see http://www.etan.org/news/2000b/jafar1.htm for updates and what you can do

ALERT: Acehnese activist Jafar Siddiq Hamzah Missing

Acehnese activist Jafar Siddiq Hamzah has been missing for the last two days. He was last heard from in Medan. His family, friends and colleagues fear the worst. ETAN has often worked with Jafar -- who has lived in the U.S. for the last several years -- on issues of human rights and military violence in Indonesia and East Timor.

Below is an article from Tempo as well as numbers you can call. Urge them to investigate Jafar's whereabouts and insure his safety. Please note there is a 12 hour time difference from the U.S. East Coast to Jakarta.

John M. Miller

Acehnese activist disappears in Medan 7 Aug 2000 16:5:27 WIB

TEMPO Interaktif, Lhokseumawe: An Acehnese activist who heads the Internasional Forum for Aceh (IFA) based in New York, has disappeared since Saturday (5/8). He has been in Medan for some days and has failed to make contact with his family there for the past two days.

Drs. Jafar Siddik Hamzah's mother. Cut Aroen has said that her son disappeared in Medan. She said he had spent two days in Lhokseumawe before going to Medan where he is planning to live. She could not say what exactly he would be doing in Medan. 'It's probably to do with his work for IFA,' she said.

His sister Cut Zahara, who is herself an activist has gone to Medan to try to discover his whereabouts. The family fears that he may have been kidnapped by persons who are unhappy with his activities. 'A week last Friday, he took leave saying he was going to Medan and would be living there for a while,' said his mother. She hoped that friends would do what they can to find her son.

Through the IFA in New York, Jafar has worked to inform the international community about human rights violations in Aceh. He has helped to organise several seminars and dialogues involving NGOs. He has also been active in raising the issue of human rights violations at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva (Zainal Bakri)

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