Indonesian police kill dozens in Asian Games 'clean-up' Indonesia Indonesian police kill dozens in Asian Games 'clean-...
Indonesia Indonesian police kill dozens in Asian Games 'clean-up'
Amnesty says more than 30 killings directly linked to street crime crackdown

Police in Jakarta have killed dozens of people as part of an escalating crackdown against petty criminals ahead of the Asian Games, in a campaign Amnesty Internation al has described as âunnecessary and excessiveâ.
Based on monitoring from January to August this year, Amnesty International said 31 police killings were directly linked to the Games, which open in Jakarta and Palembang on Saturday.
The rights group said police shot dead 77 petty criminals across the whole of Indonesia during the same period, a 64% increase from 2017.
Cover-up: Jakarta hides foul river with giant net before Asian Games Read moreAmnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid argued the surge in killings revealed a âveil of impunityâ that taints the Indonesian security apparatus.
âThe hosting of an international sporting event must not come at the price of abandoning human rights. The killings must stop and all deaths must be promptly and effectively investigated,â he said.
About 12,000 athletes are expected to compete in the 18th Asian Games, the largest multi-sporting event outside the Ol ympics, which will run from 18 August to 2 September. Indonesia is deploying 100,000 police and soldiers to provide security.
Intense preparations have been under way to beautify the capital for the influx of foreign visitors, and the surge in police killings comes as part of a âpublic safetyâ operation to secure the cities for the big event.
The shootings follow several directives this July from high-ranking police officers for their personnel âto take firm actionsâ against suspects who pose a public threat, including a âshoot on sightâ policy against those who resist.
Following those orders eleven people were fatally shot in 10 days of July, with rights groups sounding concern that officers had interpreted the statements as âa licence to killâ.
âThe Asian Games are intended to celebrate human achievement, not provide a pretext for a police âshoot to killâ policy in the name of crime control,â said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia direct or at Human Rights Watch.
Despite criticism Indonesiaâs national police chief Tito Karniavan chief reaffirmed the policy on 30 July, saying: âIf they fight the officers during the arrest then have no doubt, just shoot them.â
In the past two years several Indonesian officials have lauded the killing of criminal suspects and offered praise for President Rodrigo Duterteâs violent drug war in the Philippines.
In July 2017 the national police chief suggested the Philippine example showed that capital punishment was an effective way to deal with drug dealers.
âFrom practice in the field we see that when we shoot at drug dealers they go away,â he said.
Topics- Indonesia
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