The team will assess the impact of the week-long protests in several cities as well as reviewing casualties, injuries, socio-economic losses and damages to public facilities, while trying to identify those responsible for instigating the riots.

The team’s findings and recommendations will be submitted to the government and the House of Representatives.

“We will work objectively, impartially and inclusively. We aim to uncover the truth, uphold the law, provide redress for victims and prevent similar violations from recurring,” said Abdul Haris Semendawai, commissioner of National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) which is part of the joint fact-finding team.

Also joining the team were the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK), the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), the Indonesian Ombudsman and the National Commission on Disability.

The team acknowledged it would need cooperation from authorities in doing its job.

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“We urge the government and law enforcement authorities to provide access, protection and full support for the team’s work,” said LPSK deputy chair Sri Suparyati.

Protests led by students and workers denouncing lawmakers’ lavish allowances first broke out on Aug. 25, but escalated three days later after a National Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) tactical vehicle fatally ran over 21-year-old ojol (online motorcycle transportation) driver Affan Kurniawan in Central Jakarta.

Several police stations, government buildings and public facilities in Jakarta and other cities were set ablaze in subsequent protests. At least 10 deaths have been reported nationwide, while hundreds are still under arrest and three people are missing.

Two of seven Brimob officers inside the tactical vehicle, superior officer Comr. Cosmas Kaju Gae and driver Chief Brig. Rohmat, were dismissed and demoted, respectively, for serious ethics violations in the Affan incident.

During the ethics hearing, Cosmas testified he had no intention of harming anyone. Meanwhile, Rohmat claimed his vision was impaired as the vehicle was pelted with stones and firecrackers, leading him to unknowingly run over Affan. They had appealed the ethics rulings against them.

The National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) has launched a criminal investigation into the incident.

Reforms needed

Previously, several public advocacy groups under Democracy Advocacy Team, including the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), launched their independent probe on the protests.

They flagged inconsistencies between testimonies presented at the police’s ethics hearings and evidence they collected. While Rohmat claimed the tactical vehicle was pelted with stones and firecrackers, video footage reviewed by the team showed no such attack before they hit Affan, stopped briefly, and continued to run over him with front and rear wheels.

The group also found that the vehicle which ran over Affan did not comply with crowd-control guidelines, which require armored units to be stationed near national vital objects behind security shields, rather than facing protesters directly.

The advocacy team asserted Affan’s death reflected a broader pattern of police crowd-control tactics that rely heavily on force and risk violating principles of necessity, proportionality and reasonableness.

It warned such incidents could recur without fundamental reforms and urged transparent investigations into all violence cases stemming from the protests.

After a meeting with President Prabowo Subianto on Thursday, interfaith and pro-democracy group Gerakan Nurani Bangsa (GNB) claimed the President had agreed to form an independent team to investigate the alleged use of disproportionate force in handling the protests.

GNB representatives, such as former religious affairs minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin and Islamic cleric Quraish Shihab, also delivered to Prabowo civic groups and students’ demands that include calls for legislature reform and accountability from authorities for violent incidents.

At Friday’s press briefing, Komnas HAM’s Abdul said the rights bodies took the initiative to form the fact-finding team on their own accord and not at the government’s request.

Coordinating Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Services Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra also said Prabowo had not issued any instructions to form the independent team to investigate the recent protests.

The senior minister reasserted law investigation against those allegedly inciting riots had already been launched as it could not wait for the establishment of the independent team, citing a concern of the suspects destroying evidence.

“Establishing such an independent team needs time, as well as the time it takes to gather evidence to uncover the facts,” Yusril said. 

“Meanwhile, the state needs to act against crime to protect the people. The state cannot wait long,” he continued, adding that law enforcement had been following the law and human rights principles.

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