indonesia needs help

Hi,

I rarely posted in forums but i am (us) in a very dire situation.

Not sure when will be the power and internet outage but i'm trying to put this post as soon as i can to gain international's attention, just a few more eyes is very meaningful.

TLDR: we're fighting against unjust corrupt government. And things are escalating as we speak. Police brutality is everywhere. Civil protesters are being harmed. We are being silenced even tiktok live is shut down here due to people streaming protests.

There's plenty of people speaking up in X (formerly twitter), there will be more information and visuals there

Thank you in advance 🙏

[image: i.imgur.com]

Bump

Latest update: the police are now allowed to use bullets (idk if its rubber or real bullets) to stop the masses.

Rubber

It's standard procedure during riot

But they are aiming for the head :/

No they dont

Stop reading hoaxes

U make things worse

And the vulturing has gone wild. 

Don't fight guys, let's just keep updating

Update: they're mobilizing(?) Tanks now. Against civilian. 

Most of people stayed home since yesterday it was so chaotic and suspicious, public transport ruined and all. 

https://x.com/IndoPopBase/status/1962101454271021441?t=JuBIXW7DPeWQolY3E2xJvQ&s=19

I support the Indonesians resisting their bullshit government. All the best for my Indonesian brothers and sisters! 

Another update:

There were a lot of support from neighboring country such as Malaysia, Singapore, some other SEA countries and they helped by ordering foods for online taxi drivers using Grab (Support)

September 1st was peaceful, protests are peaceful and coordinated since the last few days there were saboteurs that creates riot and everyone figured that out, theres even fake protest posters created to lure protester for a chaotic protest

(Trap Posters)

I just woke up and since it was peaceful and the military and police were mobilized yesterday, i just got news that earlier today (midnight to around 3-4 am) suddenly they're attacking Universities which were safe zones, throwing tear gas to people going back home and inciting riots themselves :[

Source attached (in Indonesian and in English)

https://x.com/barengwarga/status/1962592282278011207?t=6yHa-ZwdDu5ep-C54aOoxg&s=19

https://x.com/sighyam/status/1962593580993688054?t=Lwe2tNHxPhkidO2-NCLWpQ&s=19

Edit: oops, forget to mention that police who get injured due to protest might get an honor or something from the president which is weird (Source indonesian)

Current prez has a not so good history, can look it up since it goes deep

Police brutality is key ingredient for every corrupt government.

Some advices from personal experience: 

1- Stay peaceful, even if provoked.  Because corrupt governments want protesters to turn violent, it gives them justification to crush dissent completely.

2- Don't rely only on street demonstrations, protests can come in many ways like boycotts, strikes, mass petitions, online campaigns, symbolic acts, stay-at-home days, consumer buy-nothing campaigns. If streets are too dangerous, then switch to other methods.

3- Have Clear, modest demands, be Specific, realistic and measurable.

4- Be aware of rumors quickly because in time like this, they will overwhelm you with fake news, so always verify before sharing.

5- Read about others success and fail stories, learn from them, don't repeat others mistakes and make your own story. what worked somewhere else not necessarily will work with you. Every community has it's own unique circumstances.

6- Be Safe and think smart.

7- Finally, If you succeed then be aware of the deep state, corrupt politicians will unite against you to reverse any change that is not in their favor.

My best wishes and I will follow your updates.

Currently there are 7 confirmed deaths due to this situation:

1. A ride-share driver that got crushed by an armored vehicle source
2 - 4. Three government agents that got trapped in a burning bulding source (indonesian)

5. Another ride-share driver that got ganged-up during the riot source
6. A college student died during a riot with bruises across his body (no confirmed cause but people suspect its the police's doing) source (indonesian)

7. A 60 year-old becak driver due to tear gas source (indonesian)

edit:
3 more deaths have been confirmed which I forgot to list:

8. One person died during a protest in Papua allegedly due to tear gas but the police denied this claim source (indonesian)

9. An 11th grade (junior) high-schooler died allegedly due to police brutality during the protest after 3 days of coma source (indonesian)

10. A college student died allegedly due to police assault source (indonesian)

Sorry for the late update, i was pretty busy irl lately. Things related to the political outburst kinda settled down but it's still, weird (?)

Protests have died down, and around last week some people made collective demands for the government to fulfill per 5th of September (wikipedia page) which, some were fulfilled on bare minimum .....

The super high wage of the "People's Representative" did get lowered, but they still raise it in some aspects so it's definitely weird.

There are still some missing university students that went in the protests, and that's really concerning since it's been several weeks.

The leader of LBH (a nonprofit organization that helps people in law) got caught and imprisoned for 'inciting hate' (cmiiw). Yeah basically the cops are still going around like that. Even in my day job when i meet a cop they're still blaming the protests as a bad thing 😖

It's a bit discouraging to see things turned out like this, but i'll keep on praying.

The cops are just doing what orders are being given out - whether its from internal or governmental - and public disorder is public disorder the world over. I am sure some will enjoy being rough but they will also see through a lens of being taken away from doing other stuff to deal with this and the (probably) bad working conditions.

Are they being abusive like beating people arrested and stuff? I havent closely followed it but I know there has been some protest-related deaths. No abuse or harm is OK and I see a lot of alleged rather than confirmed. 

Just following orders is no excuse for defending the crimes of the Police. This level of brutality is done by a government that has no concern for their citizens and has a real fear of losing control

I hope the Indonesian people cast off their shackles and are able to form a government that truly represents their people.

Brutality > beating people who are not resisting is not excusable

Preventing violent disorder/disorder by restraining, restricting, blockading, using force is standard practice globally.

I totally agree that being represented and having a government that is legitimate is crucial and I hope everyone stays safe.

Just wanted to differentiate between police doing their job and police going outside of that job and giving people a kicking because they can.

I somewhat agree with both of you. Following orders is definitely no excuse for a crime but Chuckles has a point that if you want to root out the problem, you have to know who is the one giving the command to do it. Its a really complicated matter (as all things that is political) that involves power dynamics. All I can say as an Indonesian is something definitely happened (the assaults, abuse, excessive force, etc) since there are confirmed victims but I can't really put my faith that those cases will be properly investigated (or even investigated at all).

I don't see this protest as a simple people vs government, but there are many groups of people with different agenda that eventually "came together" in this protest. Not really saying that all the protesters are evil, I do believe there are some who are actually genuinely trying to voice their concerns but this chaos is definitely a good opportunity for whoever that wants power to gain some (be it influence or even a real seat in the government by replacing someone there) sort of like this meme:

[image: i.imgflip.com]

Beware of the ones who try to turn protests into looting or trouble for sake of trouble.

Hopefully the desired outcome comes good!

Hopefully the protesters preveil in this case.

Yes please. When civilians go out to the streets to protest against their governments and its ways/officials, the governments should listen — not kill them and silent dissent. That's just fascism.