Jakarta – There have been more than 1,140 cases of human rights' violations cases recorded in Jakarta this year, according to Jakarta Legal Aid Institute's 2008 report to be announced the public soon. The report recorded cases involving more than 40,000 victims.

According to the report, urban poor communities in Jakarta need serious attention. Common problems include clean water, proper living place and land disputes.

The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) received 50 complaints about land dispute involving more than 1,800 victims. "This year we also received a complaint over a clean water dispute, involving 1,500 people," LBH Jakarta director Asfinawati told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Cases linked to the urban poor more than double to 102 cases this year compared to 42 in 2007, according to the report.

It shows that the institute received 21 complaints related to housing in the wake of forced evictions by the city administration.

Adequate housing in Jakarta is only for the middle class. The government never gives the poor the opportunity to adequate housing because housing is both expensive and inaccessible, the report states.

Urban poor communities in the city have to leave their houses and have no protection because they do not have any legal security of tenure. As a consequence they become homeless.

LBH Jakarta also recorded at least six cases of violations of rights to healthcare in Jakarta, involving 135 patients from Cipto Mangunkusumo public hospital. The report says patients were being ignored because the hospital did not have a splace for them.

On violations involving workers' rights, the number of the cases has decreased to 191 cases this year from 215 cases last year.

The report recommends the city administration take action against these violations. City officials have to be drilled about human rights and the administration has to punish staff members who make mistakes.

The report recommended that the government protect the people's interests, not only the interests of investors. "For example, about 100 families in Tangerang are suffering because a steel factory pollutes the residential area," Asfinawati said.

Meanwhile, the Commission for the Protection of Children also recorded 2,726 violations against children in Jakarta. According to Arist Merdeka Sirait from the commission, the number was considerably smaller than the previous year, but the motive and type of violation was more varied.

"More than 38 percent of children in the city suffered from sexual abuse. Mutilations and suicides are increasingly common here," Arist Merdeka Sirait told the Post on Friday. (naf)