The military figure, who was responsible for Jakarta’s security at the time, was sworn in as the new defense minister of the world’s fourth most populous country last week.

Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, 72, is accused by human rights groups of committing abuses during the uprisings, as well as against separatists in East Timor, Aceh and Papua.

“The enforcement of human rights is becoming increasingly weak,” said Maria Catarina Sumarsih, whose son was shot dead by the military after Suharto was overthrown in late 1998.

“We may see Indonesia turning into a militaristic state like it was under Suharto.”

Sjafrie is a close friend of newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto and they met at a military academy where they were classmates.

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Both rose to the rank of general, but both were linked to the disappearance of student activists from 1997 to 1998.

According to the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence, or Contras, 23 activists were kidnapped between 1997 and 1998.

Nine people were found alive – many of whom now support Prabowo – one was found dead and 13 people remain missing.

Prabowo was discharged from the army for the kidnappings, but denied the allegations and was never charged.

Sjafrie was also cleared by Indonesian authorities of any wrongdoing for his role in the events in Jakarta.

He claimed that the police, under joint command with the army, had lost control, according to Wikileaks cables from the US embassy in Jakarta.

The allegations had little impact on his popularity; Prabowo was heading for a first-round election victory with more than 96 million votes.

An independent Indikator Politik poll last week showed 85 percent of Indonesians were confident that Prabowo’s team, including Sjafrie, would lead Indonesia to a better future.

“(Sjafrie) is one of the most senior figures in the red berets. He was also Suharto’s confidant,” an X user wrote in Indonesian under a post about his candidacy.

“The nationalism of this person should not be doubted.”

But Amnesty International Indonesia Director General Usman Hamid said Sjafrie’s appointment could harm “ongoing efforts to address and investigate past abuses”.

Sjafrie played a role in the invasion of East Timor in 1975, later joining the elite army force known as Kopassus.

The unit was used to quell civil unrest and quell rebellion in the small former Portuguese colony.

In a 2009 diplomatic cable to the US, Sjafrie was implicated in the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre, in which more than 250 unarmed pro-independence protesters were shot dead, and the unrest following a UN-backed referendum in 1999.

“He was there during the Santa Cruz massacre. The claim that he saved Western journalists… cannot be verified,” the US embassy in Dili, published by Wikileaks, said. it said.

“The facts… lead us to conclude that Sjafrie held senior positions of command responsibility in both 1991 and 1999, the moments when the atrocities undeniably occurred, and strongly indicate his personal culpability.”

Sjafrie was never named in subsequent local trials related to the unrest in East Timor and he was never charged.

However, the US denied him a visa in 2009 when he was an advisor to then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The defense ministry did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.

“The lack of will of the state… resulted in Sjafrie not being able to be dragged to the human rights court,” said Dimas Bagus Arya, coordinator of Contras, a committee for the disappeared.

“This was due to a culture of impunity, and the election of Prabowo… further reinforced the fact that there will be no legal accountability for military actors.”

Sjafrie celebrated Prabowo’s rise on Instagram, posting old photos of his boss and Suharto.

Harkening back to a bygone era, the new defense chief published a photo from East Timor in 1989 showing him standing next to a young Prabowo in military fatigues.

“An old photo with meaning,” he wrote.

“It’s about the ups and downs of the waves of devotion.”