Rachel Kathryn, Jakarta – The All Indonesia Student Executive Council (BEM SI) held a demonstration titled "Aksi Indonesia (C)emas 2025" (Indonesia Anxious Action 2025) at the Horse Statue on Jalan Medan Merdeka in Central Jakarta on Monday afternoon July 28.
During the action they submitted 11 demands ranging from the controversy over the burial of history through the government's project to rewrite Indonesian history to the military's dual socio-political function (dwi-fungsi) and rejecting the revisions to the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) and the lack of public participation in discussions on the law.
From the IDN Times' monitoring, the police had closed off the road from the direction of Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat towards Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan using an iron barrier. As a result, the students from various universities who had just arrived near Jalan Medan Selatan protested the security forces because they wanted to express their views at the Horse Statue.
At around 5.30 pm the demonstration began to heat up after students pelted officers with bottles of mineral water and drew graffiti on the iron fence put up by police. The students were annoyed because access to the Horse Statue was not allowed.
Meanwhile, the Central Jakarta Metro Jaya District Police deployed around 1,400 joint personnel to secure the demonstration.
The following are the 11 demands presented at the end of the demonstration:
1. Strongly rejecting efforts to blur history, rejecting politicisation in the interests of the elite.
2. Urging that a review be carried out of the problematic articles in the Draft Law on the Criminal Procedural Code (RUU KUHAP) and for broader meaningful public involvement in the discussion on the law. Review the articles until all controversial points can be resolved.
3. Urging the government to be transparent in delivering information related to bilateral agreements, protecting national economic interests and conducting strong diplomacy to ensure mutually beneficial agreements.
4. Urging a comprehensive audit of mining permits, the enforcement of guarantees of customary participation in resource management. Allocating fair benefits to affected communities and taking firm action against legal and illegal mining in various regions in Indonesia.
5. Urging the government to immediately cancel the establishment of five new military battalions in Aceh and immediately open access to specific data related to the number of organic troops deployed in Aceh.
6. Urging the government to cancel the establishment of a military court and other facilities within the University of Riau and other higher education institutions.
7. Reject and revoke the Indonesian Military (TNI) Law and reject all forms of intimidation and repression that threaten civilians.
8. Demanding that the House of Representatives (DPR), the government and the authorities provide freedom and transparency for their student friends who still have the status of suspects, and to be given the status of freedom.
9. Strictly control all forms of activity and compromise in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) behaviour in issues of social life. Urging the government to immediately formulate strict regulations and general sanctions against actions that are considered to deviate from the religious and cultural values of the Indonesian people.
10. Rejecting all forms of dual-function positions that open up opportunities for dual positions and the military in other civilian positions or other structural dualism that has the potential to damage the principles of Indonesian bureaucratic professionalism.
11. Urging the government and the DPR to immediately enact the Draft Law on Asset Confiscation (RUU Perampasan Aset).
Notes
The title "Aksi Indonesia (C)emas 2025" is a play on the government's much touted vision of "Indonesia Emas 2045" (Golden Indonesia 2045).
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Demo Indonesia Cemas 2025 di Monas, BEM SI Sampaikan 11 Tuntutan".]
