Phone Your Representative to Co-sponsor H. Con. Res. 327 to End Rights
Violations in Aceh
The Indonesian Government has extended martial law in Aceh for another six
months. As the civilian death toll mounts, governments of the world remain
quiet. Act now to urge the U.S. Congress to send a loud and clear message
that the Indonesian military's slaughter of Acehnese must be stopped. Urge
your Representative to cosponsor H. Con. Res. 327.
H. Con. Res. 327 calls on the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) to immediately declare a ceasefire and halt hostilities in
Aceh, end all human rights violations, and return to negotiations with
significant Acehnese civil society and international involvement. The
resolution further urges Indonesia to refrain from using U.S.-supplied
weapons in Aceh. The Indonesian military has used F-16 fighter jets and
OV-10 Bronco planes against civilians, as well as C-130 cargo planes.
The resolution also calls for the Indonesian government to bring to justice
those responsible for approving, planning, and carrying out the August 2000
murder of Acehnese human rights lawyer and permanent U.S. resident Jafar
Siddiq Hamzah.
Call your Representative TODAY. Urge her/him:
* To cosponsor H. Con. Res. 327, a crucial bipartisan initiative for peace
and human rights in Aceh, which calls for an immediate ceasefire in Aceh,
negotiations, and an end to human rights violations.
* Representatives should contact Gregg Sheiowitz in Congressman Crowley's
(D-NY) office. Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ), Phil English (R-PH), and
Lane Evans (D-IL) are the other original co-sponsors.
The Congressional switchboard number is 202-224-3121; ask for your
Representative's office. Then ask to speak with the foreign policy aide. If
you don't know who your Representative is, go to
www.house.gov to find out.
There are only five co-sponsors so far - Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sherrod
Brown (D-OH), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Jose Serrano
(D-NY). We need far more than this!
For a copy of H. Con. Res. 327, see
www.etan.org/action/action2/
16alert.htm.
Please let us know the results of your phone calls by sending an email
message to
etan@etan.org. Thank you for calling -
your support is critical!
Background
After the Indonesian government declared martial law on May 19, 2003, the
Indonesian military launched its largest operation since its 1975 invasion
of East Timor. On November 6, the government extended martial law for
another six months. Extensive violations of human rights have been
reported, including extra-judicial execution, rape, torture, sexual
assault, arbitrary detention, forced displacement, and destruction of
property. Indonesian military and police forces have particularly cracked
down on human rights and humanitarian organizations. All international
humanitarian and human rights organizations have been shut out of
Aceh. Even the International Committee of the Red Cross no longer has a
presence there. Access by international and Indonesian press has been
severely limited, and journalists have been targeted. It is feared that a
large-scale humanitarian crisis is underway, but there can be no
independent verification of this.
The U.S. government played a strong role in negotiations between the
Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement. These negotiations
originally led to a December 2002 ceasefire but were suspended last May
just prior to the imposition of martial law. Senior U.S. administration
officials, including President Bush, have stated that the conflict in Aceh
is not amenable to a military solution. Violence has never solved the
decades-old conflict. During the 1989-1998 period, Aceh was a declared a
military operations area, and some 10,000 civilians were killed.
Jafar Siddiq Hamazah - an internationally-known peace advocate, human
rights lawyer, long-time friend of the East Timor Action Network, and
permanent U.S. resident - was abducted, brutally tortured, and murdered
upon his return for a visit to Indonesia in August 2003. Indonesian
military and police have not released any surveillance files or materials
they may have pertaining to Jafar's abduction, torture and execution, more than three years later.
