TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Amnesty International Indonesia on Tuesday issued its 2022 annual report revealing the myriad of attacks against human rights defenders in Indonesia throughout the year. The watchdog’s researcher Saufa Ata Taqiyya said this is unfortunately a global trend.

According to Saufa, there were 150 human rights activists falling victim to either physical or cyberattacks.

“Amidst activists from around the globe fighting against repression towards peaceful criticism, civilians in Indonesia are also facing the same problem,” said the Amnesty International Indonesia researcher on March 28.

The Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE Law) is said to still be the main tool used to suppress people’s right to express themselves. According to the organization’s logbook, there were 46 people who were indicted and legally processed under the ITE Law, which has been criticized for being notoriously open to interpretation.

One of the latest high-profile instances of the curbing of freedom of expression and expression highlighted by Amnesty is the case involving the Coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence Fatia Maulidiyanti and the Director of Lokataru Haris Azhar, who were both reported to the police by Coordinating Minister of Investment and Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan on defamation charges.

Meanwhile, the latest case where freedom of expression was at stake is the cyberattack against Konde.co after the women’s empowerment organization published an article regarding the alleged sexual violence case that had happened in the Ministry of Cooperatives.

M ROSSENO AJI

Editor's Choice: Owner Takes Full Responsibility over Fire on Ship Carrying Pertamina Fuel

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News