Stop forced eviction now: Geneva-based rights group<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
An international housing rights protection organization called on
\nthe administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to put a
\nstop to forced evictions in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
\n(COHRE) said on Friday that forced evictions in Indonesia were
\n\"endemic\" and had reached alarming levels, and the new
\nadministration must act quickly to stop the inhumane practice.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso recently gave orders to the new
\nmayors of West and Central Jakarta to step up the evictions of
\nstreet vendors and squatters in their respective mayoralties.<\/p>\n
\"We urge the new government to respect calls for a moratorium
\non forced evictions throughout Indonesia, suspend all plans for
\nforced evictions immediately and ensure that no public or private
\ninstitution carries out forced evictions,\" COHRE senior legal
\nofficer Cassandra Goldie told a press briefing here.<\/p>\n
Goldie said that the government must ensure that policies at
\nall administrative levels are consistent with housing rights.<\/p>\n
She said evictions in the country were frequently carried out
\nviolently and violated the sense of justice. \"They are carried
\nout violently ... with bulldozers, sometimes with people still
\nliving in their homes,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has a poor record on housing rights protection. In
\n2001, about 50,000 people were forcefully evicted from their
\nhomes and places of work in Jakarta alone. Between August and
\nOctober of last year, over 15,000 city dwellers were evicted by
\nthe Jakarta city administration.<\/p>\n
COHRE also recorded the destruction of housing and loss of
\nland in other areas of the country, including strife-torn
\nprovinces.<\/p>\n
For its poor housing rights record, COHRE accorded Indonesia,
\nalong with Guatemala and Serbia Montenegro, a dubious
\ninternational award for housing rights violators.<\/p>\n
COHRE launched a five-year global campaign against evictions
\nthis year.<\/p>\n
Goldie said that on the rare occasions when evictions were
\ninevitable, the government must ensure that the human rights of
\nthe evictees were respected, that the evictees were consulted
\nfirst before being told to leave their homes and that they
\nreceived adequate compensation.<\/p>\n
Barkah Gumulya of the Urban Poor Consortium, a local partner
\nof COHRE, said that given the myriad factors contributing to
\nforced evictions, the government, city dwellers and relevant non-
\ngovernmental organizations must find workable solutions.<\/p>\n
\"One of the reasons for evictions of the urban poor is because
\nthe city administration never asks them to partake in drawing up
\npolicies concerning where they can live and do business,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/stop-forced-eviction-now-geneva-based-rights-group-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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