We join
with many around the world in
mourning her passing and in
celebrating her inspiring life.
“Carmel was
a hero to me as well as to thousands
of people in Timor-Leste, Indonesia
and West Papua. She also
motivated ETAN's creation, was
invaluable with networking and
inspiration, and brought her wisdom
to our first national conference 28
years ago,” said Charles Scheiner, a
co-founder of ETAN.
“I am
deeply saddened by this news.
Carmel’s stories and activism, her
focus, analysis and persistence, her
deep commitment to justice and truth
and, on top of all that, her
wonderful kindness and generosity
have given me inspiration and a
model for activism since I first
read her work. I feel so fortunate
to have known her and learned from
her,” said Pam Sexton, a member of
ETAN’s Board.
|
Carmel
outlived the Suharto regime, the
occupation of Timor-Leste, and the
war in Aceh -- three major victories
she played key roles in. TAPOL
continues to campaign against the
horrific abuses and racism in West
Papua and on behalf of political
prisoners, for human rights and
against injustice in Indonesia.
|
She was a
fierce critic of the Suharto regime
and militarism in Indonesia,
founding the UK-based human rights
organization
TAPOL in 1973. She stimulated,
encouraged and worked closely with
human rights groups worldwide,
including ETAN. She pioneered the
use of the nascent internet for
global solidarity work.
Carmel did
several U.S. speaking tours with
ETAN in the 1990s.
“TAPOL
and Carmel provided a basic
education to we who were learning
about the region. At one of ETAN's
earliest national meetings in 1993,
she urged us to see Timor and its
struggle for self-determination as
closely linked to the struggle
against Indonesia's dictatorship and
militarism,” said John M. Miller,
ETAN Coordinator.
Carmel
moved to newly independent Indonesia
in 1951 after marrying Suwondo
Budiardjo in 1950 and became a
citizen in 1954. She was a devoted
anti-fascist and became a respected
economist, working with the
Indonesian government and media and
lecturing at universities.
|
|
Carmel with Jose Ramos-Horta and
Charles Scheiner in Dili, 2009. |
|
Following
General Suharto’s seizure of power
in 1965 and the subsequent
persecution of the political left –
including
the murders of hundreds of thousands
– the military imprisoned Carmel and
her husband. Britain refused to help
her, because she had become a
naturalized Indonesian citizen and
because the UK supported Suharto’s
purge. She recounted this harrowing
time in her 1996 book,
Surviving Indonesia’s Gulag: A
Western Woman Tells Her Story.
She
was released after three years and
deported to the United Kingdom,
where she worked for Amnesty
International and then founded the
organization TAPOL, named for the
Indonesian portmanteau for Tahanan
Politik, or political prisoner. For
the next half-century, she devoted
her life to human rights in
Indonesia, through research,
publication, networking, advocacy,
and protest.
Her
organization’s newsletter, the
TAPOL Bulletin, provided first-hand accounts of the abuses of
the Suharto dictatorship facilitated
by a wide range of contacts in
Indonesia. In 1984, she co-authored
the book
The War Against East Timor with
Liem Soei Liong, one of the first
comprehensive English-language
accounts of Indonesia’s brutal
occupation. The two also co-authored
West Papua: The Obliteration of a
People in 1988. She also helped
found the environmental organization
Down to Earth in 1988, the British
Coalition for East Timor (BCET) in
1991, and the London Mining Network
in 1997.
Carmel
outlived the Suharto regime, the
occupation of Timor-Leste, and the
war in Aceh -- three major victories
she played key roles in. TAPOL
continues to campaign against the
horrific abuses and racism in West
Papua and on behalf of political
prisoners, for human rights and
against injustice in Indonesia.
|
Participants in Grupo
Solidaridade conference in
Dili, 2009. Carmel is in
back row. |
Carmel
inspired and taught rights activists
around the globe. She has received
numerous awards including the 1995
Right Livelihood Award
and the
John
Rumbiak Human Rights Defender
Award
in 2008 from ETAN’s sister
organization the West Papua Advocacy
Team. She was also recognized as an
Eldest Daughter of Papua.
Carmel
visited Timor-Leste in August 2009
on the 10th anniversary of Timor's
independence referendum, where she
received the Order of Timor-Leste
from the government of Timor-Leste.
During the same visit, she
challenged Timor's young people to
continue the international
solidarity their country had
received by supporting West Papua's
struggle. This inspired a
demonstration that same week and
campaigning that continues.
Carmel will
be missed by many around the globe,
but the many people she encouraged,
taught and motivated will carry on
her work. ETAN offers our deepest
condolences to her family and
friends.
A luta
continua!