The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) expects humanitarian assistance for the victims of earthquake and tsunami disaster in Aceh and North Sumatra. The disaster, which occurred on December 26, 2004, also hit eight Asian countries and seven African countries, has been estimated of claiming more than 80.000 death. According to the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, it has been estimated that at least 45.000 people were killed in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

AJI, an organization of journalists in Indonesia affiliated to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), has members in the affected areas, namely 11 in Lhokseumawe and 25 in Banda Aceh and a security officer of the AJI office in Banda Aceh, excluding AJI members in Jakarta who have relatives in Aceh.

Currently, we are monitoring their existence and their families. From the latest report we received, all of AJI members in Lhokseumawe have been found safe, while in Banda Aceh, only eight people have been found alive, and 18 went missing.

Therefore, we call on the international community to participate and provide assistance for our colleagues who become the victims. Financial assistance can be sent to:

Account Number : 446-1479
Beneficiary Name : ALLIANCE OF INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS
Name of Bank : BNI Senayan Branch
SWIFT Code : BNINIDJA
Address of Bank : Jl. Gatot Subroto Kav. 55 - Central Jakarta 10210

Other assistance can be sent to:

Secretariat of AJI Indonesia
Jl. Danau Poso Blok D1 No. 29 Bendungan Hilir Jakarta Indonesia 10210
Phone: +62-21-5790-0489, Fax. +62-21-573-4581

Jakarta, December 30, 2004
The Alliance of Independent Journalists

Eddy Suprapto
President

For further information, you can contact us at:

1. The Jakarta Coordinating Post
Eddy Suprapto (62-818-774-724)
Ulin Niam Yusron (62-818-912-361)
Abdul Manan (62-818-948-316)
Lensi Mursida (62-815-943-5493)
Yulia Siswaningsih (62-815-1322-0269 or 62-815-1127-9559
Lina (62-812-839-0035)

2. The Banda Aceh Coordinating Post
Nani Afrida (62-812-696-0395)

3. The Lhokseumawe Coordinating Post
Zaenal Bakri (62-811-671-971)
Ayi Jufridar (62-811-672-648)

4. The Medan Coordinating Post
Dedi Ardiansyah (62-815-3313-0251)