The Indonesian government on Wednesday banned Hizbut Tahrir, an organization that sought establish a global caliphate, under a new presidential decree criticized as draconian by rights groups.

According to Freddy Haris, a director-general at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, “Hizbut’s legal status had been revoked to protect national unity”.

The decree signed last week by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo gives the government almost unfettered power to ban organizations deemed against the Constitution. While rights groups say the decree undermines the right to freedom of association and governments could easily abuse its power, mainstream Muslim groups have shown support for it.

The events are a result of  months of long standing sectarian tensions in the world’s most populous Muslim nation that trembled the government and undermined Indonesia’s reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam.

Interestingly, Jokowi’s top security minister had already announced in May that the government planned to ban Hizbut. 


 

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