Responding to the rampant terror, intimidation and violence against protesters rejecting the ratification of the revised TNI Law (UU TNI) in Jakarta and several other cities in Indonesia, Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid, said:
"Terror, intimidation and violence against activists, journalists and students are ways of violating human rights, and even indicate the strengthening of authoritarian practices against critical voices in civil space.
Amnesty International Indonesia notes that at least in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Semarang and Manado, police used excessive force such as batons, teargas, water cannons as well as unnecessary intimidation and physical violence when dealing with protests over the ratification of the Draft Law on the TNI (RUU TNI).
Seeing what happened on this first day, not only will many civilian positions be filled by active military through the revisions to the TNI Law, but also the civilian space will potentially be marred by militaristic methods that do not respect civil law. This is a bad start.
The terror of sending a package containing a pig's head to FCR, a female journalist and host of Tempo's Bocor Alus Politik (BAP) podcast, is clear evidence of an attack on the press. Even though the press is the 4th pillar of democracy.
Amnesty urges the police to immediately investigate this incident and announce to the public the perpetrators and masterminds behind it.
Tempo is known as a media that is critical of strategic issues including their firm stance in rejecting the revisions to the TNI Law. This terror clearly aims to create a climate of fear for journalists and journalistic work.
So far, public concerns about military dominance in civilian space are not just empty words. Ahead of the ratification of the RUU TNI, which will provide civilian positions for active military members, those who speak critically have experienced extraordinary pressure.
More than just physical violence against demonstrators, the actions of the authorities also injured civilians who happened to be passing by the location of actions, as happened in Jakarta. A number of demonstrators were arrested without clear grounds. Not a few were injured due to the excessive use of force by the authorities during a peaceful action on Thursday March 20.
This does not yet include the treatment of several activists from the Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform who interrupted an RUU TNI working committee meeting at the Fairmont Hotel in Jakarta.
This series of incidents marks a dark moment in Indonesian politics, which according to the V-Dem democracy index is already characterised as electoral autocracy. Freedom of expression, which clearly represents a constitutional right of citizens, is being met with excessive force and repressive actions by the authorities.
Moreover, intimidation of journalists shows a systematic effort to suppress press freedom. The state must not remain silent about these violations. Immediately investigate and prosecute officers involved in repressive actions against peaceful protests opposing the ratification of the revised TNI Law.
The state must guarantee freedom of assembly, freedom of opinion and freedom of the press, including in criticising policies and draft laws made by the House of Representatives (DPR) and the government."
Background
Demonstrations by students and civil society groups against the ratification of the revised TNI Law on Thursday March 20 took place simultaneously in several cities, including Jakarta, Medan, Bandung, Semarang, Solo, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Manado and others.
But some of these peaceful protests ended in chaos after police used excessive force in several cities, with reports of injuries and arrests.
In Jakarta, according to data compiled by Amnesty International Indonesia, at least four verified people were injured. Amnesty interviewed at least three students who were injured. The three students, with the initials D, DH and RR, said they were hit with batons or sticks repeatedly when police forcibly dispersed protesters at around 7 pm in the evening.
D suffered injuries from blows to the head, right arm, thigh and the knee. DH suffered blows to the head and shoulder, and lost his glasses after falling. RR suffered injuries to the head, shoulder and hand. One of the victims is currently still undergoing medical treatment.
In addition to this, an online motorcycle taxi driver in the Senayan area near the parliament was beaten by a number of police officers who accused him of being a protest participant, resulting in injuries to his head and hands.
Then an IDN Times journalist was intimidated while recording police officers pursuing protesters demonstrating against the TNI Law in Senayan. The police approached the journalist and tried to seize their cell phone and motorbike keys.
In Semarang, local media reported that a demonstration in front of the Central Java Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) Building ended in chaos after police forcibly dispersed the demonstrators with tear gas. Four people were arrested and injured. Two of those arrested were students, the driver of the protesters command vehicle and sound system operator. They were detained for several hours.
In the Central Java city of Yogyakarta, police deployed water cannons to disperse protesters. Until early morning, demonstrators were still trying to escape to hospitals and other safe places.
In Manado, North Sulawesi, three people were detained and allegedly intimidated during police questioning. After being released, a student said they were punched four times in the chest and stomach and dragged during the arrest.
This excessive use of force clearly contradicts the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, in particular Article 28E Paragraph (3), Law Number 12/2005 on the Ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976), the Code of Ethics for Law Enforcement Officials (1979) and the UN Basic Guidelines on the Use of Force and Firearms (1990), including those adopted by Chief of Police Regulation Number 1/2009 on the Use of Force in Police Actions.
The entire basis of these regulations requires that police to comply with the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality and accountability in handling protest actions.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Demo tolak pengesahan revisi UU TNI diwarnai teror, kekerasan, dan intimidasi terhadap aktivis, mahasiswa dan jurnalis".]
