Forces

Kopassus arriving in Wamena, West Papua

Kopassus (Komando Pasukan Khusus, Special Forces Command) is an Indonesian Army (TNI-AD) special forces group that conducts special operations missions for the Indonesian government, such as direct action, unconventional warfare, sabotage, counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, intelligence gathering and special reconnaissance. Kopassus was founded on 16 April 1952 and has spearheaded some of the Indonesian government's most violent military campaigns. Kopassus' military record includes putting down regional rebellions in the late 1950s, Operation Trikora (the invasion of West Papua) in 1961–1962, the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation from 1962–1966, massacres of up to a million alleged communists in 1965, the invasion of East Timor invasion in 1975, and subsequent campaigns against separatists in East Timor, Aceh, Maluku and West Papua.

Kopassus troops parade in West Papua

Kopassus has been reported by national and international media, human rights-affiliated NGOs and researchers to have committed violations of human rights in East Timor, Aceh, Papua and Java. Kopassus has been implicated in massacres of civilians in East Timor and West Papua and has also been held responsible for some high profile murders, such as the shooting of the 'Balibo Five' in East Timor and the assassinations of Arnold Ap and Theys Eluay in West Papua. The United Nations Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor found there was evidence that Kopassus armed and directed militias to conduct intimidation and terror in East Timor to influence the outcome of the independence referendum in 1999.

Arnold Ap was a West Papuan cultural leader, anthropologist and musician. Arnold was the leader of the group Mambesak, and Curator of the Cenderawasih University Museum. In November 1983, he was arrested by Kopassus and imprisoned and tortured for suspected sympathies with the Free Papua Movement, although no charges were laid. In April 1984, he was killed by a gunshot to his back. Official accounts claim he was trying to escape, however supporters believe Ap was executed by Kopassus. Another musician, Eddie Mofu, was also killed.

Beloved artist and activist Arnold Ap was murdered by Kopassus in 1984

Between 1997 and 1998, Kopassus members from Tim Mawar (Rose Team) were responsible for kidnapping at least 22 pro-democracy activists, mainly in Jakarta. Nine activists were released and 13 remain missing, presumed dead. In 1999, 11 members of Tim Mawar were found guilty by a military court, however they were released on appeal and all but one remained in the military.

Families and human rights advocates continue to commemorate the missing activists and agitate for justice.

Current Defence Minister of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, served in Kopassus from 1970 to 1998, when he was appointed chief of the Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad). During the 1998 riots in Jakarta Prabowo trucked in battalions of Kopassus and Kostrad troops to 'maintain order' as 'unknown elements' committed hundreds of rapes and murders in the city. This troop deployment was widely seen as an effort to seize power from then TNI Commander in Chief Wiranto, with a view to succeeding Suharto as president. After the riots and the fall of Suharto, Prabowo acknowledged his responsibility for the kidnap and torture of the human rights activists. He was dishonourably discharged from the military for 'misinterpreting orders'. 

Prabowo went into exile in Jordan but returned to Indonesia and contested the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections. President Joko Widodo caused international outrage when he appointed Prabowo, a self-confessed torturer with an admiration for fascism and aspirations to dictatorship, as Indonesia's Defence Minister. The outrage deepened in September 2020, when Prabowo appointed two of the Tim Mawar officers, both serving Brigadier generals, to senior positions in the Ministry of Defence following approval by President Joko Widodo. 

In 2001, four Kopassus members were convicted of the strangulation of Theys Eluay, the former chairman of the Papua Presidium Council. They were part of a group which had killed Theys after ambushing him and his driver. The group's leader, Lt-Col Hatono, and three other Kopassus members were sentenced to three years in jail, while a further two officers had their charges dismissed. The Kopassus members faced a court-martial, which found them not guilty on the more serious charges of premeditated murder, because Kopassus are legally exempt from the jurisdiction of civil law. Indonesian Army Chief, General Ryamizard Ryacudu (2002–05), accepted the men had to be prosecuted "because Indonesia is a State based on law" but he affirmed their defence's view that they were heroes who had killed a rebel leader.

Thousands attended the funeral of loved West Papuan leader Theys Eluay.

Kopassus has also been associated with illegal economic activities, like involvement in the trade of Agarwood and illegal gold mining in West Papua and other areas, and the trade in drugs. In August 2002, Kopassus was accused of killing three foreign teachers and wounding 12 others in an ambush near the Freeport mine. It was widely held that the attack was aimed at blackmailing mine owners into paying protection money. From 2000 to 2002, Freeport-McMoRan paid the TNI $10.7 million in protection money, but the company shut down the payments shortly before the ambush. Prabowo himself has amassed a fortune during his military career through controlling interests in logging, palm oil, coal, oil and gas projects, including in West Papua. 

A soldier poses in the wheel of a mining rig at Freeport, Intan Jaya West Papua