Human rights group says 20 missing after deadly Indonesia protests

At least 20 people are missing while the the leader of human rights group has been arrested as Indonesia grapples with more than a week of violent protests.

It comes as President Prabowo Subianto flew to China for Xi Jinping’s military parade after earlier cancelling his trip because of the unrest across the country sparked by lavish perks for Indonesian lawmakers that have widened to include anger against police.

At least six people have been killed since protests last week, intensified by footage spreading of the killing of a young delivery driver by a paramilitary police unit. A massive security crackdown has shut down Jakarta as unrest emerged in cities across Indonesia. It forced President Prabowo into a U-turn on the lawmaker perks after the worst protests since the ex-general took power last year.

The Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence said 23 reports of missing persons had been received by Monday.

“After the search and verification process, 20 missing persons remain unfound,” it said in a statement.

The group said the 20 were reported missing in the cities of Bandung and Depok on Java island, and in the administrative districts of Central Jakarta, East Jakarta and North Jakarta that make up the wider capital city.

Police have said 1240 people had been arrested in Jakarta since August 25, according to the Antara state news agency.

Jakarta police spokesman Ade Ary Syam Indradi said on Tuesday officers arrested activist Delpedro Marhaen, the director of the Lokataru Foundation. The NGO confirmed the arrest.

He was held “on suspicion of making provocative incitement to commit anarchic actions”, Mr Ade said.

Mr Ade also said police in Jakarta had identified another 38 people as suspects for allegedly committing “anarchic activities”, including throwing Molotov cocktails towards officers and torching a bus stop.

In Central Java, police had detained more than 1700 people between Friday and Monday, most of them aged under 18. Of those, 46 were identified as suspects, Central Java police official Dwi Subagio said,

More protests had been expected outside parliament in Jakarta on Tuesday but crowds, which have dwindled since the military was deployed to the capital, did not emerge.

The United Nations human rights office called on Monday for an investigation into the alleged use of unnecessary or disproportionate force in responding to the rallies.

The unrest initially forced Prabowo to cancel a planned trip to China, but State Secretariat Minister Prasetyo Hadi said late Tuesday that the president would visit Beijing for a military parade after all.

“Today he monitored the situation and received reports from all relevant officials that public life was gradually returning to normal,” said Prasetyo.

The military was deployed across Jakarta on Monday as hundreds gathered again outside parliament and clashes were reported in several other cities.

On Tuesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Smartraveller website upgraded its travel warning for Indonesia to a level two.

This means Australians travelling to the country are advised to “exercise a high degree of caution” due to “overall security risks”.

Mr Prabowo criticised protesters as he visited injured police at a hospital and said rallies should end by sundown.

In Bandung, protesters hurled Molotov cocktails at a provincial council building before police fired tear gas overnight at “suspected... anarchists” who blocked a road.

Officers clashed with protesters whom they accused of trying to draw them into a campus at the Bandung Islamic University, West Java police spokesman Hendra Rochman said in a statement on Tuesday.

Some social media users accused police of firing tear gas and rubber bullets into the campus and storming it.

“Officers maintained a distance of approximately 200 metres from the campus and no shots were directed at the campus,” Hendra said.

The university denied its students had instigated unrest.

Thousands more rallied in Palembang on Sumatra island and hundreds gathered in Banjarmasin on Borneo island, Yogyakarta on Java, and Makassar on Sulawesi.

In Gorontalo city on Sulawesi island, protesters clashed with police who responded with tear gas and water cannon.

Gorontalo police spokesman Desmont Harjendro told reporters on Tuesday police arrested 11 people for questioning over the protests.

Social media platform TikTok said on Tuesday it had lifted a suspension of its live feature, which it had imposed three days earlier in anticipation of further unrest.

Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly said security forces had “acted irresponsibly by treating the protests as acts of treason or terrorism” and called for an investigation.