Indonesia human rights groups find widespread abuses in 2025 protests

JAKARTA - An investigation by Indonesian state-run rights bodies found widespread violations by security forces including sexual abuse of some minors during last year's deadly anti-government protests.

Thousands of people angry at state spending policies took part last August in nationwide demonstrations that turned violent after the killing of a motorcycle taxi driver by police.

More than 5,000 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 Human Rights Commission, 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.

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 a motorcyclist, and another demoted.

-Ananda Teresia; editing by Gibran Peshimam and Andrew Cawthorne/Reuters