Jakarta – The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) recorded that hundreds of people fell victim to violence and were arrested by the Indonesian Military (TNI) and Indonesian Police (Polri) during the Dark Indonesia (#IndonesiaGelap) rallies against the TNI Law on March 20-27.
YLBHI obtained these findings based on direct monitoring and social media posting of actions held in 72 cities and regencies across Indonesia.
"(As many as) 191 victims experienced violence in 14 regions, including Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Bandung, Cirebon, Lumajang, Malang, Surabaya, Bekasi, Karawang, Semarang, Bojonegoro, Lamongan, Bogor and Kediri", wrote the YLBHI via the X (Twitter) account @YLBHI on Friday April 11.
"(And as many as) 153 people were arrested in eight regions, including Surabaya, Malang, Bekasi, Karawang, Cirebon, Kediri, Lamongan, Bojonegoro, Bogor", the group said.
CNN Indonesia has been given permission to quote the data. Not only that, YLBHI said that there were countless victims who suffered abuse during the actions to reject the Draft Law on the TNI (RUU TNI) in Jakarta, Lumajang, Surabaya, Malang, Bandung, Cirebon and Sukabumi.
Furthermore, the YLBHI found that the physical violence and dispersal of the demonstrators by the authorities were not intended to create a conducive atmosphere.
"This can be seen from the disbandment of mass actions in 14 regions, followed by the hunting down and kidnapping of protesters who had moved away from the action point", explained the YLBHI. "The pursuits and kidnappings were intended to arrest the protesters".
YLBHI's findings showed that violence was also committed out by TNI and Polri officers in civilian clothes and by several social organisations. Two journalists in Sukabumi, West Java, also suffered violence and threats.
"In Malang [East Java], the military arrested an individual who was documenting the brutality of the authorities against demonstrators and shouted 'break the camera!'. In addition, two journalists in Sukabumi suffered violence and threats", said the YLBHI.
There yet to be an official response from the National Police Headquarters (Mabes Polri) to the report on violence released by the YLBHI. CNN Indonesia has contacted National Police Public Relations Head Inspector General Sandi Nugroho for clarification on the YLBHI's statement but has not yet received a response.
The RUU TNI was passed into law by the House of Representatives (DPR) during a plenary meeting on March 20. The law was enacted even through the public had strongly criticised the revised law from the start.
President Prabowo Subianto has also spoken out on the actions rejecting the TNI Law. Prabowo said that demonstrations are a common thing. In a big country like Indonesia, especially related to the democratic system, demonstrations are guaranteed by law as part of freedom of expression.
However, Prabowo reminded all parties to remain objective. He questioned whether all the demonstrations were genuine or whether they had been paid for by certain interests.
"Pay attention objectively and honestly. Are the demonstrations genuine or are there people who pay? You have to be objective", said Prabowo in an interview with senior journalists from seven different media at his residence in Hambalang, Bogor, on Sunday April 6. (mab/tsa)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "YLBHI: 153 Orang Ditangkap saat Aksi Tolak UU TNI, 191 Alami Kekerasan".]
