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akarta Governor Anies Baswedan has been accused of failing to fulfil his pledge of ending forced evictions, with data from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) showing that people are still being ejected from their homes or places of business.

During his election campaign, Anies frequently criticized his predecessor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama for carrying out forced evictions, which he said were unfair for the affected residents, and promised to eliminate the practice.

However, LBH Jakarta reported that Anies was no different, and in most of the cases he still failed to provide solutions for those forcefully relocated.

Data from LBH Jakarta shows that 91 forced evictions has taken place in Jakarta since Anies assumed office in October last year, 79 occurred in 2018 and affected 1,141 households and businesses.

In January, for instance, dozens of buildings were demolished in Poncol Market, Central Jakarta, leaving vendors with no other place to run their business since the administration failed to provide a solution for them, said Charlie Albajili, a researcher with LBH Jakarta.

The eviction was reportedly carried following reports from residents who said they felt disturbed by the market, said Senen district head Munjir.

The number evictions is indeed fewer than in 2015 and 2016 during the leadership of Ahok and Djarot Saiful Hidayat, when there were 113 and 193 cases, respectively, affecting 8,145 and 5,726 households.

“The number may be smaller, but the human rights violations remain. It’s not about numbers but a commitment to protecting human rights,” LBH Jakarta’s public attorney Nelson Nikodemus Simamora said on Sunday at the institute’s headquarters in Central Jakarta, during a discussion on Anies one-year leadership. “Most of the evictions it did not involve discussions with the affected residents.”

As someone with the authority to approve evictions, Anies has failed to engage residents before they are forced out, ensure that no violence takes place and provided adequate compensation or relocation options, which is mandatory according to United Nations Principles and Guidelines on Development-based Evictions, Nelson said.

“The number of security officials deployed during evictions in 2018 is also excessive; there are always more personnel from the military, police and public order agency than residents,” he said, adding that involving the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police was unnecessary as they were not actually authorized to do the job.

“Deploying so many [personnel] only leads to violence during the eviction,” he said, noting that such was had been the case in the eviction of street vendors.

While highlighting that Anies has failed to mediate land conflicts between residents and state institutions such as the TNI and police, as well as parties in the private sector, LBH Jakarta conceded that the former education minister had sided with some victims of past forced evictions.

Previously, members of the Jakarta Urban Poor Network (JRMK), Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) and kampung residents said Anies was on track with his effort to revitalize kampung, in line with his campaign promises.

Anies issued Gubernatorial Decree No. 878/2018 on village management that listed up to 21 kampung to be rehabilitated by the administration, 15 of which have had their community action plans (CAP) prepared since May.

For example, temporary shelters were built in Kampung Kunir and Kampung Akuarium, whose residents were evicted in 2015 and 2016, respectively, while settlements are developed according to residents’ aspirations outlined in their CAP.

LBH Jakarta researcher Charlie Albajili said the administration needed to make an effort to prevent forced evictions from taking place by formulating and revising regulations based on human rights principles.

“The regulation frequently cited to carry out forced evictions is Jakarta Bylaw No. 8/2007 on public order and Gubernatorial Regulation No. 207/2016 on land grabbing,” Charlie said.