Calls grow to end military training in Indonesia village cooperatives project after five die

Five participants died just 10 days into the 45-day training from causes including cardiac arrest, heat stroke, tuberculosis and pneumonia, according to the defence ministry. 

Indonesia's defence ministry holds a press conference on Jun 27, 2026 after five prospective managers of the Red and White Cooperatives programme died during military training. (Photo: Facebook/Kementerian Pertahanan Republik Indonesia)

Indonesia's human rights commission and other rights groups have called on the government to end basic military training for prospective managers of President Prabowo Subianto's flagship village cooperatives programme after five participants died just 10 days into the 45-day training.

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

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

The defence ministry, which is leading the training, said on Saturday that five people died between Jun 17 and Jun 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. 

The latest three fatalities were Novia Rahmadhani Sihotang, Muhammad Rifki Renaldi Gunawan and Nola Dya Sari, who died in separate incidents between Jun 22 and Jun 26, local media reported.

Their deaths came after Anisa Muyassaroh and Yonanda Muhammad Taufiq died on Jun 18 and Jun 17, respectively.

The ministry said each victim's family would receive 50 million rupiah (US$2,799) in compensation. 

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

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

The defence 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.

Despite the deaths, the defence ministry said training would continue, adding that it had conducted a series of evaluations following the first two fatalities to strengthen safety and health monitoring of participants.

Screengrab of a video published by Indonesia's defence ministry on Jun 28, 2026, on military training for prospective managers of the Red and White Cooperatives programme. (Image: Facebook/Kementerian Pertahanan Republik Indonesia)

"Cooperatives are economic institutions oriented in business management, member services, and organisational governance" said Pramono Ubaid Tantowi, an official at the commission. 

He 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.

The Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform, which comprises human rights groups in the country, similarly called for an "immediate end" to the military training, reported The Jakarta Post.

“The training is flawed from the outset because it is built on the (assumption) that military discipline equals professionalism in civilian organisations,” the coalition said in a statement last Saturday.

"The deaths of these five participants further confirm that the assumption is not only mistaken, but also dangerous.”

The coalition added that the training reflected the government's increasing reliance on military approaches in civilian programmes under Prabowo, including in his flagship free nutritious meals initiative.

"This practice has increasingly blurred the line between defence institutions and civilian governance in a democratic state," the coalition said, as reported by The Jakarta Post.