Jakarta – Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Deputy Coordinator for External Affairs, Andrie Yunus, has written a letter urging civil society to push for the formation of a Joint Fact-Finding Team (TGPF) to investigate the acid attack against him.
The letter, written on April 3 and 5, was read out by the National Solidarity for Andrie Yunus, a group made up of several national figures at the Kontras offices in Central Jakarta on Tuesday April 7.
In the letter, Yunus stated that the acid attack by members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS) Headquarters Detachment constituted attempted murder.
He said that the attack was not just an attack on him, but rather it was to create a climate of political fear within the civil society movement fighting against oppression and rejecting militarism.
"Therefore, I ask my comrades to push for an independent Joint Fact-Finding Team involving many elements", Yunus wrote in the letter.
"The hope is that the results of the independent TGPF [investigation] will be able to trace the perpetrators, not stopping at the field operators, but also including the intellectual actors to then ask for legal accountability through the public courts", he continued.
Yunus emphasised that uncovering the acid attack case is the state's responsibility through its legal system.
Yunus objects to and has submitted a motion of no confidence if the law enforcement process is carried out through the military courts, which have long been a den of impunity for soldiers who commit human rights violations.
"Currently Kontras along with the Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform is filing a judicial review lawsuit against [the 2025 revisions to] the TNI Law. Our emphasis in this lawsuit is to ensure that the expansion of military influence in civilian, political and economic life must be stopped", Yunus wrote.
"From the outset, the revisions to Law [Number] 3/2025 violated all of these principles, including betraying TAP MPR [People's Consultative Assembly Decrees] 6 and 7 of 2000 and the Constitution. Expanding the military's role in civilian life will only give birth to violence and create fear among civilians", he continued.
Today, at the Kontras office, several national figures including Sukidi, Karlina Supeli, Busyro Muqoddas, Halida Hatta, Reverend Jacky Manuputty, Zumrotin Susilo, Marzuki Darusman and Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, read out a message to the nation regarding the Andrie Yunus acid attack.
They said that Yunus is the face of a new generation of the Indonesian nation who was born in an era of freedom and grow up under digital democracy.
Yunus, like hundreds of thousands of young Indonesians growing up in the Republic, which claims to be striving for a Golden Indonesia, have instead became victims of violence perpetrated by the TNI.
They view Yunus as a manifestation of the ideals of independent Indonesian human beings as envisioned by the country's first vice president Mohammad Hatta. A generation like Yunus grow up with the awareness that loving one's country does not mean remaining silent in the face of injustice, but rather having the courage to speak out despite being dogged by the risk of violence and terror.
"The attack on Andrie is an attack on all of us. This attack shows a systemic indication of the state's culture of violence against public criticism, accountability, and correction", they said.
Yunus was doused with acid around three weeks ago after giving a podcast at the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) offices titled "Remilitarisation & Judicial Review of the TNI Law."
The police subsequently announced the initials of two suspects, however at the same time the TNI announced that they had detained four individuals from BAIS who were involved in the acid attack on Yunus. They are NDP, SL, BHW and ES.
Meanwhile, the Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD), which is made up of several civil society organisations, said that at least 16 individuals were involved in the attack on Yunus. TAUD described it as an intelligence operation.
Without any clear legal basis or justification, the police recently announced they had transferred the case to the TNI Military Police Centre (POM). (ryn/gil)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Andrie Yunus Tulis Surat, Minta Koalisi Sipil Dorong Pembentukan TGPF".]
