Amnesty International: Peaceful Protests a Right, Not a Threat Amid Controversial Election Bill

On Wednesday, August 21, 2024, various civil society social media accounts in Indonesia began posting messages calling for a “State of Emergency.”

These calls emerged after the DPR RI overturned a Constitutional Court ruling during the August 21 Baleg (Legislation Body) meeting. One of the DPR RI’s key decisions was to impose a threshold requiring candidates for Governor and Deputy Governor to secure at least 20 seats in the regional legislative council (DPRD) or 25% of the DPRD election vote.

The protests against the DPR RI’s decision have intensified due to Article 24C (1) of the 1945 Constitution, which states that Constitutional Court rulings are final and cannot be revised. Critics argue that the DPR has acted arbitrarily by intervening in judicial authority.

Amnesty International Indonesia’s statement calls on the government to respect and protect the right to protest peacefully, in accordance with international human rights standards.(Uki Ruknuddin)