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Church lawsuits filed against local administrations over human rights violations show people are becoming more aware of the legal avenues available to them, according to the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI).

The comment came as the congregation of the HKBP Filadelfia Protestant Church in Bekasi, east of Jakarta, remains forced to hold its services on the roadside while it awaits a trial date for a lawsuit against the Bekasi administration.

PGI executive secretary Rev. Gomar Gultom said there had been at least two other such cases in recent years.

“The first to file a lawsuit was the congregation of the HKBP Cinere Church in Depok,” he said. “They sued the mayor for revoking their permit to hold services as a church.”

They won the case last October, Gomar added.

“Another case involved the GKI Yasmin Church in Bogor. They took their case to the same court and won,” he said.

Both the mayors of Depok and Bogor appealed the cases and lost, but are appealing again.

The suit by the Filadelfia church centers on the district head’s decree, dated Dec. 31 last year, prohibiting the church from holding any religious activities.

Its lawyer, Parasian Hutasoit, told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday the 140 families in the congregation had waited three years for the Bekasi administration to issue a permit, after their previous house of worship was rejected by locals in the community.

A makeshift church on land the congregation had bought was sealed off by locals two months ago, forcing the faithful to hold their services on the street.

Nur Kholis, of the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM), declared his support for the Christian congregations fighting for their rights.

“They chose to pursue justice through legal channels,” he said. “I laud them for this.”

He added acts of violence against churches had inflamed the situation.

“The essence is to emphasize that everybody has the right to practice their religion and the country has the obligation to protect this right,” Nur Kholis said.

Gomar said local administrations used the law to get their own way and placate opponents of the churches.

During Christmas celebrations last year, protesters threw rocks at the Filadelfia church and hundreds held a noisy protest.

The PGI said at least 18 churches had been vandalized or forced to close since the start of 2009.