According to the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), various civil liberty violations occurred in Indonesia during the first half of 2025.
Civil liberty violations are restrictions on human rights in the context of expression, assembly, and opinion, perpetrated by both state and non-state actors.
"Guarantees of freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and public opinion are key indicators in assessing the quality of a country's democracy," Kontras stated in its report, Monitoring the Situation of Civil Liberties in Indonesia (July 2025).
In the first half of this year, the perpetrators of civil liberty violations most frequently originated from the Indonesian National Police (Polri).
The following details the categories of civil liberty violation perpetrators in Indonesia during the first half of 2025, according to Kontras' findings:
- Polri: 52 incidents
- Unknown persons: 14 incidents
- Government: 6 incidents
- TNI (Indonesian National Armed Forces): 4 incidents
- Private sector: 4 incidents
- Societal organizations: 1 incident
Based on these findings, Kontras urges a profound reform within the police institution.
"The Polri is constitutionally mandated as the guardian of public security and order, as well as a law enforcement agency within the national criminal justice system. However, this mandate is not absolute. It must be implemented in balance with human rights principles, including the right to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and the right to fair and non-arbitrary treatment in legal processes," Kontras stated.
"Unfortunately, throughout the first half of 2025, Kontras recorded systematic violations by the Polri in exercising this authority, primarily through arbitrary arrests, the forceful dispersal of demonstrations, and the excessive use of force resulting in injuries and violations of citizens' fundamental rights," they said.