CIVICUS discusses amendments to Indonesia’s national military law with Andrie Yunus, Deputy Coordinator for External Affairs at the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), an organisation that advocates for human rights and the abolition of the death penalty.
In March 2025, Indonesia’s parliament approved amendments to the military law, allowing active-duty officers to hold civilian roles without retiring from the armed forces. Passed with minimal public consultation, the law enables the military to expand its presence in civilian institutions. Civil society groups and human rights organisations have raised serious concerns that the amendments undermine democratic oversight, erode civilian supremacy and echo authoritarian practices from Indonesia’s past.
