The WAHID Institute (WI),a non-profit institute that endeavours to develop moderate Islam and promote democracy, religious pluralism, multiculturalism and tolerance, strongly believes in the relevance and necessity of reporting on religious affairs, both in relation to issues of religious freedom as well as religious life in general in Indonesia. Since 2005 the institute has documented various issues and incidents, particularly those concerning religious freedom and pluralism. Yet it has only been since 2008 that WI has been able to produce a comprehensive annual report. Thus this year's 2009 Annual Report is the institute's second comprehensive report on religious life in Indonesia.

This report was compiled by a team working on a national scale, though every region in Indonesia was not covered. The team consists of non-profit institutes in 11 provinces that throughout the course of the year have been monitoring religious issues in each region. Though the eleven provinces are Maluku, South Sulawesi, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, NTB (West Nusa Tenggara), West Java, Central Java, East Java, Yogyakarta, Jakarta and Banten, reports are not strictly limited to these regions. WI also monitors and records other occurrences/issues outside of these provinces through the media and personal networks.

Collection of data involved a number of different methods, including analysis of legislation, interviews with perpetrators and victims, data collection via media clippings, meetings with policy makers, field investigation and direct onsite observation. Not all were used simultaneously, but rather methods were chosen in accordance with the needs of each case.

The next step in the process was for field researchers to input all components of their cases into forms for ease of comprehension. WI has also used these forms to form a matrix of cases to help estimate the number of cases in each category and compare figures with previous years.

After reviewing regulation of religious life in Indonesia, this report then groups the institute's findings into the following three groups. (1) Cases related to violation of religious freedom, both forum internum (the right of conscience) and forum externum (the right to manifest religious belief), by ommission and by commission. In doing so the report refers to relevant international covenants and national law. (2) Cases concerning relations between religious groups and other groups, which includes instances of religious intolerance and discrimination. (3) Cases that indicate progression in guaranteeing religious freedom in Indonesia.

This report refers to two concepts often present in the discourse on religious freedom, namely intolerance and discrimination. Both are frequently used to determine whether or not religious freedom is guaranteed in a particular country. More Annual Report 2009