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Historians support judicial review of law relating to evictions
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Workers use a backhoe to topple a building during the eviction of Bukit Duri residences in South Jakarta recently. The evictions will allow the Jakarta administration to continue flood mitigation efforts. (Antara/Muhammad Adimaja)
T
wo historians have thrown their weight behind a judicial review filed with the Constitutional Court over the protection of eviction victims, saying the prevailing law is no longer suitable in the current conditions.
A historian from the University of Indonesia, Yudi Bachrioktora, said Tuesday that a 1960 law on the prohibition of the use of land without permission from the entitled or proxies was not relevant to current conditions because the law was made to take over land owned by Dutch, who colonized Indonesia until the 1940s, with permission from the government.
“If there is no order from the President, the governor should not be able to use this law for evictions,” Yudi said when testifying at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta.
The judicial review was filed in September by people evicted from Papanggo in North Jakarta and Duri Kepa in West Jakarta who asked the court to amend the law, which is frequently used to facilitate evictions.
The law enables regional administrations to conduct evictions without having to prove land ownership.
Meanwhile, another historian JJ Rizal said the law was usually used by administrations to conduct evictions without having to hold discussions with local residents.
“The law was also based on staat van oorlog en beleg [a state of emergency] back in the early 1950s, which is used outside urban areas so there is no need to negotiate but [the authorities can] directly take over the land,” Rizal said. (dmr)
