VZCZCXRO1739
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJS #0063 1441013
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231013Z MAY 08
FM AMCONSUL SURABAYA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0218
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0115
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0204
RUEHJS/AMCONSUL SURABAYA 0223
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0113

UNCLAS SURABAYA 000063 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MET, EAP/MLS, DRL, DRL/AWH, DRL/IRF 
NSC FOR E. PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KIRF PINS ID PHUM KISL
SUBJECT: BALI: CONTINUED PRESSURE CAUSES AHMADIYAH MEMBERS TO SEEK 
POLITICAL ASYLUM 
 
REF: A. A 07 SURABAYA 42 
     ¶B. REF: B JAKARTA 888 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (U) Six representatives of the Islamic religious sect 
Ahmadiyah now resident in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) 
sought but failed to gain political asylum at the Australian 
Consulate and German Honorary Consulate in Bali on May 15. The 
six claimed to represent 195 Ahmadiyah members still in Lombok. 
Members of this Islamic sect admitted plans to seek help at 
other, unspecified foreign consulates in Bali.  Increased 
pressure from national religious leaders and local officials has 
forced the group to act, according media reports and a Congen 
Surabaya contact. 
 
Political Asylum -- A Preliminary Strategy 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) An Ahmadiyah representative told Bali TV media that, 
"We are looking for asylum because we do not feel secure in our 
hometown."  Mr. Adhar Hakim, television journalist and director 
of the Indonesian legal rights NGO, SOMASI told Congen Surabaya 
that Ahmadiyah representatives had advised him they would seek 
asylum at Australian and German Consulates in Denpasar before 
they departed for Bali.  Mr. Hakim said that they did not have 
any plans to go to the U.S. Consulate, but might do so in the 
future.  Seeking political asylum is only a temporary solution 
for Ahmadiyah members according to Hakim and they are waiting 
for guidance on next steps from Ahmadiyah's Central Board in 
Jakarta. 
 
Rising National and Local Pressure 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Anti-Ahmadiyah opinion has mounted recently as the 
semi-official religious advisory body, the Majelis Ulama Islam 
(MUI) has upped the ante by proposing an outright ban. (Reftel 
B)  Protests against Ahmadiyah in Lombok have escalated over the 
past year.  Dozens claiming to represent Islamic student and 
youth groups have tried unsuccessfully to breach the police 
cordon protecting the Ahmadiyah refugee complex located in the 
Transito dormitory in Mataram. According to Hakim, active local 
opposition toward NTB's Ahmadiyah community first came from a 
revered local religious figure Tuan Guru.  Hakim speculated that 
Tuan Guru is threatened by the egalitarian culture of the sect 
which undercuts his respected status as a powerbroker in the 
community.  The sect's survival and growth in some places has 
made them seem more like a credible challenge to the religious 
status quo than a cult on the ropes (Reftel A). 
 
¶4.  (U) Many, like former Indonesian President Abdurrahman 
Wahid, are calling for tolerance.  Wahid stands ready to file an 
amicus brief in support of Ahmadiyah if the sect is banned 
outright, according to media.  On April 24, twenty-eight youth 
and religious organizations in East Java protested the central 
government's proposed banning of the sect arguing that the 
government lacks legal standing to do so. 
 
Forced to Make Ends Meet 
------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) While MUI turns up the heat on Ahmadiyah nationally, 
Hakim told us that the Mataram city government limits on food 
rations for the sect have caused members to leave the refugee 
camp and look for work far afield. Now earning their keep 
outside the camp, Ahmadiyah members are more visible, and thus 
more vulnerable to violence from hard-line groups.  Hakim told 
us he canvassed villagers in Ketapang (former NTB home to 
Ahmadiyah) about a potential return of the group.  Some 
villagers welcomed them back as long as they remained "low 
profile" were no longer "insular", and refrained from openly 
conducting daily religious practices.  There are no signs that 
the group will return to their original homes and negative 
national attention continues to complicate any compromise. 
 
MCCLELLAND