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Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA News) [Hong Kong]
April 17, 2026
By UCA News Network
As transnational repression sees a global surge, an alarming case of sexual harassment has sparked outrage across Indonesia.
Authoritarian governments are increasingly reaching across borders to persecute their own citizens. That is according to the human rights group Freedom House, which made the allegation on Thursday. They noted this trend was especially high last year in Southeast Asia and East Africa.
In its annual report on transnational repression, the rights group identified China as the world’s “leading perpetrator” in twenty twenty-five. Vietnam and Russia followed closely behind. What’s more, six countries joined this long list of violators for the very first time. Those countries are Afghanistan, Benin, Georgia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. These new additions bring the number of nations known to carry out this specific kind of rights violation since twenty fourteen to at least fifty-four.
To put that in perspective, that forms more than a quarter of the world’s countries. The report noted that collaboration among authoritarian governments really fueled transnational repression across Southeast Asia and East Africa in twenty twenty-five.
In fact, they added that over half of the incidents recorded last year happened in just these two regions. Looking at Southeast Asia, the study said Thailand yielded to pressure from China and Vietnam. They handed over representatives of ethnic minority groups because they feared reprisal and economic punishment from Beijing.
Nationwide concerns are growing in Indonesia over an alleged case of online sexual harassment at the University of Indonesia. The harassment targeted female students and lecturers, with male students posting inappropriate content and discussions in a chat group.
On Tuesday, the rector of the university confirmed that the case was reported and is now being investigated by a task force. He said the task force may coordinate with law enforcement authorities if they find the involvement of criminal elements. This investigation began after screenshots of the group chats started circulating online on Sunday.
A legal counsel for the victims shared an update. He said that so far, twenty students and seven lecturers within the faculty have filed formal complaints against sixteen male law students. He added that the harassment, which was cyber-based and largely verbal, reportedly took place over more than a year. Women’s rights activists pointed out that this latest case reflects a wider challenge facing universities in Indonesia. These institutions are required to establish task forces to prevent and respond to sexual violence.
To give you some context, the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network released some troubling figures. They said sexual violence accounted for nearly half of the two hundred thirty-three cases of violence recorded in educational institutions nationwide between January and March this year.