Thursday, July 30, 2026 — PUSKAPOL UI attended the 918th Kamisan Action with victims, their families, students, activists, and other civil society members in front of the State Palace. The Kamisan Action is a symbolic action that began in 2007 in response to the state’s neglect in resolving past human rights violations. Every Thursday, people stand consistently dressed in black, carrying umbrellas, and holding posters. All of this is done as a symbol of preserving memory and rejecting the impunity perpetuated by the state.
The demonstration began at around 3 p.m. with a silent protest. Participants carried black umbrellas bearing messages about past human rights violations and posters while facing the State Palace. Banners were also unfurled along the roadside, warning drivers not to forget past human rights violations.
As the afternoon wore on, more and more people arrived to join the Kamisan Action. After the silent protest, the action continued with reflections and street lectures from the participants. Reflections were delivered by representatives from Titimangsa, Suara Ibu Indonesia, and several students. The points raised were diverse, including art as resistance, government corruption, state incompetence in protecting family rights, and the misuse of education funds for MBG. However, the core of the reflections remained the same: highlighting the state’s neglect of the rights of its citizens.
PUSKAPOL UI also provided a reflection through a street lecture presented by Hurriyah, who also teaches the course “Human Rights and Political Change” in the Undergraduate Program in Political Science at the University of Indonesia. In her presentation, Hurriyah criticized the draft revision of Law No. 39 of 1999, which she feared could weaken the fulfillment and enforcement of human rights in Indonesia. Furthermore, Indonesia is currently being hit by a new wave of authoritarianism. According to Hurriyah, this new authoritarianism in Indonesia works through the weakening of democratic institutions and opposition forces, the narrowing of civil space, the dysfunctional oversight function of the House of Representatives (DPR), and normalized impunity. As a result, the state, through its apparatus, continues to violate human rights without any consequences.
Hurriyah’s presentation also emphasized the importance of understanding the political context of human rights in Indonesia, which remains selective. This means that some aspects of humanity and citizen rights are recognized, while others are not. Hurriyah cited indigenous communities as an example. When celebrating Indonesian culture, indigenous communities are given space—but they are silenced when they fight for their rights to land and living space, which are threatened by extractive industry practices and state-sanctioned natural resource exploitation. This also demonstrates that human rights are closely tied to the arena of power—the state only fulfills its citizens’ human rights when it feels it benefits from them and remains silent when those human rights are deemed a “threat” to the state. In fact, the state should have the duty to protect, fulfill, and respect human rights.
The Thursday Action demonstrates that the struggle for human rights is not a one-day endeavor. Amidst the threat of weakening human rights institutions and the rise of new authoritarianism, the Thursday Action emphasizes the need to maintain civil space and the right to remember. As long as the state fails to truly protect, fulfill, and respect the human rights of all its citizens, the black umbrella will continue to stand every Thursday as a reminder that justice for victims and families of human rights violations is an obligation the state must never forget.
Live the Victim, Don’t Be Silent, Fight Back!
