However, this appointment risks becoming a bitter international irony. The human rights index compiled by the SETARA Institute shows Indonesia’s cumulative scores declining from 3.2 in a scale between 0 and 7 in 2023 to 3.1 in 2024, and further to 3.0 in 2025. The freedom of expression and opinion indicator was the lowest of the 11 other indicators. This indicator has continued to experience regression since two years ago, specifically 1.3 in 2023, 1.1 in 2024, and receiving a record low of 1.0 in 2025.

Furthermore, Indonesia’s stance on humanitarian crises, both regionally and globally, has often been ambiguous, adopting a posture of "selective silence". The 2025 Human Rights Day report from the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) reveals that the recurrence of violent incidents reflects a catastrophic reality. This deterioration exposes the state’s neglect of its fundamental obligation to protect its citizens.

The year 2025 witnessed alarming trends, marked by a strengthening "legalistic autocracy". This was evident in the legislative processes surrounding controversial bills, such as the amendments of the TNI Law, the Criminal Law Procedure Code  (KUHAP), and the State-Owned Enterprises Law. These processes frequently occurred without meaningful public participation, using legal instruments as tools of power for criminalization.

Moreover, repression by the state apparatus against civic space continued unabated. A series of police brutalities against individuals exercising their rights to freedom of expression throughout 2025 provides undeniable evidence of this oppression. Incidents ranged from large demonstrations opposing the TNI Law revision in March 2025 across 58 regions, to protests in August against a rise in land and property tax in Pati regency, Central Java.

A staggering 5,101 individuals fell victim to arbitrary detention, physical and digital intimidation, violence resulting in injuries and fatalities, and short-term enforced disappearances.

Deteriorating conditions are also apparent in the priority policies of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka. One notable example is the free nutritious meals program. As articulated by constitutional law expert Herlambang P. Wiratraman of Gadjah Mada University at the Constitutional Court, this policy undermines the principle of "progressive realization". By diverting massive fiscal resources, it risks neglecting access to vital economic, social, and cultural rights, particularly sustainable education and health infrastructure.