Responding to the unlawful killing of a teenager by a police officer in Makassar and an Indonesian Military (TNI) member's abuse of a civilian in South Tangerang, Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid said:
"We express our condolences to the families of the victims. We condemn all police and military violence everywhere. The authorities must not be above the law.
The actions of the District Military Command (Kodim) member in assaulting an online taxi driver (ojol) just because they were side swiped by a vehicle clearly demeans human dignity.
The recurrence of cases of extrajudicial killings is a reflection of the strong culture of impunity within the police. They appear not to be afraid of acting arbitrarily.
"The absence of strict punishment for perpetrators means violence continues to occur. There must be total reform in both institutions in order to break the chain of violence by the authorities."
The shooting by the police officer in Makassar is the third case of an extrajudicial killing this year after Amnesty International previously recorded that in 2025 there were least 34 civilians who were victims of extrajudicial killings where the perpetrators were dominated by members of the National Police (Polri). This figure does not include similar cases that occurred in Papua.
Throughout 2025, Amnesty International also recorded that at least 25 people were victims of violence by members of the TNI.
Military and police perpetrators must be tried through general courts, not military courts. Therefore, we urge the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) to immediately reform military justice by revising Law Number 31/1997 on Military Justice."
Background
According to media reports, over the last few days there have been unlawful killings and abuse involving civilians by the authorities in two different cities.
In Makassar, South Sulawesi, First Police Inspector N was named a suspect in the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old resident with the initials BEP on Sunday March 1. The shooting occurred when the suspect said he was going to break up a brawl by firing a warning shot, but the shot ended up hitting the victim.
Meanwhile in South Tangerang, the Army Military Police are investigating an officer from the Military District Command 0510/Tigaraksa, Assistant First Lieutenant A, who is suspected of assaulting and pointing a gun at an online taxi driver on March 1. The incident occurred when the perpetrator and the victim argued over a vehicle accident.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Polisi dan tentara tidak boleh kebal hukum".]
Source: https://www.amnesty.id/kabar-terbaru/siaran-pers/polisi-dan-tentara-tidak-boleh-kebal-hukum/03/2026/
