1998–99 East Java killings

August 2026 Outbreak of violence in Indonesia There was an outbreak of violence in East Java, Indonesia in 1998–99, around the time of the fall of Suharto, where local people killed at least 300 residents. People said they were being targeted by sorcerers following the deaths of cattle, and in response, unidentified vigilantes, which people described as ninjas due to their all-black clothing and masks, attacked and killed residents they suspected to be sorcerers. Some religious clerics were killed. In response to the killings, some people in the area attacked and killed people they suspected to be ninjas.1998-11-03 E Java mob lynches three policemen https://books.google.com/books?id=MbUpAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22east+java%22+ninja&pg=PA4&article_id=2764,556298 The Nation A6 Agence France-Presse1998-12-29 'Ninja' killings defy easy analysis https://books.google.com/books?id=yvtkAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22east+java%22+ninja&pg=PA7&article_id=4125,6785997 The Telegraph-Herald 7A Knight Ridder News Service The outbreak began in February 1998, with most of the deaths occurring between August and September.Kristof Nicholas D. 20 October 1998 Fears of Sorcerers Spur Killings in Java https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/20/world/fears-of-sorcerers-spur-killings-in-java.html The New York Times The killings largely ended by the end of 1998; however, another group of about 10 similar killings occurred in December 1999.1999-12-27 Ninja-style murder spree returns to Indonesia https://books.google.com/books?id=K2pTAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22east+java%22+ninja&pg=PA87&article_id=6382,6462271 Daily News ReutersHeriwati Retno 2000-01-06 Ninja killers haunt Indonesia again https://books.google.com/books?id=DHRTAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22east+java%22+ninja&pg=PA31&article_id=6226,432997 Daily News 10 Reuters According to the National Commission on Human Rights, 307 people were killed during the scare in total: 194 people in Banyuwangi, 108 in Jember, and seven in Malang.Yulisman Linda 2023-08-01 25 years after bloody witch hunts in East Java, cases remain unresolved https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2023/08/01/25-years-after-bloody-witch-hunts-in-east-java-cases-remain-unresolved.html 2024-10-17 The Jakarta Post en There were many rumours and theories about who killed people and what their motives were, including conspiracy theories.Herriman Nicholas 2010 The Great Rumor Mill: Gossip, Mass Media, and the Ninja Fear https://www.jstor.org/stable/40929190 The Journal of Asian Studies 69 3 723–748 0021-9118Herriman Nicholas 2006 Fear and Uncertainty: Local Perceptions of the Sorcerer and the State in an Indonesian Witch-hunt https://www.jstor.org/stable/23654481 Asian Journal of Social Science 34 3 360–387 1568-4849 Scholars and journalists have described aspects of the outbreak of violence as a modern witch hunt or mass hysteria.2023-07-25 True Crimes of Asia Podcast: Indonesia - Masked ‘ninjas’ and the mass murders of suspected sorcerers https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/true-crimes-of-asia-podcast-indonesia-masked-ninjas-and-the-mass-murders-of-suspected-sorcerers 2026-08-24 The Straits Times en 0585-3923 Background Modern witch hunts#Indonesia Historically, Banyuwangi Regency has been a centre of belief in black magic, specifically dukun santet, in Indonesia. Black magic practiced in Banyuwangi may be a mix of animist beliefs and Islamic mysticism which developed from inter-religious conflict during the 16th century Mataram court period. Belief in black magic was widespread in the area.Brown Jason 30 July 2007 The Banyuwangi murders http://www.insideindonesia.org/the-banyuwangi-murders Inside IndonesiaPribadi Irfan Teguh 20 February 2018 Pembantaian Dukun Santet, Operasi Naga Hijau & Teror kepada NU https://tirto.id/pembantaian-dukun-santet-operasi-naga-hijau-teror-kepada-nu-cE5V 2026-08-24 tirto.id id Suspected sorcerers were also killed in Indonesia in 1965. In villages around Banyuwangi, local people killed suspected sorcerers intermittently for decades before the larger-scale violence in 1998. The violence in 1998 was part of a period of major political and economic tensions in the country, including the May riots and the resignation of President Suharto. Indonesia was also impacted by the 1997 financial crisis. The East Java region had a history of outbreaks of violence, including against ethnic Chinese Indonesians in the previous January.Liebhold David 19 October 1998 That New Black Magic https://time.com/archive/6955062/that-new-black-magic/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20220403095448/http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053925,00.html 3 April 2022 23 August 2026 Time Events In early 1998, residents in Kaligondo, a village in Banyuwangi Regency, became concerned with sorcery after multiple cattle became sick and died. Local resident Soemarno Adi was suspected and was lynched on 4 February. His death sparked a number of other killings by vigilante groups. Some vigilantes dressed in all black, leading to them being called ninjas. Most victims were ordinary civilians, local leaders, or clerics affiliated with Nahdlatul Ulama. In response, communities targeted by the sorcerer killings began to form mobs and attack and kill suspected ninjas, many of whom were people out after dark or without identity documents. 1998-12-28 Indonesia Haunted by Assassins in Black https://www.chicagotribune.com/1998/12/28/indonesia-haunted-by-assassins-in-black/ 2026-08-23 Chicago Tribune en-US The killing of suspected ninjas spread to Central and West Java, although no killings by suspected ninja had been reported in those regions. By November, police in Central Java had detained around 200 mentally ill people, as they were at risk of being attacked if they were out at night and unable to explain themselves.1998-11-08 Businessmen lynched by Central Java mob https://books.google.com/books?id=-kkdAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22east+java%22+ninja&pg=PA24&article_id=5073,2428743 The Nation Agence France-Presse On 18 October 1998, five men were killed in the Turen area. One was beaten to death, one was burned and three were beheaded. On 20 October 1998, three killings occurred. Two had been seized from a police car by vigilantes who reportedly slit their throats; the third man was beheaded and his head paraded around on a stake. On 24 October at Gondanglegi, Malang Regency, another five suspected ninjas were killed by villagers, including one victim burnt to death. Hancur Lebur Gara-gara 'Hantu' Ninja https://news.detik.com/x/detail/investigasi/20190206/Hancur-Lebur-Gara-gara-Hantu-Ninja/ Detik X 6 February 2019 Indonesian 27 June 2025 On 31 October and 1 November, three policemen were killed in Madura after being suspected to be ninjas.Thufail Fadjar I. Ninjas in Narratives of Local and National Violence in PostSuharto Indonesia 2015-09-14 Beginning to Remember: The Past in the Indonesian Present 150–167 Zurbuchen Mary S. https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780295998763-011/pdf 2025-08-10 University of Washington Press en 10.1515/9780295998763-011/pdf 978-0-295-99876-3 On 31 October, one man in north Jakarta was attacked on suspicions of being a ninja, marking the first time that the scare had impacted Jakarta. Local press reports On 1 October 1998, the Surabaya Post reported "a rumour about the existence of attacks by ninja-like squads" that were targeting "community leaders as well as ulama". In response, the neighbors of ulamas began organizing guard shifts "around the houses of ulamas who have become targets". On 4 October 1998, the Jawa Post reported that "prayer teachers are in the sights of groups of dozens of killers who wear all-black clothes and masks like ninjas".Herriman Nicholas 3 May 2016 Hunting and killing ninjas in Indonesia http://www.newmandala.org/hunting-killing-ninjas-indonesia/ New Mandala Theories There have been a number of theories regarding who was behind the killings. Some have argued that the killings were encouraged covertly by the military in an effort to destabilize the new Indonesian government, or to weaken Nahdlatul Ulama or the emerging Islamic National Awakening Party. Nahdlatul Ulama has claimed that security forces were involved. The National Commission on Human Rights concluded in 2018 that the murders were "conducted by 'trained' and 'organized' assailants", and that national security forces enabled the killings by not intervening until September 1998. Anthropologist Nicholas Herriman interviewed many area residents and described the events as "local people killed other local residents whom they believed to be sorcerers", related to local perceptions that the government was not able to sufficiently protect them from sorcerers at the time.Herriman Nicholas 2007-03-01 “Sorcerer” Killings in Banyuwangi: A Re-Examination of State Responsibility for Violence https://doi.org/10.1080/10357820701196692 Asian Studies Review 31 1 61–78 10.1080/10357820701196692 1035-7823 Impacts The killings prompted discussion on the legal regulation of sorcery, to discourage individuals from "taking the law into their own hands". See also Islam and magic Black magic (Siḥr) References Further reading Herriman Nicholas https://archive.org/details/witchhuntconspir0000herr Witch-hunt and conspiracy: the 'ninja case' in East Java 2016 NUS Press 978-981-4722-33-9 Singapore Kusairi Latif Puguh Dhanang Respati Rochwulaningsih Yety 2025-12-31 Women and Reconciliation: Citizenship Politics, Welfare, and Human Rights in the Banyuwangi Witchcraft Violence https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/iconsatin-25/126020434 Proceedings of International Conference on Neuroscience and Learning Technology (ICONSATIN 2025) en Atlantis Press 594–606 10.2991/978-2-38476-525-6_54 978-2-38476-525-6 Retsikas Konstantinos 2008 The semiotics of violence: Ninja, sorcerers, and state terror in post-Soeharto Indonesia https://brill.com/view/journals/bki/162/1/article-p56_3.xml Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia 162 1 56–94 10.1163/22134379-90003674 0006-2294 Siegel James T. 2001 Suharto, Witches https://www.jstor.org/stable/3351456 Indonesia 71 27–78 10.2307/3351456 0019-7289 Swastika Kayan Jamil Robit Nurul 2022-06-30 The 1998 Banyuwangi Humanitarian Case (In Socio-Economic Studies) https://www.bircu-journal.com/index.php/birci/article/view/5695 live Budapest International Research and Critics Institute-Journal (BIRCI-Journal) en 5 2 2615-3076 https://web.archive.org/web/20260123135038/https://www.bircu-journal.com/index.php/birci/article/view/5695 2026-01-23 Zainuri Luqman H. 2018-11-01 The Social Movement against the Human Right: The Case of Massacre over the Masters of Sihir in the Regency of Banyuwangi 1998 http://archive.sciendo.com/AJIS/ajis.2018.7.issue-3/ajis-2018-0066/ajis-2018-0066.pdf Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 7 3 147–156 10.2478/ajis-2018-0066 2281-4612 Category:1998 crimes in Indonesia Category:1998 murders in Asia Category:Asian shamanism Category:Banyuwangi (town) Category:Crimes involving Satanism or the occult Category:20th century in East Java Category:Mass psychogenic illness in Asia Category:Religiously motivated violence in Indonesia Category:Scares Category:Vigilantism