Govt urged to issue law on people's rights to shelter
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government's failure to issue a human rights law based on the Constitution could allow the Jakarta administration to continue its policy of evicting squatters without offering them legal protection.
Franz Magnis-Suseno, an expert in philosophy and human rights from the Dryarkara School of Philosophy in Jakarta, said on Tuesday that Indonesia adopted the principle of human rights in its Constitution and signed the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The People's Consultative Assembly also issued Decree No. 17/1998 guaranteeing citizens a place to live.
"With these legal bases, all people should have a place to live. And this is an absolute right. However, we have seen in the last two months that these rights are violated," he told The Jakarta Post during a presentation.
Franz was referring to the recent eviction of thousands of people by the Jakarta administration in the last two months in areas such as Tambora, Tanjung Duren and Tegal Alur, all in West Jakarta. Squatters also have been evicted from Pedongkelan in East Jakarta and Muara Angke in North Jakarta.
He said that in Germany, people could not be forced to move out of their homes until the government had provided them alternatives places to live.
"We should have this kind of law. The absence of such a law proves that we are not serious about upholding human rights and can evict people without legal protection," German-born Franz said.
He admitted that there was a conflict between the rights of the owners of the land and the rights of the squatters living on the land, because the individual rights of the land owners are guaranteed.
"But the right of the people to have a place to live is more basic than the individual rights (of the land owners), so the government can't force them to leave just like that. Besides, some plots of land have been left idle for a long time and they (the squatters) have been living there for years."
Franz said the land owners should have told the illegal inhabitants to leave the land immediately instead of waiting for several years.
"The failure of the owners to tell these people to vacate their land can be interpreted as legalizing the practice," he said.
He also said the evictions in Jakarta showed the ignorance of the House of Representatives and political parties.
"Actually, this is an area that the political parties and the House can play a significant role, but instead they pursue their own interests. Nothing has been done so far and the evictions continue."
Franz proposed that the administration halt the evictions for six months to give all parties concerned a chance to discuss the problem.
His proposal is in line with a joint proposal submitted by the National Commission on Violence Against Women, the National Commission on Human Rights and the National Commission on Child Protection on Oct. 9.
The three commissions called on the Jakarta administration to announce a moratorium on all evictions for 180 days pending an evaluation of the city's eviction policy.
Franz also said the media had not done enough to focus a spotlight on this problem.