Evicted people request shelter

JAKARTA: Around 100 women and children went to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) office in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, requesting temporary shelter and protection after their houses along the banks of the West Flood Canal in Teluk Gong, Penjaringan district, North Jakarta, had been cleared a day earlier.

The squatters complained about their fear of recent threats of violence made by city public order officials and police.

Most of them suffered a lack of food and clothing after their makeshift dwellings were totally demolished.

"We lost everything bar the clothes we're standing in," local squatter, Iyem, said while deeply regretting the loss of her most precious possession, 15 grams of gold.

Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta)'s secretary-general Ary Subagyo doubted that Komnas HAM would be successful in resolving the case as Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso had ignored Komnas HAM's recommendations earlier.

Sutiyoso is believed to have ordered the forced eviction, which could be categorized as a serious human rights violation. -- JP