Human rights body calls for end to Indonesia military training for coop managers after 5 die

JAKARTA- Indonesia's human rights commission on Sunday called on the government to end basic military training for prospective managers of President Prabowo Subianto's flagship village cooperative program after five participants died just 10 days into the 45-day training.

Launched in July last year, the "Red and White Cooperatives" program aims to establish around 80,000 village cooperatives across Indonesia to create jobs and meet the government's target of 8% economic growth in 2029. They are intended to sell basic goods, subsidised cooking gas and fertilizer.

The military training, which nearly 35,000 future cooperative managers must complete, started on June 14 and continues until July 31 in several regional military training units.

The agency "recommends the government stop ... the basic military training for the prospective managers of the cooperatives and fishing villages programs, considering that cooperatives are economic institutions oriented in business management, services to members, and organizational governance," said Pramono Ubaid Tantowi, an official at the rights commission.

The defense ministry, which is leading the training, said on Saturday that five people died between June 17 and June 26, and the deaths were the result of a variety of causes including cardiac arrest, heat stroke, tuberculosis and pneumonia.

"The five participants have different medical conditions and received medical treatment according to the standard procedures," said Major General Ketut Gede Wetan, head of human resource development at the ministry.

Ketut said all participants had undergone medical checks before joining the training and all were declared clear.

He said the focus of the training was not on combat skills and involved no strenuous physical activity.

The defense ministry said it would conduct a "comprehensive evaluation" of the training, which would include health monitoring, early detection of participants with health risks, and an adjustment to the intensity of the activities. The health ministry would also be involved in the training, it added.

Pramono said capacity-building for cooperative managers should focus on strengthening managerial competence, leadership, and financial literacy.

"Basic military training does not directly support the achievement of those competencies," he said.

The commission called for a government investigation into the deaths and urged police to immediately request forensic autopsies to get evidence regarding the cause of death as part of any criminal investigation.

Prabowo, a former general who took office in 2024, has expanded military roles in civilian affairs, including to his flagship programs.

(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Editing by Kate Mayberry)