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Viewing cable 07SURABAYA42, LOMBOK'S AHMADIYAH SECT: DANGEROUS OR ENDANGERED?

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07SURABAYA42 2007-09-28 12:36 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Consulate Surabaya
VZCZCXRO1090
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJS #0042 2711236
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281236Z SEP 07
FM AMCONSUL SURABAYA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0060
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0009
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0008
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHJS/AMCONSUL SURABAYA 0062
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0055
UNCLAS SURABAYA 000042 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, MAP/MTS, IRN/EAP, DRL/PHD, INL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KISL KCOR ID
SUBJECT: LOMBOK'S AHMADIYAH SECT: DANGEROUS OR ENDANGERED? 
 
 
This message is sensitive, but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
1.  (SBU) Surabaya Pol/Econ Officer and Pol/Econ Assistant 
traveled to the island of Lombok in the province of West Nusa 
Tenggara, from September 11 to 13.  While there, they met with 
127 members of the religious sect Ahmadiyah at their refugee 
barracks in the provincial capital Mataram.  In February 2006, 
local residents burned 24 Ahmadiyah homes and local police 
forced the 137 residents of the village of Gegerung to move to 
the Transito barracks "for their own safety."  During the 
meeting, Ahmadiyah leaders described an administrative war of 
attrition waged by the provincial and local governments -- 
identity cards, health care and full access to education are 
routinely denied.  Opinions widely differ on the causes for the 
continued conflict.  While Ahmadiyah members blame a mix of 
pressure and neglect by Lombok officials, local police and 
religious leaders say the poor treatment of Ahmadiyah can be 
traced to the group's poor relations with its neighbors. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Ahmadiyah members said that relations with the local 
community had always been cordial prior to the attack, but 
charges of heresy against Ahmadiyah by local Islamic leaders 
galvanized thugs to begin burning their homes.  "We would be 
welcomed back today if we were allowed by the authorities", said 
the spokesman.  The Ahmadiyah spokesman provided us with copies 
of several written requests for assistance and legal redress to 
local and national leaders, to which they said there has been no 
response to date.  According to the refugees, rather than 
protecting the group, the local police are in league with 
Ahmadiyah's enemies. Ahmadiyah leaders in Transito said the 
police had stood idle during the most recent attacks on Gegerung 
village last year. 
 
3.  (SBU) On September 12, the Deputy Chief of East Nusa 
Tenggarah Provincial Police told us that Ahmadiyah exclusivity 
was a root cause of the violence.  "When they first arrived in 
Lombok, there was little trouble between the sect and their 
neighbors", he said.  The Deputy Chief also complained that the 
police were weary of protecting the sect after repeated attacks 
and wondered sarcastically if they wouldn't be better off on "an 
island of their own." 
 
4.  (SBU) Our discussions with leaders of Pesantren Nurul Hakim, 
a large residential religious school in Eastern Lombok touched 
on the subject of Ahmadiyah.  The Head of this school has been 
unequivocal in calling for the banning of Ahmadiyah since 
October 2005, when the Islamic Council of Indonesia office in 
West Lombok requested that the local Regent impose a ban on the 
group.  The Assistant Head of the school, who has done research 
on the group for his PhD dissertation, told us that it is the 
very resilience of Ahmadiyah in the face of oppression that 
helped spark calls to ban it.  Several attacks on Ahmadiyah 
communities have taken place on Lombok since the decision.  The 
Assistant Head of the school was particularly struck by the 
continued success of Ahmadiyah in gaining new members telling us 
that, "They are still able to attract new followers while the 
group as a whole is under constant pressure." 
 
MCCLELLAND