Amnesty International USA
Friday August 18, 2000

MISSING
Acehnese Human Rights Defender Jafar Siddiq Hamzah

The Problem | The Details | Take Action!

The Problem:
Prominent human rights activist and head of the New 
York-based
non-governmental organization, International Forum for 
Aceh, Jafar Siddiq
Hamzah is missing and may have been kidnapped or 
\"disappeared.\"


Take Action!
Use the sample letter below to send a letter to Secretary 
of State
Madeleine Albright, or take a moment to call the State 
department\'s public
affairs office at (202) 647-6575. If you would prefer, you 
may fax the
State Department at (202) 261-8577.

Madeleine K. Albright
Secretary of State
Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 25210

Dear Secretary Albright,

I am concerned for the well being of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah. 
An Acehnese human
rights activist and head of the New York-based 
non-governmental
organization, International Forum for Aceh, Mr. Hamzah has 
been missing
since August 5th. On the evening of Saturday, Aug. 5, he 
failed to keep an
appointment for a meeting in Medan, Northern Sumatra, 
Indonesia.

He did not return to the house where he was staying in 
Medan that night,
and his family has reportedly had no contact with him since 
then. They have
checked with local hospitals in Medan, but found no record 
of him there.

Jafar Siddiq Hamzah is a prominent human rights activist 
both inside and
outside of Indonesia. His family is worried that he may 
have been kidnapped
or \"disappeared\" because of his high profile human rights 
work.

I urge you to publicly request that the Indonesian 
authorities launch a
high-level investigation into his disappearance. Please 
tell me how you
intend to address this matter.

Sincerely,



The Details:
Amnesty International USA urges the Clinton Administration 
to request that
the Indonesian authorities launch a high-level 
investigation into the
disappearance of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, an Acehnese human 
rights activist
reported missing in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia.

\"We fear for Jafar Siddiq Hamzah\'s safety,\" said Curt 
Goering, Senior
Deputy Executive Director of AIUSA. \"The Indonesian 
authorities must
demonstrate that they will not idly tolerate the apparent 
\'disappearance\'
of a human rights activist.\"

While welcoming a statement issued by the US embassy in 
Jakarta that
expressed concern about the disappearance of Mr. Hamzah, 
AIUSA is calling
for the US to encourage stepped-up efforts to locate Jafar 
Siddiq Hamzah,
including the immediate dispatch of high-level 
investigators from Jakarta
to Medan. Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, head of the New York-based 
non-governmental
organization
International Forum for Aceh, failed to keep an appointment 
for a meeting
in Medan on the evening of Saturday, Aug. 5. He did not 
return to the house
where he was staying in Medan that night, and his family 
has reportedly had
no contact with him since then. They have checked with 
local hospitals in
Medan, but found no record of him there.

Jafar Siddiq Hamzah is a prominent human rights activist 
both inside and
outside Indonesia. His family is worried that he may have 
been kidnapped or
\"disappeared\" because of his high profile human rights 
work.

More than 300 people may have been killed this year in 
Aceh, where serious
human rights violations -- including arbitrary arrests, 
torture,
\"disappearances\" and killings -- occur routinely. Many 
civilians have
been killed or arbitrarily arrested by soldiers and police 
ostensibly
trying to capture suspected members of the armed opposition 
group Free Aceh
Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, GAM), who also have been 
accused of serious
human rights abuses.

Violations have continued despite the implementation of an 
agreement
between the Indonesian authorities and GAM on June 2, which 
provided for a
suspension in armed operations to allow humanitarian aid to 
be delivered in
the province. Human rights defenders and humanitarian 
workers in Aceh are
among those who have suffered harassment, intimidation, and 
arrests over
recent months.