104 Civil Rights Violation Cases Reported in 2021

TheIndonesia.id - The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) has revealed that 104 cases related to civil right violation were reported in the country during 2021, with cases involving the police dominating the list.

Director of Legal Institute Jakarta, Mayong, said the violation cases happened in Aceh, West Sumatra, North Sumatra, Pekanbaru (Riau), South Sumatra, Jakarta, West Java, Lampung, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, and Papua.

Mayong said most of the cases were mostly related to freedom of expression and freedom of speech.

“Civil rights violation cases are still dominated by violations of public freedom of expression and freedom of speech,” he said during a virtual conference on Friday, December 31, as reported by Suara.com

In addition, the reported cases were also related to torture, forced arrest, and manslaughter.

Meanwhile, the cases involved state and non-state actors, with the police continued to be one of the most prominent state actors.

“The police is the main actor in violation cases, aside from military and local governments,” Mayong said, adding that educational institutions and certain community organization were some of the main actors from the non-state category.

Furthermore, the police tended to abuse power and criminal regulations to frame members of the public who use their rights of expression and speech. In regards to protests in several regions in Indonesia, police also involved the military and certain mass organizations to help dispersing the crowds, while also using physical violence in the effort.

"Physical violence was committed through beatings, arbitrary arrests without legal procedures, and detention which leads to criminalization," he explained.

Lastly, Mayong added that in 2021, at least 8 paralegals under YLBHI were also criminalized and hindered from providing optimal legal assistances.