Indonesian authorities have detained more than 3,000 people in a nationwide crackdown during anti-government protests since late August 2025, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should impartially investigate alleged excessive use of force by security forces, including widespread use of tear gas, to silence dissent and deter future demonstrations.
Protests erupted on August 25 in Jakarta over recently announced benefits for members of parliament and the rising cost of living and unemployment, resulting in clashes between security forces and protesters. After a video of a police armored vehicle fatally crushing a gig motorcycle driver spread on social media, the protests widened to nearly 50 cities across the country, turning violent in some places. Activists have reported that at least 10 people have died, hundreds have been injured, and 20 are missing.
“Indonesian authorities should not respond to protests over government policies by using excessive force and wrongfully locking up demonstrators,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “President Prabowo should recognize that denouncing protesters’ motives will only encourage security forces to commit abuses.”
On August 15, the government of President Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo announced a housing allowance for lawmakers, which was widely criticized, particularly because of recent government austerity measures that included cuts to education, health, and other services. Thousands of university and high school students and activists gathered in protest outside the parliament complex in Jakarta on August 25.
In the evening, about 1,500 police officers dispersed the demonstration with water cannons and tear gas, enforcing a police practice that prohibits public protest after 6 p.m. Clashes ensued between protesters and the police, with several people injured. A paramedic told Human Rights Watch that he assisted protesters suffering from cuts and tear gas burns. “I saw two young men, probably school students, being beaten inside a police truck,” he said.
On August 28, scores of labor unions and student groups organized large protests in Jakarta and other cities, mostly concentrated around regional parliament buildings, demanding higher wages. A business reporter saw busloads of university students arriving outside the parliament building in Jakarta. The protest was peaceful, with student leaders making speeches, until some people threw stones at the police and used bamboo sticks to try to break the police barricade. The Mobile Brigade, the paramilitary arm of the police used for riot control and counterterrorism, was then deployed to disperse the protesters.
The protests spread to other neighborhoods, resulting in more stone throwing because of the police action. A police armored van fatally struck and ran over Affan Kurniawan, a 21-year-old gig motorcycle driver, and then sped away. “I was on a motorcycle, and it [the van] was speeding on my left,” a witness said. “Many motorcycle gig drivers in green jackets tried to follow and stop the van.”
A cleaning service worker recorded the incident on her phone and posted it, which spread rapidly on social media. This triggered further protests, including by thousands of delivery drivers who organized demonstrations across the country. The National Police chief, General Listyo Sigit, apologized and arrested seven officers for violating the police code of ethics.
Protests escalated across the country, including riots and arson attacks. On August 29, alleged protesters, after clashing with police, burned down regional government offices in Makassar, South Sulawesi province and Mataram on Lombok island. In Makassar, three government employees trapped in the fire died, and alleged protesters beat to death a motorcycle taxi driver whom they accused of being a police spy. In Solo, Central Java province, a pedicab driver died allegedly from exposure to tear gas fired by police.
On August 30, in Yogyakarta, on Java, a student was beaten to death. On August 31, a mob attacked houses of several lawmakers and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani. In other places, protesters threw firecrackers, stones, and Molotov cocktails at police, government buildings, train stations, and pedestrian bridges.
On September 1, riot police fired tear gas at hundreds of students camping at night at Pasundan University and Bandung Islamic University, in Bandung, West Java, after joining protests. Dozens were reportedly injured. A student later collected 47 teargas canisters at the Pasundan campus.
President Prabowo responded by calling for calm and rolling back the legislative perks. But he also without basis warned against “treason and terrorism” and deployed the military at demonstrations. Some students and civil society groups suspended their protests to “avoid increased violent escalation by authorities,” but peaceful protests have continued in Jakarta and elsewhere. Many protesters and organizers have gone into hiding fearing arrest on treason or terrorism charges.
The police have apparently arbitrarily arrested at least three protest organizers. Khariq Anwar, a student at Riau University in Sumatra, was using Instagram to inform protesters. Syahdan Husein was posting on X to organize protests in the Gejayan neighborhood in Yogyakarta, where many colleges are located. Delpredro Marhaen, the executive director of the Jakarta-based Lokataru Foundation, which had tallied 600 arrests and was providing legal aid to high school students, was also arrested.
The security forces should not use unnecessary or excessive force against protesters, Human Rights Watch said. While some protester action may warrant the use of force, the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials provide that all security forces shall, to the extent possible, apply nonviolent means before resorting to force. Whenever the lawful use of force is unavoidable, the authorities must use restraint and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offense. Law enforcement officials should not use firearms against people except against the imminent threat of death or serious injury.
The 2020 UN Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement provides that tear gas should only be employed when necessary to prevent further physical harm and should not be used to disperse nonviolent demonstrations.
The Indonesian authorities should promptly and impartially investigate unnecessary or excessive use of force by the police and other security forces, and appropriately discipline or prosecute those responsible for abuses, Human Rights Watch said. Demonstrators arrested should be promptly charged with a valid offense or immediately released.
“The Indonesian government needs to ensure that the security forces uphold the rights to peaceful assembly, free expression, and due process,” Ganguly said. “The military should not be used for civilian law enforcement because they are even more likely to use wrongful force.”
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