Rights body offers mediation for evicted residents

Rights body offers mediation for evicted residents

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While several non-governmental organizations have demanded the
establishment of a special team to investigate allegations of
rights abuses in the eviction of residents, a member of one
rights body has offered to arbitrate a settlement between evicted
residents and the administration.

Zoemrotin K. Susilo of the National Commission on Human Rights
(Komnas HAM) said evicted residents could file a complaint with
the commission, which would mediate talks between them and the
owners of the land or the administration.

"Whether an ad hoc inquiry team should be formed to handle
such cases can be decided at a plenary session of the commission,
but we can make use of two of the commission's four main
functions: monitoring and arbitration," she told The Jakarta Post
on Sunday.

In its monitoring of evictions in Jakarta over the last three
years, Zoemrotin said, the commission has underlined the use of
force by the administration in vacating land as a violation of
the people's basic rights.

"Even if the residents are illegally occupying the land, the
administration should first hold a dialog with them and provide
temporary shelter for evicted residents," she said.

However, in light of the commission's failure to make city
officials keep their word not to evict residents of Teluk Gong,
North Jakarta, in November 2001, Zoemrotin advised residents to
bring their complaints to court.

"If the administration breaks an agreement made in
arbitration, the residents, by themselves or represented by NGOs,
should bring the case to court as recommendations by Komnas HAM
are not legally binding," she said.

According to the Jakarta Residents Forum, the city
administration had evicted over 34,000 people in 2001 and another
4,792 in 2002.

Fakta and other non-governmental organizations such as the
Urban Poor Consortium have criticized the use of public order
officers to evict people from private property.

The latest eviction involved about 10,000 illegal occupants of
private land in Jembatan Besi, Tambora, West Jakarta. Public
order officers, backed by the police and military, forcibly
evicted the illegal occupants.

The residents, including many children, are now camping in
nearby open areas. They are hoping the administration or the
owner of the land, PT Cakra Wira Bumi Mandala, will give them
some compensation so they are able to rent houses or return to
their hometowns.

Many of the residents acknowledged they were on the land
illegally, but said they could not afford any other place in the
city.