Concern about Missing NY-based Aceh Activist

Media Release
For Immediate Release
August 7, 2000

East Timor Action Network Concerned About Missing Aceh Activist

The East Timor Action Network (ETAN) today expressed concern about the fate of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, an Acehnese activist from Queens, New York.

ETAN has often worked with the Aceh-born lawyer on issues of human rights and military violence in Indonesia and East Timor.

Jafar Siddiq, founder and chair of the International Forum for Aceh, a human rights organization, was reported missing while visiting Medan, in Indonesia near Aceh. His relatives said that he normally contacted them every two hours, but had not done so since Saturday.

The International Forum for Aceh (IFA) is a non-governmental organization actively campaigning for peace and human rights in Aceh, the rebellious region in northern Indonesia. Through the IFA, Jafar has worked to inform the international community about human rights violations in Aceh. He has helped to organize several seminars on Aceh involving NGOS and others. He has also been active in raising the issue of human rights violations at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

ETAN is pressing the U.S. and Indonesian governments to investigate Jafar's whereabouts and insure his safety.

ETAN supports human rights in Indonesia and East Timor.

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John M. Miller Internet: john@etan.org Media & Outreach Coordinator, East Timor Action Network 48 Duffield St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA Phone: (718)596-7668 Fax: (718)222-4097 Mobile: (917)690-4391 Web site: http://www.etan.org

Send a blank e-mail message to info@etan.org to find out how to learn more about East Timor on the Internet
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