Authorities told to halt 'becak' raids

Authorities told to halt 'becak' raids

JAKARTA (JP): An executive at the National Commission on Human
Rights urged the city administration on Thursday to temporarily
halt its operations to clear becak (pedicabs) from the capital
and settle the problem through arbitration.

"The commission will facilitate a meeting between the
disputing parties. It should be convened in the near future,"
Bambang W. Soeharto told representatives of some 100 pedicab
drivers, who staged a protest in front of the commission building
on Jl. Latuharhary in Central Jakarta.

The drivers, accompanied by activists from the Jakarta Legal
Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) and the Indonesian Consumers
Association (YLKI), demanded the commission help end the ongoing
operation by the city administration against the becak.

Bambang said both the administration and the drivers should
avoid any violent action.

"It's time for both parties to agree to a cease-fire until the
problem is settled," he said.

Bambang was referring to a rampage that rocked the capital on
Tuesday evening, as some 500 pedicab drivers and residents burned
and damaged at least six vehicles and injured four city
officials.

The rampage occurred after city public order officials carried
out a coordinated pedicab-free operation on Jl. Mangga Besar Raya
in West Jakarta.

The officials reportedly adopted a repressive approach during
the raid, harshly removing pedicabs from owners or drivers.

The approach prompted criticism from some non-governmental
organizations, including LBH Jakarta and the Bantaya Legal Aid
Foundation.

The organizations demanded that the city administration halt
its repressive becak-free campaign.

They accused the city administration of having violated the
drivers' basic rights.

"The officials set aside the drivers' economic rights to work
and to continue their lives," said the organizations in a joint
statement, adding that the effort was creating poverty instead of
solving the problem.

The organizations demanded the administration dismiss the
city's Public Order Office, which was responsible for a series of
violent raids against the pedicab drivers.

"The administration should settle the poverty problems through
humanitarian approaches," said the statement.

Governor Sutiyoso said on Wednesday that the city
administration would continue with its plan to clear the pedicabs
from the streets, as mandated by the 1988 Bylaw no. 11 on Public
Order. (06/asa)