Defending rights: In this stock photograph dated
June 4, farmers and activists rally in front of the National Land
Agency in Jakarta to call for an end to land grabbing and the
implementation of agrarian reform. Many people have been displaced due
to agrarian conflicts in Indonesia, activists say. (JP/Jerry Adiguna) in
The Jakarta Post
Human
rights groups have called on the United Nations special rapporteur on
housing rights, Raquel Rolnik, to demand that the Indonesian government
immediately resolve cases of housing rights violations, such as forced
evictions and the forced expulsion of minority groups.
Rolnik,
who arrived in Indonesia on May 30 and will be in the country until June
11, is scheduled to meet with senior government officials,
representatives of the UN system, the donor community, NGOs and the
public during her visit.
She is also scheduled to publicize her
findings on the last day of her visit and report her recommendations on
housing rights in the country to the UN Human Rights Council in March
2014.
“The President recently received an award in recognition of
his work in supporting human rights. With the award that was recently
given to him and a visit from the UN rapporteur, this is the right time
for him to show the public that he really is committed to upholding
human rights,” Rafendi Djamin, the country’s representative to the ASEAN
Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), said recently.
Human
rights groups, including the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), the
Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), the Jakarta Legal Aid
Institute (LBH Jakarta), Arus Pelangi and the Indonesian Women’s
Coalition, had a meeting with Rolnik in Jakarta on June 3 where they
expressed their concerns over the inadequate housing rights in the
country.
Ali Akbar Tanjung of the HRWG said the human rights
groups had called on Rolnik to recommend that the government resolve
agrarian conflicts and review its policies on natural resources that
have harmed the public’s housing rights.
“We also urged her
[Rolnik] to ask corporations to practice responsible business practices,
as in the past they have caused a lot of people to lose their homes and
livelihoods,” Ali said.
Tumpak Hutabarat of Walhi said the NGO
had recorded 613 conflicts regarding natural resources and plantations
in the country last year, including the conflict between PT Perkebunan
Nusantara (PTPN) VII and residents in Ogan Ilir in South Sumatra.
The
rights groups also urged the Jakarta administration to provide adequate
housing for the victims of forced evictions in Jakarta. LBH Jakarta
recorded that 2,545 people had been affected by forced evictions and did
not have access to adequate housing last year. The number had
significantly increased from 1,176 a year earlier.
“Our data also
showed that last year the country experienced 503 natural disasters
including floods, landslides and forest fires,” Tumpak said on Thursday.
Rafendi
said that the right to adequate housing did not solely mean putting
roofs over people’s heads but also included people’s rights to adequate
sanitation, access to clean water and health services.
Meanwhile,
King Oey from Arus Pelangi said that violations of adequate housing
rights did not only befall victims of agrarian conflicts, but also
minority groups including those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT)
community.
“A lot of forced evictions were
carried out by local residents with the help of local administrations
due to discrimination against minorities,” King said.
“The
government did not protect these people and they lost their homes just
because other local residents did not want to share their neighborhoods
with people of a different sexual orientation,” he said.
