Indonesia rights body urges end to military training in Prabowo cooperative project after five die

Indonesia’s human rights commission urged the government to end basic military training for participants in President Prabowo Subianto’s “Red and White Cooperatives” program after five people died during an initial training phase. The recommendation came Sunday in response to deaths reported just 10 days after the 45-day course began, with training starting June 14 and running through July 31 across regional military units. The program, launched in July last year, targets roughly 80,000 village cooperatives aimed at creating jobs and supporting an 8% economic growth goal for 2029, selling basic goods, subsidized cooking gas, and fertilizer. Commission official Pramono Ubaid Tantowi said the training should stop because cooperatives are economic institutions focused on business management and governance, not military skills. The defense ministry said the five deaths between June 17 and June 26 stemmed from different causes including cardiac arrest, heat stroke, tuberculosis and pneumonia, and that medical checks cleared participants and the training was not combat-focused. The commission called for an investigation and forensic autopsies.