Amnesty International Urges Defence Ministry to Investigate Deaths of Three Military Training Participants

Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid has spoken out regarding the deaths of participants in a basic military training programme for prospective managers of the Merah Putih village and fishing community cooperatives. Usman is urging a transparent investigation into their deaths. He expressed regret that the participants lost their lives merely for attending the semi-military training and criticised the Ministry of Defence for its slow disclosure of the matter to the public. “There are many irregularities. The victims’ families and the public have the right to know the cause of death and to thoroughly investigate who is responsible,” Usman said, quoted in Jakarta on Friday (26/6/2026). He pushed for an investigation into the deaths, noting that the participants had previously been declared fit to join the training by the Ministry of Defence. “This is a tragedy and there must be an independent investigation into their deaths. Moreover, the Ministry of Defence claimed that both had undergone medical examinations which declared them eligible to undergo the training,” Usman stated. He stressed that this tragic incident is a grim portrait of the dangers of rising militarism for civilians. Usman highlighted that military training for prospective managers of the Village Cooperative and Fishermen’s Cooperative was misguided from the start. “This must be stopped. What is needed is business management skills training and dialogical communication, not military training based on physical strength and one-way communication,” Usman said.