An Indonesian official announced on April 30, 2026, that the government would seek to amend the country's 1999 Human Rights Law to allow authorities to determine who is a recognized human rights defender, Human Rights Watch said today. Adopting such revisions would violate fundamental rights to freedom of expression and association and put rights defenders at greater risk.
Following the public outcry after four Indonesian soldiers allegedly attacked rights activist Andrie Yunus with acid on March 12 in Jakarta, Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai said that the government would set up "a team of assessors" to determine whether someone is a "genuine" activist. When human rights groups criticized this proposal, Pigai said that he had been misunderstood, and that proposed revisions to the Human Rights Law would include a definition of human rights defenders to ensure their protection from criminalization.
"It's not up to President Prabowo Subianto's government to decide who is or isn't a human rights defender," said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The Indonesian authorities should protect all those who work to uphold human rights instead of rooting out government critics under the guise of identifying 'genuine' rights defenders."
Pigai said that the state would grant legal protection only to those defending the public interest, especially vulnerable groups, without personal or commercial interests. He said an assessment team would include government officials, civil society, and law enforcement to evaluate if someone is in fact a human rights activist. Activists paid for their work, he said, would not qualify, which in effect could harm the work of nongovernmental groups that promote human rights.
Muhammad Isnur, chair of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia, YLBHI), said that the government should not have the authority to screen human rights defenders since it is often the government itself that violates human rights. "The consequences would be dangerous," he told Human Rights Watch. "It is the state that should be the object of scrutiny, to determine whether it is violating human rights or not."
Victor Mambor, a Papuan journalist at the Jayapura-based newspaper Jubi, said that the status of a human rights defender ultimately comes from public recognition and should not be a badge from the government. "Someone who works for humanity can be called a human rights defender without needing state recognition," he said.
Pramono Ubaid Tanthowi, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia, Komnas HAM), said that threats against human rights defenders often involve state officials and corporations, and that any labeling by the government would be a clear conflict of interest. Komnas HAM is authorized to recognize a rights defender when needed, for instance, to seek the state protection or to get medical assistance.
The proposed revision of the Human Rights Law also includes provisions that would weaken the authority, mandate, and independence of Komnas HAM, including by merging it with the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) and the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (Komisi Perlindungan Anak Indonesia, KPAI), two other official organizations, diluting their authority as well. The amendments are being reviewed, Pigai said, and the final draft is to be introduced in the House of Representatives for a vote in June or July.
These proposals are particularly concerning as President Prabowo has repeatedly decried his critics as "foreign lackeys," Human Rights Watch said. The government is drafting a Bill on Combating Disinformation and Foreign Propaganda, which gives the state authority to designate certain information as "foreign propaganda." Vague definitions would facilitate abuse and censorship because it would allow the authorities to label any criticism of the government as a threat to sovereignty or an incitement to violence, Human Rights Watch said.
In addition to the March 2026 acid attack against Yunus, activists in Indonesia have been repeatedly targeted in recent years. Unidentified assailants shot human rights lawyer Yan Christian Warinussy in July 2024 after he attended a corruption trial involving government officials in Manokwari. Adetya Pramandira and Fathul Munif, who work for the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia, WALHI) and Thursday Action (Aksi Kamisan) respectively, were arrested in November 2025 in Semarang, Central Java and accused of inciting the August anti-corruption protests.
Under the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, a human rights defender is any person or group of persons who works to promote and defend human rights. It affirms that anyone has the right to be a human rights defender, so long as they oppose human rights violations by peaceful means.
Preventing individuals from engaging in human rights work-for instance, by receiving payment as professional human rights defenders-would violate their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and association under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Indonesia is a party, and other international human rights treaties.
"Prabowo should firmly reject any attempt to restrict the rights of anyone acting to promote respect for human rights," Ganguly said. "The government needs to recognize that the promotion of human rights, including by those who criticize government abuses, is good for everyone."
