Nova Nursyahbani Mochtar

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How the Demonstrations Led by University Students

Can Change Indonesia’s Foreign Policy

Deafening, resounding shots of tear gases launched are echoing from videos on the internet.

Wherever you look for news the past few weeks, all outlets—online and offline alike—have
been reporting the riots happening in different cities of Indonesia. Students from famous
universities took to the streets, pioneered a movement to empty their classes and fight for their
rights.

What started as a peaceful protest in Yogyakarta that went viral under the hashtag
#GejayanMemanggil1 evolved into a series of violent riots. Aliansi BEM Seluruh Indonesia
(Nationwide Student Executive Body Alliance), an organization of BEM leaders and
representatives from different universities in Indonesia, have also announced their participation
in the protest, providing a press release that is also a statement of stance 2.

The first demonstration was held by university students from Yogyakarta on Monday, 23
September 2019. It happened because of the demands from these students about new law bills
that were deemed regressive and not beneficial for those who don’t occupy high positions in
the government. The second is held in front of House of Representatives in Jakarta on Tuesday,
24 September 2019. Other universities outside Java have also marched for their own regional
protests.

Mainly, these students had demands for the government to reject the RKUHP (Criminal Code
Bill) as it contains many controversial articles. Sexism and classism are rampant in these bills,
which is why youth, who will live out the rules until it’s time they take over the government,
tried their best in hindering the passing of these bills.

Another demand that they had is for the government to pass RUU PKS (Sexual Violence Bill),
as it can protect the victims of sexual assault. There are too many cases ignored by the
authorities, assaulter who have gotten away with little punishment, and victims who don’t feel
safe to come out with their experience. This bill can and will effectively lower the amount of
sexual crimes committed, and considering such cases happening often in university
backgrounds with no serious repercussion for the perpetrators, students want this bill to soon
be passed.

1Devi R. Gejayan Memanggil dan Aksi Pergerakan Mahasiswa di Yogyakarta. DetikNews.

https://news.detik.com/berita/d-4717325/gejayan-memanggil-dan-aksi-pergerakan-mahasiswa-di-yogyakarta.
Published 2019. Accessed October 5, 2019.

2Maklumat Tuntaskan Reformasi. BEM SI; 2019. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-XHPK2uyc3TcQmalt7L-

ZEYgHakTb9C1/view. Accessed October 5, 2019.
The seven demands 3 from students are publicized everywhere, distributed through social media
as the agenda for the demonstrations. Among those, not only the passing of RKUHP is
demanded to be rejected, but also the revoking of new KPK law. KPK (Corruption Eradication
Commission) is a government-run agency with the task of fighting corruption that is rampant
inside the government. The passing of the revised KPK law would weaken the outreach of the
agency’s investigation, therefore enabling corruptors to get away more easily.

As for the RKUHP, what has enraged the students greatly, is how it benefits those indicted
with corruption charges. While homeless people can be fined up to Rp1 million for reasons as
simple as loitering, criminals who did corruption can plead for breaks where they can go to
malls as to not feel cooped up. Not only that, the primary corruptors are mostly reside within
the House of Representatives itself. Yet, they want to choose new leaders for KPK, thus placing
puppets inside the agency that won’t rat on them.

One demand might be buried beneath the more publicized ones, like the decriminalization of
Papuan human rights advocates, the release of Papuan political prisoners, and to end the
militarism in Papua. If you are not quite familiar with what is going on in Papua, the briefest
way to explain it is how an irresponsible member of the authority discriminated a Papuan
student, racially, and when Papuans asked for indiscriminate treatment, the government
silenced the whole province by shutting down their network. The people, Papuans and non-
Papuans alike, who have demanded their voices to be heard are criminalized, and many military
officers are posted in the region to keep the peace.

Several international news outlets, including The New York Times 4, BBC News5, CNN World6,
The Guardian7, and Aljazeera8 have done coverage on the demonstrations and the controversial
bills themselves.

Video clips circling around and live tweets from the demonstrators have given international
media more than enough information about how the protests have gone awry. In the effort to
push back the students gathered in front of the House of Representatives building, the police

3The Jakarta Post on Twitter: "Student protesters' demands #jakpost https://t.co/nVn3kgZEWU" / Twitter.
Twitter. https://twitter.com/jakpost/status/1176719216033976322. Published 2019. Accessed October 5, 2019.

4Paddock R, Suhartono M. Thousands in Indonesia Protest Bills to Limit Rights and Ban Extramarital Sex.
Nytimes.com. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/30/world/asia/indonesia-protests-joko-widodo.html. Published
2019. Accessed October 5, 2019.

5Clashes in Indonesia over sex before marriage bill. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-
49810741. Published 2019. Accessed October 5, 2019.

6Hollingsworth J. Indonesian police fire tear gas as students protest law that would criminalize extramarital sex.
CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/25/asia/indonesia-protests-criminal-code-intl-hnk/index.html. Published
2019. Accessed October 5, 2019.

7Indonesian students clash with police in protests over new law. the Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/30/indonesian-students-resume-anti-corruption-protests.
Published 2019. Accessed October 5, 2019.

8Indonesia protests: Hundreds hurt in student-police clashes. Aljazeera.com.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/indonesia-protests-80-students-hurt-police-clashes-
190925044211780.html. Published 2019. Accessed October 5, 2019.
threw tear gases and water cannon at the students. This amount of violence has made headlines
on the news outlets mentioned above.

Another recurring theme of these headlines seem to be how the students are protesting only the
extramarital sex, which is oversimplifying it. While that is another problem in itself, problems
have reared its head in the form of international tourists complaining about the sex law.

Many tourists from the western hemisphere go to Bali for their vacation, and unlike in
Indonesia, sex while unmarried is not a foreign thing to them, much less the intimate and
private intercourse during vacation. The students, with their more progressive point of view,
are fighting the cause, asserting to keep their private relations private. Australian government
has even issued caution 9 for their citizens who are visiting Indonesia, as the sex ban can apply
for them.

Things don’t sound good for Indonesia internationally, not with the news of police brutality
and the regressive law bills. This can lead to the depleting desire of making Indonesia a travel
destination and the change of view international actors have on Indonesia as a country that
doesn’t appreciate and execute human rights practice.

Currently, the fundamentals of Indonesia’s foreign policy as stated by the first vice president,
Moh. Hatta, are that we adopt an independent and active 10 foreign policy. It’s based on the
basic philosophy Indonesia has, Pancasila, to stay neutral (not siding with any international
powers) but not passive (actively lending hand to keep world peace as stated in UUD 1945 but
not binding the military powers with any other countries).

Under Jokowi, the foreign policy is rather unchanging since the beginning of reformation.
Jokowi’s ambition lies in building a better infrastructure, and while that is plenty helpful,
Indonesia’s foreign relations have grown stagnant. Ever since his first term, Jokowi himself
acknowledged his own disinterest11 in foreign affairs.

Delegates are sent to international summits on different fields, especially in the economy sector,
but it is not enough. Jokowi’s presence in high-level, prioritized summits can reap many
benefits amidst the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China.

Essentially, with the youth’s rampant demonstrations, offline and online, the news of
Indonesian government’s controversial takes does not do any favors. The protests have not
stopped, either, still on going where it can still be heard. Jokowi’s silence on the matter and
subtle refusal to reject the controversial bills will not be granting him any positive judgment,
either.

9Smartraveller.gov.au - Indonesia. Smartraveller.gov.au. https://smartraveller.gov.au/countries/asia/south-

east/pages/indonesia.aspx. Published 2019. Accessed October 5, 2019.

10Foreign Policy – Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia | Washington D.C. Embassyofindonesia.org.

https://www.embassyofindonesia.org/index.php/foreign-policy/. Published 2019. Accessed October 6, 2019.

11 Sapiie M. Jokowi promises little change in foreign policy in second term. The Jakarta Post.
https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/06/12/jokowi-promises-little-change-in-foreign-policy-in-second-
term.html. Published 2019. Accessed October 6, 2019.
The combined effect of these factors will not help Indonesia in the international eyes.
International actors have previously called out Indonesia’s unsustainable palm oil extraction,
and they will not hesitate to do the same about the lack of progress in the new revised bills.

Independent and active as our foreign policy cannot afford to not be implemented internally
and externally, not with the human rights crisis in Papua also steadily gaining traction
internationally. News of discrimination against Papuans are only now making appearance on
the internet, after the years of exploitation they have had to endure.

A human rights lawyer, Veronica Koman, is prosecuted 12 for bringing awareness to the issue
in Papua. She has been threatened for ‘spreading rumors’ on the internet that went viral that
it’s gotten the attention of the UN Human Rights Commissioner and MPs in the UK parliament.

A simple pledge13 will not be enough as long as proof of citizen mistreatment keeps being
uploaded to the internet. Blocking internet access has never been and never will be effective if
nothing is being done about the many crises happening throughout Indonesia.

Without the development in our stale foreign policy, Indonesia will fall back in the innovation
of foreign affairs. Countries that could possibly give many opportunities for Indonesia, can pull
back from investing. If that happens and we still do not practice the ‘active’ part of our foreign
policy, it is not impossible that Indonesia will cease to make progress in many fields.

In conclusion, with the record-breaking, youth-led protests making headlines on international

news outlets, shedding light on the problems and crises going on in Indonesia, a change to a
firmer and more active foreign policy is needed. The stagnancy of Indonesia’s outlook on
foreign affairs will only bring misfortune, and it is better to prevent the citizens from requesting
aid from international actors once they deem their own rulers will not listen to their voices,
making the damage on Indonesian government irreversible.

12Grey K. Villages Torched, Villagers Tortured: Extreme human rights violations in West Papua. Dateline.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/villages-torched-villagers-tortured-extreme-human-rights-violations-in-
west-papua. Published 2019. Accessed October 6, 2019.

13Indonesian police apologise after terrorising suspected thief with snake. the Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/11/indonesian-police-apologise-after-terrorising-suspected-thief-
with-snake. Published 2019. Accessed October 6, 2019.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Devi, Rizky Wika Shintya. “Gejayan Memanggil dan Aksi Pergerakan Mahasiswa di
Yogyakarta.” DetikNews. 23 September 2019. https://news.detik.com/berita/d-
4717325/gejayan-memanggil-dan-aksi-pergerakan-mahasiswa-di-yogyakarta.

“Maklumat Tuntaskan Reformasi.” Aliansi BEM Seluruh Indonesia. 23 September 2019.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-XHPK2uyc3TcQmalt7L-ZEYgHakTb9C1/view.

“The Jakarta Post on Twitter: "Student protesters' demands #jakpost

https://t.co/nVn3kgZEWU" / Twitter.” Twitter. 30 September 2019.
https://twitter.com/jakpost/status/1176719216033976322.

Paddock, Richard, and Suhartono, Muktita. “Thousands in Indonesia Protest Bills to Limit
Rights and Ban Extramarital Sex.” The New York Times. 30 September 2019.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/30/world/asia/indonesia-protests-joko-widodo.html.

“Clashes in Indonesia over sex before marriage bill.” BBC News. 24 September 2019.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49810741.

Hollingsworth, Julia. “Indonesian police fire tear gas as students protest law that would
criminalize extramarital sex.” CNN. 26 September 2019.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/25/asia/indonesia-protests-criminal-code-intl-
hnk/index.html.

“Indonesian students clash with police in protests over new law.” The Guardian. 30
September 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/30/indonesian-
students-resume-anti-corruption-protests.

“Indonesia protests: Hundreds hurt in student-police clashes.” Aljazeera. 25 September 2019.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/indonesia-protests-80-students-hurt-police-
clashes-190925044211780.html.

“Smartraveller.gov.au - Indonesia.” Smartraveller.gov.au. 20 September 2019.

https://smartraveller.gov.au/countries/asia/south-east/pages/indonesia.aspx.

“Foreign Policy – Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia | Washington D.C.”

Embassyofindonesia.org. https://www.embassyofindonesia.org/index.php/foreign-
policy/.

Sapiie, Marguerite Afra. “Jokowi promises little change in foreign policy in second term.”
The Jakarta Post. 13 June 2019.
https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/06/12/jokowi-promises-little-change-in-
foreign-policy-in-second-term.html.

Grey, Kylie. “Villages Torched, Villagers Tortured: Extreme human rights violations in West
Papua.” Dateline. 12 September 2019. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/villages-
torched-villagers-tortured-extreme-human-rights-violations-in-west-papua.
“Indonesian police apologise after terrorising suspected thief with snake.” The Guardian. 11
February 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/11/indonesian-police-
apologise-after-terrorising-suspected-thief-with-snake.