Johannesburg – Indonesia is added to CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist amid widespread state intimidation, legal manipulation, and violent crackdowns on dissent, pushing civic space to a precarious point. Nine months into President Prabowo Subianto's administration, dozens of activists have been attacked, intimidated or arrested. Authorities have crushed protests with violence, harassed human rights groups and journalists, and introduced restrictive legal revisions.
The CIVICUS Monitor currently rates Indonesia as "obstructed", indicating serious challenges to the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association. Indonesia joins Kenya, El Salvador, Serbia, Turkey, and the United States on the latest Watchlist of countries where there has been a notable decline in the state of civic freedoms.
"Speaking out is becoming a dangerous act in Indonesia's tightening environment," said Josef Benedict, CIVICUS Monitor Asia researcher. "Anyone who criticises the government is being forced into silence through fear, violence, and intimidation."
Silencing human rights defenders and stifling protests
In the first six months of 2025, more than 100 human rights defenders have faced arrest, criminalisation, intimidation, or physical attacks, according to civil society. This includes land and environmental activists, student organisers, academics, labour advocates, and anti-corruption campaigners.
The crackdown is particularly evident at protests. In March, police and military units violently dispersed public demonstrations opposing military law revisions, which dramatically expanded military influence over civilian life and weakened oversight. Security forces assaulted several journalists covering the protests and forced them to erase footage of police violations.
During a peaceful protest on International Labor Day, police arrested 14 people, including paramedics, and physically assaulted 13 of them, resulting in serious injuries. No one was held accountable. Security forces also deployed tear gas and water cannons on demonstrators without provocation.
In Papua, police met student-led demonstrations in April with tear gas, arrests, and assaults. In May, police violently shut down a peaceful protest at Cenderawasih University (UNCEN) over rising tuition fees.
Authorities targeted the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), a leading human rights group, with sustained harassment and surveillance from March to May. Intimidation tactics included attempted break-ins at its Jakarta office, unknown vehicles loitering outside its premises, and calls flooding its lines including from a number allegedly linked to intelligence services.
Independent journalism faces growing hostility and intimidation too. One journalist from the critical Tempo outlet received a severed pig's head in the mail, was doxxed, and her relatives received online harassment and threats. Parliament also introduced a new regulation in March requiring foreign journalists to obtain police clearance prior to reporting inside Indonesia.
"In Indonesia today, human rights defenders, protesters, and journalists are being treated like enemies of the state. Even paramedics at protests risk being beaten by security forces. This isn't just a failure to protect people's rights. It reinforces the climate of impunity in the country," said Benedict. "This is how civic space, including press freedom and the right to protest, dies. Not in one dramatic moment, but in a hundred acts of intimidation and retaliation."
Legal revisions undermine accountability
Besides the military law revisions, legislative proposals for the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) and the National Police Law could further empower law enforcement agencies without strengthening accountability mechanisms or protecting victims' rights.
Moreover, in June, the government entered a wiretapping agreement with four major telecommunications operators, dramatically increasing risks of mass surveillance and arbitrary data collection. Authorities also continue to wield the Electronic Information and Transactions Law to stifle online dissent.
"The pace and secrecy of these new repressive revisions show that Indonesia's government is sidestepping democratic processes," said Benedict. "These legal changes are designed to consolidate power, not safeguard citizens."
The Prabowo government must stop targeting activists and hold those involved in attacks against them to account. It must ensure that legal revisions passed meet international laws and standards. The processes must be transparent and include participation of civil society.
"Adding Indonesia to the CIVICUS Monitor watchlist reflects warnings civil society groups in Indonesia have been flagging on dwindling civic freedoms since Prabowo took office. The international community must call out these blatant violations, demand progress on civic freedoms, and stand in solidarity with civil society," said Nadine Sherani from KontraS.
The CIVICUS Monitor highlights countries with notable declines in civic freedoms, based on analysis from research partners, grassroots activists, and human rights defenders. CIVICUS Monitor currently rates Indonesia's civic space as "obstructed", indicating serious challenges to the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: media@civicus.org
Source: https://monitor.civicus.org/watchlist-july-2025/indonesia