JAKARTA: An investigation by Indonesian state-formed rights bodies found widespread violations by security forces including sexual abuse of some minors during last year’s deadly anti-government protests.
News agency Antara had previously reported that the six are: the National Commission for Human Rights, National Commission on Violence Against Women, Indonesia’s Ombudsman, Witness and Victim Protection Agency, Indonesian Commission for Child Protection, and the National Commission for Disability.
They are state auxiliary bodies – institutions that work independently but are formed by the Indonesian government.
Thousands of people angry at state spending policies took part last August in nationwide demonstrations that turned violent after the death of a delivery rider who was run over by a police tactical vehicle.
More than 5,000 people were detained, the six rights groups said in a report released this week, many facing mistreatment from beatings and electric shocks to the slathering of faces with chilli paste to create a burning sensation.
Eleven people died during riots that saw some officials’ homes and government buildings ransacked in Indonesia’s worst violence for two decades.
“There are indications of widespread and massive human rights violations,” Saurlin Siagian, an official at one of the investigating bodies, the National Commission for Human Rights, told reporters on Monday of the four-month investigation.
The president’s office and national police did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
At the time of the protests, President Prabowo Subianto called the riots an act of treason.
He had earlier said he was “saddened and concerned” by the death of the Gojek delivery rider Affan Kurniawan, 21, and that he was “shocked and disappointed by the excessive actions” of the police force.
ABUSE OF MINORS
Some acts of violence were also perpetrated against protesters under the age of 18, the report found, including alleged sexual abuse against minor female protesters by law enforcers, said Sylvana Maria from the child protection agency.
She did not give numbers or details.
The investigation found a recurring pattern of arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention, torture, inhumane treatment, and intimidation of citizens and journalists, said Siti Uswatun Hasanah from Indonesia’s Ombudsman’s office, noting the use of chilli paste on faces.
As well as beatings and electric shocks, there was intimidation with firearms during interrogation, the report showed.
The rights bodies urged Prabowo to evaluate the police’s handling of protests and asked the police to conduct a proper investigation into the report’s findings.
No senior official has faced punitive action. One low-level officer was dismissed from service for running over and killing Affan, and another demoted.
In response to the widespread protests, Prabowo had then also agreed to revoke a number of perks and privileges for parliamentarians, including a controversial US$3,000 housing allowance, as well as suspend overseas trips for them, in a rare concession to the protesters.
In the weeks following the protests, Prabowo then showed the door to five ministers, including long-serving finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Budi Gunawan, the coordinating minister for politics and security.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/indonesia-komnas-widespread-abuse-protests-6070881
