HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERKILLED IN INDONESIA

Amnesty International USA - Raise the Roof!

ACT NOW!    Sept 21 - Nov 1, 2000

Contact Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and urge her to publicly request that the Indonesian authorities launch a high-level investigation into the killingof Jafar Siddiq Hamzah.

CALL:(202) 647-6575
WRITE:Madeleine K. Albright
Secretary of State
Department of State
2201 C Street,
NWWashington, DC 25210

TALKING POINTS:

*Secretary Albright, I urge youto request that the Indonesianauthorities launch an immediate,thorough and impartial investigation ofthe death of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah,an Acehnese human rights activistkilled in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia,in order to find out who is responsibleso they can be brought to justice.

* Jafar Siddiq Hamzah is a prominenthuman rights activist both inside andoutside of Indonesia. His family is worriedthat he may have been killed  becauseof his high profile human rights work.

*Even though the Indonesian governmentand GAM began a three-month suspension of armed operations in Aceh on June 2  to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered in the province, both sides have continued to commit human rights violations. In the last few weeks, local NGOs report thatthe situation has once again deteriorated

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BACKGROUND Amnesty International USA urges the Clinton Administration to request that the Indonesian authorities launch an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the death of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, an Acehnese human rights activist killed in Medan, NorthSumatra, Indonesia, in order to find out who is responsible so they can be brought to justice. 

"Jafar's fate highlights the risksthat human rights defenders working in Aceh are facing,"

said Curt Goering,Senior Deputy Executive Director of AIUSA.

"The Indonesian authorities must demonstratethat they will not idly tolerate the killing ofa human rights activist."

  Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, a US resident and head of the New York-based non-governmental organization International Forum for Aceh, disappeared in Medan on the evening of Saturday, August 5. Jafar Siddiq Hamzah was a prominent human rights activist both inside and outside Indonesia.     AIUSA understands that he wascollecting documents in support of a lawsuit he was planning to file on behalf of plaintiffs in Aceh charging Mobil Oilwith alleged environmental violationsand expropriation of the land.  His body was one of five found on September 5 near Medan.  He was identified by his family.  Human rights defenders and humanitarian workers have reported an increase in threats and intimidation against them in recent weeks.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 membersof 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 betweenthe Indonesian authorities and GAM on June 2,which provided for a suspension in armed operation so allow humanitarian aid to be delivered in the province.  Human rights defenders like Jafar are among those who have suffered harassment, intimidation,and arrests over recent months. __________________________________________________________

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