International human rights body Amnesty has criticized Indonesia’s war on drugs rolled out this year, saying extrajudicial deaths of suspects have skyrocketed following comments by President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo.
Amnesty International said 55 Indonesian and foreign nationals had been killed without access to proper legal recourse by authorities between January and August, according to a report in the Straits Times.
Jokowi and National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian have both previously warned of a drug crackdown similar to the violent policies introduced in the Philippines by President Rodrigo Duterte which has seen thousands killed over the last year. Most recently on July 21, Jokowi repeated the call.
“After Jokowi’s order, eight more (suspected drug dealers) have been summarily killed,” Amnesty International Indonesia researcher Bramantya Basuki said in comments to the Jakarta Post.
Most of the deaths have been explained away by authorities saying the suspects had resisted arrest or become violent, the report said.
“No matter where the suspected dealers come from, they are human beings whose right to life must be protected under all circumstances. Indonesia must think about the scenario where Indonesians suspected of being drug dealers overseas will be treated in the same way,” Amnesty International Indonesia Director Usman Hamid said, as reported by the Straits Times.