[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 580 Introduced in House (IH)]







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;
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
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the murder of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah in 
        Indonesia;
            (2) offers condolences to the family and friends of Jafar 
        Siddiq Hamzah, a courageous human rights advocate and founder 
        of the International Forum on Aceh; and
            (3) calls upon the Department of State and the Government 
        of Indonesia--
                    (A) to do everything in their power to bring about 
                a thorough, open, and transparent investigation of the 
                murder of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah and the four others with 
                whom he was found, make the results of the official 
                autopsy public, and offer full access and support to 
                independent investigators and forensics experts brought 
                in to examine these cases;
                    (B) to ensure that the perpetrators of these 
                atrocities are brought to justice through open and fair 
                trials; and
                    (C) to devote official attention, in an atmosphere 
                of openness and transparency and oversight, to broader 
                investigations into the numerous other cases of 
                killings and disappearance in Aceh.
                                 <all>