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.
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.