Many violations of right to privacy reported last year

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Legal Aid Association announced yesterday that last year was marred by violations of people's privacy because almost 700 people were netted for unclear reasons.

Indonesian Legal Aid Association director Hendardi said at least 690 people, 516 men and 174 women, were arbitrarily arrested in series of raids.

He blamed police and city public order officers for illegal arrests which violated people's privacy.

Police have conducted raids in streets and public places like entertainment centers while public order officials have arrested thousands of people for not having Jakarta ID cards.

Hendardi said many people complained about officers looking for violations to the point of being unreasonable.

"There were many legal identity cards, such as student cards, passports, identity cards from companies where people work or even drivers licenses. But police asked for ID cards (KTP). This was not fair," Hendardi said.

"Even worse, many of those who failed to show the ID cards offered the officers money," he said.

Hendardi said although the city administration decided not to increase the price of new identification cards from Rp 1,000 (46 U.S. cents), village and neighborhood officials charged more.

Hendardi said identity cards should serve as an instrument for people to get better service and not a government instrument to confine people.

The association noted police had raided boarding houses and recreational centers.

Hendardi cited a midnight raid by city public order officials on boarding houses in Karet subdistrict, South Jakarta, last March. "The officials awoke sleeping female students and female workers at night merely for ID cards," he said.

"Many of them were dragged to the South Jakarta mayoralty because they failed to have Jakarta IDs. But they did have ID cards from their home towns," Hendardi said.

He said many people from other regions came to Jakarta to earn a living.

"The urbanization phenomena is inevitable and no one is to blame for that because jobs can hardly be found in their home towns," Hendardi said.

"Privacy is a central human right to defend. The raids disturbed people's right to feel comfortable," Hendardi said.

Citing the human rights declaration he said nobody's privacy could be arbitrarily intruded by anyone else regardless of who they were.

He said No. 551 of the Criminal Code guaranteed people's privacy.

Government's officials had sometimes overacted in tightening control over people, he said. (07)