Govt urged to issue law on people's rights to shelter
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.