Freedom of Expression, Key Challenge for Human Rights in Indonesia

Starting today (January 8, 2026), Indonesia has been appointed as the President of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council for the 2026 period.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), the position will be held by the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Indonesia to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro.

"Indonesia's election as President of the UN Human Rights Council strengthens Indonesia's human rights diplomacy profile, while also affirming Indonesia's leadership at the international level," said the MoFA in a press release (December 23, 2025).

"The widespread support from Asia Pacific countries for Indonesia is driven by Indonesia's track record as a bridge builder on human rights issues, its position as an independent developing country not affiliated with the interests of any particular bloc, and Indonesia's consistent commitment to championing humanitarian issues in various parts of the world," the MoFA stated.

Despite holding an international position, the condition of human rights advancement within the country still faces many challenges.

This is evident from the 2025 Human Rights Index compiled by the independent institution Setara Institute.

Setara Institute assesses Indonesia's human rights advancement performance based on indicators of civil and political rights; as well as economic, social, and cultural rights.

The assessment is processed into an index with scores on a 1-7 point scale. A score of 1 indicates the worst condition, and a score of 7 indicates the best human rights advancement.

As a result, Indonesia's human rights index score in 2025 was generally only 3 points. This score is the lowest achievement in the last four years.

"The low national average score in the 2025 Human Rights Index reflects that the implementation of the commitment to strengthen human rights, as outlined in Asta Cita 1 of the Prabowo-Gibran administration, has not been tested in its first year of leadership," said Setara Institute in a press release (December 10, 2025).

If detailed by indicator, Indonesia's human rights advancement is worst in the aspect of freedom of expression, with a score of only 1 point.

"An achievement of only 1.0 on this indicator indicates the low quality of freedom of expression as well as the massive efforts to shrink civic spaces," said Setara Institute.

"Repression of mass actions in waves of demonstrations, terror and intimidation against journalists, criminalization based on the ITE Law, and intervention in academic freedom are manifestations of restrictions on critical expression," it continued.

Another human rights indicator with a very low score is land rights.

"Instead of correcting the policies of the previous leadership, President Prabowo continues the development of National Strategic Projects (PSN) which contribute to the perpetuation of agrarian conflicts and the seizure of indigenous territories," said Setara Institute.

"The militaristic approach promoted by the state has shown that the state is not addressing land issues appropriately and is instead igniting prolonged conflicts," they added.

Below are the details of Indonesia's Human Rights Index per indicator in 2025, according to Setara Institute's study:

• Right to education: 4.3 (on a 1-7 point scale)
• Right to health: 3.6
• Right to work: 3.4
• Right to justice: 3.1
• Political rights/right to participate in government: 3
• Land rights: 1.6
• Freedom of expression: 1