3-in-1 kids rally for release of friends

JAKARTA (JP): A group of 25 three-in-one people staged a rally in front of the City Hall, demanding their friends, netted in a city-sponsored raid last week, be freed soon.

Under the escort of lawyer Daniel Panjaitan from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute and a number of university students, the three-in-one people, who offer their services to be picked up as passengers by private vehicles to allow the vehicles to enter restricted three-in-one zones in the capital, demanded to be allowed to operate again on the streets.

The rally ended peacefully after the protesters staged a free- speech forum and unfurled cardboard posters outlining their complaints.

One of the posters read that the arrest of the three-in-one people has violated their human rights.

Under the watchful eye of scores of police and military, the rally in front of the city governor's office did not disturb traffic as they held the protest on the median of the street.

Last Tuesday, the city public order officials carried out a massive raid against the paid passengers, many of them children, making some of them burst into tears.

During the raid, 46 people were brought into custody. Twenty of them who were not students and were under 20 years of age were sent to a Muslim-based foundation. The rest were sent to a state- run home or released to their parents.

They were netted at restricted zones which only cars with three passengers are allowed to enter between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. on working days.

The local government has decided to raid the homeless, street children and three-in-one people in an effort to combat the rising crime rate in the capital.

According to head of the city data processing, Raya Siahaan, a similar raid has been carried out intensively everyday at different areas since Aug. 24.

"So far, we've netted 200 three-in-one people, mostly students and unemployed adults, and ticketed 131 drivers of privately- owned cars who were caught red-handed carrying them," Raya said.

Each three-in-one person is paid at an average of Rp 1,000 (US 14 cents) per trip. Women often carry their baby in their arms or hold their child by the hand and stand by the road offering both of their services to drivers who need two people to make the required three. (bsr/jun)