IV

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 580

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the murder

of human rights lawyer Jafar Siddiq Hamzah in Medan, Indonesia.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 18, 2000

Mr. CROWLEY (for himself, Mr. PITTS, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mr.

SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. WEINER, and Mrs. LOWEY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International

Relations

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the murder of human rights lawyer Jafar Siddiq

Hamzah in Medan, Indonesia.

Whereas Jafar Siddiq Hamzah was a well-respected Acehnese

human rights lawyer and a permanent resident of the

United States who resided in Queens, New York;

Whereas the body of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, who had been

missing for a month, was identified on September 7,

2000, along with four other badly decomposed bodies,

whose faces were bashed in and whose hands and feet

were bound with barbed wire, in a forested area outside

of Medan, in North Sumatra, Indonesia;
2

•HRES 580 IH

Whereas Jafar Siddiq Hamzah was last seen alive on August

5, 2000, in Medan, after which he failed to keep an appointment and his family lost all contact with him;

Whereas Jafar Siddiq Hamzah founded and directed the

International Forum on Aceh, which works for peace and

human rights in Aceh, a province in northern Indonesia;

Whereas Jafar Siddiq Hamzah was an important voice of

moderation and an internationally known representative

of his people, who was pursuing a graduate degree in political science at the New School for Social Research in

New York;

Whereas Jafar Siddiq Hamzah’s enormous contributions to

peace and respect for human rights in his homeland are

irreplaceable;

Whereas serious human rights violations occur in Aceh every

day and over 300 people have been killed and several others have disappeared there this year; and

Whereas since Jafar Siddiq Hamzah’s disappearance, instances of harassment and intimidation of local Acehnese

nongovernmental workers and human rights advocates

have increased: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

2 (1) condemns the murder of Jafar Siddiq

3 Hamzah in Indonesia;

4 (2) offers condolences to the family and friends

5 of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, a courageous human rights

6 advocate and founder of the International Forum on

7 Aceh; and
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•HRES 580 IH

1 (3) calls upon the Department of State and the

2 Government of Indonesia—

3 (A) to do everything in their power to

4 bring about a thorough, open, and transparent

5 investigation of the murder of Jafar Siddiq

6 Hamzah and the four others with whom he was

7 found, make the results of the official autopsy

8 public, and offer full access and support to

9 independent investigators and forensics experts

10 brought in to examine these cases;

11 (B) to ensure that the perpetrators of

12 these atrocities are brought to justice through

13 open and fair trials; and

14 (C) to devote official attention, in an at15 mosphere of openness and transparency and

16 oversight, to broader investigations into the nu17 merous other cases of killings and disappear18 ance in Aceh.

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