Woodside Activist Missing In Indonesia

In a place where human rights violations are the norm and unwarranted arrests, torture and mysterious killings are commonplace, a Queens activist seeking to help restore order to an island off Indonesia, might have become the countrys latest victim.
Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, a 35-year-old Woodside lawyer, went on a mission last month to promote peace and call international attention to military and separatist violence in Aceh, a province island off of Indonesia.
Hamzah had been calling his family every two hours so that they could track his safety in what he knew would be an extremely dangerous trip, but on August 5 around 11:30 a.m. Indonesian time, the calls ceased. Now neither his family, friends nor public officials know where Hamzah is, or if he is even alive.
"We fear for Jafar Siddiq Hamzahs safety," said Curt Goering, senior deputy executive director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). "The Indonesian authorities must demonstrate that they will not idly tolerate the apparent disappearance of a human rights activist."
After not reporting to his family, Hamzah did not return to the house where he was staying in Medan and has not talked with any of his correspondents in America. There were no reports about him in the local hospitals, and if he has been arrested, it has been an illegal detention, as it should have been reported to authorities in the United States. AIUSA is calling for the United States to step up its effort to locate Hamzah, including an immediate dispatch of high-level investigators to the Indonesia area.
One of the strongest advocates for getting the United States and Indonesia involved in the search for the Queens lawyer is Congressman Anthony D. Weiner of Forest Hills. In a letter to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Weiner writes, "For the past several years, I have worked closely with the International Forum and the East Timor Action Network on issues of human rights abuses in Indonesia and East Timor. As founder and chair of the International Forum for Aceh, a human rights organization incorporated in the U.S., Jafar is a well-known and outspoken advocate for these issues. I am quite concerned for his safety since he has been an ardent opponent of military repression and abuses in his homeland, Aceh and throughout East Timor and Indonesia." Weiner also told The Queens Courier that he has had the chance to meet with Hamzah on more than one occasion and will fight ardently to secure his safety and return if he is still alive.
Hamzah came to New York several years ago from Aceh, where he grew up. Two years ago, Hamzah launched and was the chairman of the New York-based International Forum for 
Aceh, to bring attention to the violence and abuse that takes place there. While a peace agreement was reached last May between the government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement, activists believe that the military will still abuse and possibly murder anyone considered to be a separatist. Hamzah complained days before his disappearance that he was being followed, but that didnt stop him from scheduling meetings with local politicians and a Japanese television crew to help garner attention against the violence. Now he may have become a victim of the exact thing he was trying to end.
"Aceh has a long history of mysterious violence and killings," said Joshua Rubenstein, the Northeast Regional Director of Amnesty International. "Weve been documenting a variety of incidents over the years." In 1993, AIUSA released a report, "Indonesia, Shock Therapy: Restoring Order in Aceh."
Hamzah is currently pursuing a Masters degree in political science at the New School in Manhattan. He is enrolled for the fall semester, and family and friends are desperately hoping he will be back to continue fighting against injustice.