Methods of Torture by State Apparatus According to KontraS Findings up to 2025

Monitoring by the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) from June 2024 to May 2025 revealed 66 incidents of torture during law enforcement processes in Indonesia.

“These 66 torture incidents resulted in 139 victims. KontraS’s monitoring recorded 23 deaths and 116 injuries,” stated KontraS in its report, "A Nation Unimproved: Torture Continues to Recur."

Based on the institution, the police (Polri) committed the most acts of torture with 36 incidents, followed by the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) with 23 incidents, and detention center (rutan) and prison (lapas) officers with 7 incidents.

From the 66 incidents, KontraS recorded 14 methods of torture, including:

1. Beating: 65 cases
2. Kicking: 9 cases
3. Stomping: 5 cases
4. Dragging: 3 cases
5. Slashing: 2 cases
6. Burning with cigarettes: 2 cases
7. Binding: 2 cases
8. Choking: 2 cases
9. Burning: 2 cases
10. Whipping: 1 case
11. Pinching: 1 case
12. Submerging: 1 case
13. Spraying: 1 case
14. Gagging: 1 case

KontraS stated that of the 139 victims, 114 were ordinary civilians and 25 were criminal suspects or convicts serving sentences in prison.

Meanwhile, the most frequent motive for torture was to obtain confessions, with a total of 41 incidents, 28 of which were committed by Polri members, 11 by TNI personnel, and 2 by prison officers.

KontraS’s monitoring data comes from primary data obtained through interviews with various state institutions involved in the Cooperation for the Prevention of Torture (KuPP) and relevant state institutions through the public information disclosure mechanism.

Secondary data was obtained by monitoring various torture incidents that occurred between June 2024 and May 2025, through monitoring media reports and information obtained from social media.