Carmel Budiardjo Explained

Carmel Budiardjo
Birth Name:Carmel Brickman
Birth Date:18 June 1925
Birth Place:London, England
Death Place:London, England
Education:University of London
University of Indonesia
Occupation:Activist, lecturer
Known For:Founder of Tapol
Awards:Right Livelihood Award (1995)

Carmel Budiardjo (née Brickman; 18 June 1925 – 10 July 2021) was an English human rights activist, lecturer, and author. She was the founder of the non-governmental organisation Tapol. Budiardjo was known for campaigning for the awareness of war crimes and human rights abuses in Indonesia and East Timor. For her activism, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1995.

Early life

She came from a Jewish family in London, whose anti-fascist beliefs influenced her left-wing politics.[1] She received a bachelor's degree in Economics in 1946 from the University of London, where she became active in the National Union of Students.[2] While working in Prague for the International Union of Students,[3] she met Suwondo 'Bud' Budiardjo, an Indonesian government official whom she married in 1950.[4] The couple moved to Indonesia in 1951, and she became an Indonesian citizen in 1954.[5]

Early career

Budiardjo worked first as a translator for Antara, the Indonesian news agency, then in economic research for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, later studying at the University of Indonesia's School of Economics and then lecturing at Padjadjaran University in Bandung and Res Publica (now Trisakti) University in Jakarta.[6]

Activism

After General Suharto seized power in 1966, her husband was imprisoned, spending 12 years in jail. She was herself arrested,[7] and later imprisoned in 1968 for three years and, after her release in 1971, was deported to England.

Upon returning she founded Tapol to campaign for political prisoners in Indonesia, which took its name from the abbreviation of tahanan politik, or political prisoner in Indonesian. The organisation expanded its activities, and was prominent in getting out information on military activity and human rights violations in East Timor,[8] invaded and occupied by Indonesia in 1975, as well as West Papua[9] and Aceh.[10] The Tapol Bulletin was a major source of information about the human rights situation in Indonesia under the New Order. She was also the author of a number of books on human rights and politics in Indonesia. The organisation remains active, with Budiardjo still playing a very important part in its activities until her death.[11]

In 1995, Budiardjo was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for her work, being nominated by the International Federation for East Timor.[12]

Death

Budiardjo died on 10 July 2021 in London at age 96.[13] [14] [15] On 6 August 2021 Budiardjo was featured in the BBC Radio 4 obituary programme Last Word.[16]

Works

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/4323/rights-activist-says-genocide-continues-in-indonesia/ Rights activist says genocide continues in Indonesia
  2. Book: Scott-Smith, Giles . The cultural Cold War in Western Europe, 1945-1960 . Krabbendam . Hans . 2003 . F. Cass . 0-203-48581-5 . London . 117 . 252727074.
  3. The International Union of Students, Paul Francis Magnelia, Peninsula Lithograph Company, 1967, page 75
  4. https://books.google.com/books?id=sjJQAQAAIAAJ&q=suwondo+budiardjo Development Policy and Law Seminar, 1973–1974, Volume 3
  5. Book: Budiardjo, Carmel . Surviving Indonesia's gulag : a western woman tells her story . 1996 . Cassell . 0-304-33562-2 . London . 130 . 34325298.
  6. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/1999/09/12/british-woman-narrates-account-prison-torture.html British woman narrates account of prison torture
  7. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=K1xAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fqMMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2972%2C2167927 Sukarno Plot: British Woman Held
  8. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ill-campaign-for-timor-until-i-die-1180514.html I'll campaign for Timor until I die
  9. http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2011/01/human-rights-campaigner-carmel-budiardjo-made-an-honorary-papuan/ Human rights campaigner Carmel Budiardjo made an honorary Papuan
  10. http://www.insideindonesia.org/what-is-the-tnis-aceh-agenda What is the TNI's Aceh agenda?
  11. News: October 1982. Britain's ex-tapol fights on. New Internationalist. 12 July 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20081203155323/http://www.newint.org/issue116/extapol.htm. 3 December 2008.
  12. Web site: Right Livelihood award: 1985 – Carmel Budiardjo . 12 September 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071113141249/http://www.rightlivelihood.org/budiardjo.html# . 13 November 2007 . dead.
  13. News: Pendiri TAPOL Carmel Budiardjo, yang berperan besar dalam perjuangan kemanusiaan di Indonesia, tutup usia. id. BBC News Indonesia. 11 July 2021.
  14. Web site: 2021-07-12. Carmel Budiardjo: rights defender who shone a light on Papua. 2021-07-13. RNZ. en-nz.
  15. Web site: July 13, 2021 . Papuan and human rights defender Carmel Budiardjo dies at 96 Asia Pacific Report . 2021-07-13 . en-US.
  16. Web site: BBC Radio 4 - Last Word, Sir Graham Vick (Pictured), Carmel Budiardjo, Piers Plowright, Dusty Hill.