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Indonesia’s 2021 human rights record ‘alarming’: Amnesty
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Members of the Corruption Eradication People’s Committee rally outside the State Palace on Jan. 8, 2019, to demand that the government abolish articles in the Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) Law they considered a threat to freedom of expression. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
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mnesty International Indonesia has recorded an increase in attacks against the country’s human rights defenders this year alongside continued restrictions on the exercise of free speech, developments the organization has called “alarming”.
The rights group recorded 95 attacks against 297 activists, government critics, students, journalists, indigenous people and other victims this year, ranging from intimidation to physical abuse, an increase from last year’s 93 incidents affecting 253 victims.
Police and military personnel, as well as officials from the central government and local administrations, allegedly took part in 55 of this year’s incidents.
One notable act of intimidation occurred in November, when an unidentified person or group sent an explosive package, a dead chicken and a threatening note to the family of human rights lawyer Veronica Koman, a vocal critic of human rights abuses against Papuans. The letter reportedly said anyone sheltering Veronica – currently in self-exile in Australia – would end up like the accompanying chicken.
"Our human rights situation is still in an alarming state," said Nurina Savitri, a spokesperson for the organization’s Indonesian office, on Monday.
Shrinking civic space
