Vedro Imanuel Girsang, Jakarta – The Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD) has released findings on the acts of repression that took place during the protests against the Indonesian National Armed Forces Law (TNI Law) between March 21 and March 28, 2025.
According to their data, the TNI and the Indonesian National Police were identified as the primary perpetrators of violence.
"In our investigation, we found two main actors responsible for the violence: the TNI and the Polri," said Muhammad Yahya Ihyaroza, a member of the Legal Division at Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), during a press conference on Thursday, April 10, 2025.
Yahya explained that on March 20, 2025, the government deployed up to 5021 combined personnel to secure the protests against the TNI law in front of the DPR/MPR Building. The personnel came from the TNI, Polri, and the Regional Police.
These authorities were later found to have committed various forms of violence against the protesting demonstrators under the pretext of carrying out security duties. However, the repression actually worsened the existing situation.
"The situation actually became uncontrollable due to the arrests and repression by the police and military," said Zainal Arifin, Chair of Advocacy and Network of YLBHI, in the same event.
However, TAUD has not yet detailed further information regarding the demographics of the perpetrators of violence against the demonstrators at that time, including the possibility of violence committed by local community organizations (ormas).
Based on TAUD's data, a total of 83 demonstrators were injured and 161 people were arbitrarily arrested during the period of protests against the TNI law some time ago. These numbers were spread across a total of 69 protest locations throughout Indonesia.
The data was obtained after collecting information from several mass media, which was then further verified. In addition, victim data was also obtained through reports from several parties that are part of the TAUD network.