Indonesia: Landmark Ruling Allows Civilian Trials of Soldiers

(London) - The Indonesian Constitutional Court's ruling requiring reform of the military justice system so that military personnel accused of ordinary crimes can be tried in civilian courts is a major step for justice in Indonesia, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should immediately revise the 1997 Military Justice Law, which has long prevented civilian prosecutions of members of the armed forces for crimes under the Indonesian criminal code, including for serious human rights violations.

On October 15, 2026, the Constitutional Court's nine justices unanimously ruled that the Military Justice Law is conditionally unconstitutional under articles 24(1) and 28D(1) of the 1945 Constitution, which guarantee an independent judiciary and equality before the law. The law will become unconstitutional if it is not amended by October 2028, giving the government a two-year deadline.

"The Constitutional Court's landmark ruling recognizes that Indonesia's military courts aren't capable of impartially trying crimes against civilians, as victims and human rights defenders have said for decades, " said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "President Prabowo Subianto and the Indonesian parliament should consult with victims and rights groups and promptly amend the military justice law."

Under the 1997 law, civilian police cannot investigate military personnel, with only a few rarely invoked exceptions. Even when soldiers serving in civilian institutions have been accused of crimes under the criminal code, military courts have had jurisdiction over the case. Human Rights Watch found that Indonesia's military justice system lacks transparency, independence, and impartiality, and has failed to properly investigate and prosecute alleged serious human rights abuses by military personnel.

The petitioners challenged articles 9(1), 43(3), and 127 of the law, which allow active duty military personnel to be tried in military courts even for crimes ordinarily prosecuted in civilian courts. The Constitutional Court found that the distinction between military offenses and ordinary criminal offenses must be clearly defined. Justice Enny Nurbaningsih said that when an offense has no military character but accountability for it remains within a command-based system, "there is a structural risk that military's institutional interests will conflict with the need to ensure independent and impartial legal proceedings."

The Constitutional Court also noted that the military judiciary is not fully integrated into the judicial system overseen by the Supreme Court and urged lawmakers to create a single system. Military judges are active duty soldiers, and investigation, prosecution, and adjudication all take place within the military chain-of-command.

Revisions to the Military Justice Law have been pending for decades. As part of structural reforms that followed the end of authoritarian rule under President Soeharto from 1965 to 1998, the 2004 Armed Forces Law made soldiers subject to civilian courts for ordinary crimes. However, that provision would only take effect when a new military justice law was enacted. The Constitutional Court's ruling imposes a two-year time frame for those revisions, which successive Indonesian governments have deferred.

Muhammad Afif Abdul Qoyim, a lawyer from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, told Human Rights Watch: "There is no need to wait two years to revise the Law on Military Justice so that new rules are in line with the Constitutional Court's ruling."

Serious abuses by Indonesian security forces have gone unpunished for decades because of legal restrictions on civilian investigations and prosecutions under the 1997 law, Human Rights Watch said.

On March 12, 2026, military personnel carried out an acid attack against Andrie Yunus, a 27-year-old deputy coordinator at KontraS (Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence), causing burns over 24 percent of his body and possible loss of sight in his right eye. A military court in Jakarta convicted four soldiers in June and sentenced them to 18 months to three years in prison and dismissal from the military. On August 20, a military appeals court reduced the two longest sentences by six months each and overturned their dishonorable discharges. The Judicial Commission has alleged ethical violations by the panel that tried the case at first instance.

KontraS said in a statement that the Constitutional Court ruling "closes a legal loophole that has been seen as shielding errant soldiers from accountable law enforcement, and marks a new chapter in upholding the rule of law and completing the mandate of security sector reform in Indonesia."

One of the petitioners in the case is the mother of a 15-year-old boy tortured to death in Medan, North Sumatra, in 2024 by a soldier who was sentenced by a military court to only 10 months in prison, though the maximum penalty is 15 years. In Papua, the military justice system has repeatedly failed victims of violence allegedly committed by military personnel.

Under President Prabowo Subianto, a former general dismissed from the military for human rights violations, the military's role in civilian affairs has expanded. In March 2025, the national legislature passed amendments to the Armed Forces Law to allow active duty officers to hold more government posts. The number of civilian institutions open to serving soldiers-which includes the Supreme Court and the Attorney General's office-rose from 10 to 14.

Lawmakers should prioritize amending the Military Justice Law through an open process with meaningful participation of victims and civil society, Human Rights Watch said. The amended law should clarify investigative and prosecutorial powers and provide a mechanism for transferring cases from military courts to the civilian system.

"Justice for civilian victims of military abuses shouldn't be blocked by an unfair military court system," Pearson said. "Amending the law on military justice will support efforts begun decades ago to ensure the Indonesian military is a professional, credible institution whose soldiers are held accountable when they commit serious abuses."