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View all search resultsHuman rights commitment at risk: What survives after the acid attack
The brutal acid attack on activist Andrie Yunus is more than a personal tragedy; it is a calculated message intended to silence Indonesian dissent. When justice stops at the surface, it doesn't end the violence—it merely masks a deepening era of state-sponsored terror.
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An activist lights a candle during a prayer for Andrie Yunus, a Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras) activist targeted in an acid attack, in front of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) in Jakarta on March 17, 2026. (Antara/Darryl Ramadhan)
When a person you personally know is violently attacked, you suddenly realize that you, too, could be next.
The recent acid attack against human rights activist Andrie Yunus hit too close to home. We have sat in the same seminars, shouted together in street demonstrations and exchanged views after public discussions.
This attack is no longer distant news. This is not something happening to “someone else.” It is here, among us. Now, for those of us who continue to speak critically, the question is no longer why, but when and how.
I know I am not alone in this fear. Many activists, especially younger ones at the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras), must now be asking themselves the same question: If this can happen to Andrie, who is next?
The attack itself was brutal, deliberate and unmistakably intended to terrorize. Acid is not just a weapon; it is a message. It scars not only the body, but the mind. It is meant to linger, to warn and to silence.
Indonesia is entering an era of terror that is no longer hidden, but openly displayed. This is no longer about anonymous threats or quiet intimidation. It is physical, direct and meant to wound and to kill.
Indonesia has seen this before. In 2017, anticorruption investigator Novel Baswedan was attacked with acid after pursuing high-profile corruption cases. His eyesight was permanently damaged. While the perpetrators were later prosecuted, many Indonesians remain unconvinced that justice reached those who planned or ordered the attack. That unresolved doubt matters. Because when justice stops halfway, violence does not end; it adapts.
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