Jakarta begins door-to-door ID card raids

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration started its controversial door-to-door ID card raids in the five mayoralties on Tuesday, arbitrarily arresting 1,763 people, even though many of them had the necessary documentation.

During the raids, which were aimed at discouraging unskilled newcomers from coming to the city to try their luck, the officers acted harshly and did not hesitate to use force.

Head of the North Jakarta Public Order Office Tonny Boediono stormed into a house in Pejagalan subdistrict and slapped the owner's two daughters, Ailing and Maymay, in the face, as the official thought they were going to escape.

When the officers arrived at the house, Ailing did not allow them to enter. She told them to wait as she wanted to go to her room to get her ID card. However, the officers thought that she was going to run away, and forced their way into the house. They grabbed Ailing and her sister Maymay.

As the two resisted, Boediono slapped them on the face and pushed them aside.

Secretary of the community unit Lukman was also hit as he tried to calm down the angry officers.

Ailing's house is used as a small factory for plastic and glass, employing at least 40 workers.

Some of the workers with a non-Jakarta ID card were arrested.

They were all taken to the subdistrict office, where a trial was held under Judge Pontas Effendi, from the North Jakarta District Court.

The judge allowed them to go after he saw their ID cards, which had been taken to the subdistrict office by their father.

Ailing, who has been living in the area for 20 years, told The Jakarta Post that the raid was shocking, and that she intended to sue the officers.

"We were raided as if we were common criminals. What was our offense?" she asked angrily.

Prayitno, who works with Aling, said that he was fined Rp 15,500 without knowing what offense he had committed.

"The judge did not elaborate on my offense or what (legal) article I had violated. He simply ordered me to pay the fine, that's all," said Prayitno, originally from Lampung, South Sumatra.

The fines differed from one mayoralty to another. In Central Jakarta the lowest was Rp 35,000, while the highest was Rp 80,000.

Of the 1,763 people arrested during Tuesday's raids in the city, most were released after they managed to show their Jakarta ID cards. A total of 549 were tried, of which 473 were fined and 76 were freed as they were found not guilty. Another 37 were sent to the Kedoya rehabilitation center. Those 37 will be sent home after being "counseled" at the center for about one month.

Late last month, when the city announced its intention to carry out the raids, activists were critical as, they said, the raids had no legal basis and were against human rights.

The raids, dubbed judicial operation on population, were based on City Bylaw No.1/1996 and Bylaw No. 1/2001 on population, which oblige the public to have the proper documentation.

Head of the city population agency Sylviana Murni, however, said on Tuesday that the raids would be continued throughout the year.

Governor Sutiyoso had earlier said that Jakarta should become a closed city due to the number of unskilled outsiders, who caused complicated social problems.

In previous years the city administration tried to stem the influx of people arriving from the city after the Idul Fitri holidays by checking their ID cards at bus terminals, but the moves were not effective.

The population of Jakarta is more than 8.3 million by night. By day, however, workers from the city's hinterland of Tangerang, Bekasi and Depok swell the number to 11 million.