
The rejection of traditional beliefs was a serious violation of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion, he said.
"Salvation is found not only in the six religions but also in traditional beliefs. The rejection of registering traditional belief followers is really discrimination and the government should not interfere deeper in religious affairs," Adi said.
He said he had suspicions that Islamic influences were dominant in deliberating the bill.
On Sunday a caucus of pro-human rights legislators put their weight behind the opposition to the bill, which has so far been discussed only in closed-door meetings.
The enforcement of the bill would bring many problems to women, handicapped and poor people, aside from other marginalized groups, the caucus said.
"With the bill, street children, beggars and the homeless will be marginalized and isolated from their environment," said Dedi Ali Achmad of PBHI.