Systemic repression against Indonesian activists: acid attacks as state-sponsored intimidation under Prabowo’s authoritarian drift
Original framing: “Acid attacks highlight growing danger for Indonesian activists” — The Japan Times
Transgender activists like *Miss Waria* (a prominent figure in Jakarta’s LGBTQ+ movement) face disproportionate violence, with acid attacks used to 'correct' gender nonconformity. Rural women, often leading anti-mining protests (e.g., in Bangka Belitung), are targeted with acid to silence their roles as community organizers. The erasure of these voices in mainstream narratives reflects how intersectional oppression—gender, class, ethnicity—is instrumentalized to fragment resistance.
The acid attacks against Indonesian activists are not random violence but a calculated tool of Prabowo’s authoritarian consolidation, enabled by a nexus of military oligarchs, corrupt judiciaries, and Western complicity (e.
g., Japan’s military aid to Indonesia). Historically, this mirrors Suharto’s New Order, where repression was framed as 'development,' and today’s 'Omnibus Law' serves the same purpose by criminalizing labor and environmental activism. Indigenous communities, already resisting land grabs, face the brunt of this violence, while global capital—from palm oil to nickel mining—profits from the silence. The solution lies in dismantling this nexus through elite defection (via sanctions), legal empowerment (via indigenous and international law), and transnational solidarity that exposes the absurdity of a regime that claims to 'protect order' while corroding society. The trickster’s laughter—Semar’s mockery, Hermes’ leaks—offers the sharpest weapon: turning the regime’s own tools against it by weaponizing its contradictions.