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Muhamad Isnur, the head of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, speaks outside a Jakarta court after it had acquitted two human rights defenders in a criminal defamation trial, January 2024.  © 2024 Andreas Harsono/Human Rights Watch

(Bangkok) – Prabowo S. Djojohadikusumo took office as Indonesia’s president in October 2024 after winning the February election, raising human rights concerns because of his abusive record in the military, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2025. President Prabowo, 73, who was dismissed from the army in 1998 after being implicated in grave rights violations, has appointed several people with concerning rights records to his unusually large 109-member cabinet.

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.

“President Prabowo needs to overcome his abusive past to address the huge human rights challenges that Indonesia faces today,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Prabowo should put an end to discriminatory laws and regulations and abusive government policies targeting women and girls, and religious minorities.”

  • In August, street protests erupted in at least 16 cities in Indonesia, after the ruling coalition of the outgoing president, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo attempted to tamper with the election law. Protesters accused Jokowi of nepotism.
  • In March, a video on social media showed three Indonesian soldiers brutally beating Definus Kogoya, a young Papuan man, and taunting him with racial slurs. The army responded to public outrage by promising an investigation, but there have yet to be any prosecutions. The authorities have failed to address longstanding racial discrimination against Indigenous Papuans.
  • Several laws place Indonesia’s religious minorities at risk of blasphemy allegations. A 2006 regulation empowered religious majorities to veto community activities by minority religions or to stop them from constructing houses of worship. Girls and women, many of them non-Muslims, who refused to comply with mandatory hijab regulationsfaced expulsion or pressure to withdraw from school, or have believed their employment was threatened.
  • In October, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, President Prabowo’s brother, said that the government had identified 300 palm oil companies that are operating illegally, while the agriculture minister said that 537 companies cultivating 2.5 million hectares for palm oil did not have land titles. Land disputes have plagued the industry, which has often forcibly displaced Indigenous peoples, and remains the largest driver of deforestation in the country. 

The Prabowo administration should promptly and publicly demonstrate its intention to protect and promote human rights in Indonesia and throughout the region, Human Rights Watch said.

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