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View all search resultsPrabowo’s first year shows steep human rights decline
While the President has touted short-term economic achievements, Amnesty said the administration has caused a “massive erosion of human rights” through populist policies that exclude public participation.
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Police officers disperse demonstrators protesting the controversial revision of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Law in Surabaya, East Java, on March 24, 2025. (Antara/Didik Suhartono)
C
ivil society organizations have warned that President Prabowo Subianto’s first year in office has been marked by a deepening disregard for human rights, fueled by what they call “misguided populist policies” and mounting restrictions on freedom of expression.
Several groups, led by Amnesty International Indonesia, gathered on Monday in Central Jakarta to evaluate President Prabowo and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s performance since they took office on Oct. 20 last year.
While the President has touted short-term economic achievements, Amnesty said the administration has caused a “massive erosion of human rights” through populist policies that exclude public participation.
“This erosion happened because Prabowo’s policies are paradoxical; they appear populist, but in practice, they benefit only a small circle of elites,” Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said.
Among such policies, Usman pointed to the growing presence of the Indonesian Military (TNI) in civilian life through the appointment of active or retired security officers to senior bureaucratic positions and the creation of the Army’s new regional military commands across the country.
Read also: Forest under threat as corporations, military gain power under Prabowo
Prabowo previously noted the need to bolster national defense amid global instability, but his penchant for the military has prompted concerns about the revival of the New Order's dwifungsi (dual function) doctrine that once enabled widespread human rights violations.
