Click here for Bahasa Indonesia version.
DEMOCRACY FORUM Bersatu Rakyat Papua has presented the title "Eldest daughter of Papua nation" to the human rights activist Carmel Budiardjo of London on December 28, 2010 in Bali. The event was attended by several Papuan leaders, including Mama Yosepha Alomang from Timika, Reverend Benny Giay of STT Walter Post, Federika Korain and Salmon Yumame of the Democracy Forum.
The event was held in Bali because Ms. Budiardjo, as a non-citizen of Indonesia, would have needed a "travel permit" to go to Papua. Travel resprictions are used by the Government of Indonesia to deter activists, journalists and international diplomats traveling to Papua.
According to a press release by the Democracy Forum, "Ms. Carmel Budiardjo, who is now 85 years old, has been showing great commitment fighting alongside the people of Papua to protect the identity and ultimate freedom given by God to the people of Papua." She is considered of having shown "proven perseverance" in the fight for "the dignity" of the nation of Papua since the 1970s.
Ms. Budiardjo was baptized with the name: Papuaumau (Mee language) or Ati Venia (Maybrat language) or Bin Syowi (Biak language.) All those words mean "eldest daughter" in three local Papuan languages. Benny Giay said "Mother Carmel" is "a Papuan citizen" because of her struggle and commitment for human rights.
The inaugural presentation was marked by a procession of traditional dance by students in Bali. As part of the procession Mama Yosepha presented a painting with an image of Carmel Budiardjo. The painting on wood bark illustrates Ms. Budiardjo with one hand suporting the images of Papua and its people. An inscription written on her shirt reads "Papua Carmel Budiardjo: Papuaumau or Ati or Bin Syowi Venia".
In her speech, Carmel Budiardjo said she was deeply moved and grateful to the Democracy Forum. She said she would carry on to campaign for the human rights for Papuan people.
Carmel Budiardjo was born in London in 1925. She graduated from the University of London in 1946. She met with Suwondo Budiardjo, an Indonesia citizen, when living in Prague. They married and moved to Java in 1952. There Carmel worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs. In 1965 General Suharto took power and imprisoned thousands of Indonesian communists including Suwondo for 12 years. Carmel herself, as an economist from the left, was jailed for three years and was later expelled from Indonesia in 1971.
In London, Carmel Budiardjo founded TAPOL, which is an abbreviation for "political prisoner", to campaign for the release of political prisoners in Indonesia. TAPOL stepped up its campaign with research about Indonesian military activities and human rights violations in East Timor, Aceh and Papua. TAPOL published an important reference bulletin about human rights in Indonesia from the 1970s until 2008. In 1983, the organisation published the book "West Papua: The Obliteration of a People". Ms. Budiarjo wrote an autobiography "Surviving Indonesia's Gulag: A western women tells her story".
Ms. Budiardjo's work in the field of human rights has been widely acknowledged. In 1995, Carmel Budiardjo was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in Stockholm. In 1999, the International Forum for Aceh, which is based in New York, awarded her the title "Tjut Carmel Budiardjo" (the title refering to her becoming a honorary "Acehnese women").
According to M. Nur Djuli of the International Forum for Aceh, "We also gave her a plaque with a poem in Acehnese language, saying: Reudôk di glé ujeuën muprœt-prœt, aneuëk guda rœt ôn naleuëng paya. Meunyo lôn ingat budi gata gœt bak tiep simpang rœt lôn rô ië mata."
Meaning:
Thunder on the mountain, showering Rains,
A filly grazing grass swamp,
Whenever I recall your Good Deeds,
At every street corners
Tears drop from my eyes.
Carmel Budiardjo has tirelessly worked for people suffering from oppression by "Indonesian Javanese people." - to borrow the terminology of Hasan di Tiro, who is the founder of the Acheh / Sumatra National Liberation Front. Last year East Timor's President Jose-Ramos Horta presented the "Timor Leste Star" to Ms. Budiardjo for her "impressive contribution to peace, to the Timorese people and to humanity."
In Bali, the event closed with a traditional Papuan banquet with fish sauce, petatas, taro leaf and kasbi. Budiardjo was accompanied by her son and daughter in the ceremony.
Andreas Harsono, Jakarta: http://andreasharsono.blogspot.com/2010/12/carmel-budiardjo-putri-sulung-bangsa.html
Click here for the press release issued by the Papua Democracy Forum (FORDEM)
Click here for a translation of the speech delivered by Benny Giay, on the occassion of granting the status of Orang Asli Papua to Ibu Carmel Budiardjo.
Bahasa Indonesia
FORUM DEMOKRASI Rakyat Papua Bersatu memberikan gelar "Putri Sulung Bangsa Papua" kepada aktivis hak asasi manusia Carmel Budiardjo dari London pada 28 Desember 2010 di Bali. Acara dihadiri beberapa tokoh Papua, termasuk Mama Yosepha Alomang dari Timika, Pendeta Benny Giay dari STT Walter Post, Federika Korain dan Salmon Yumame dari Forum Demokrasi.
Acara diselenggarakan di Bali karena Budiardjo, sebagai non-warga Indonesia, memerlukan "surat jalan" bila hendak masuk ke Papua. Aturan tersebut dipakai oleh Indonesia untuk menghalangi aktivis, wartawan maupun diplomat internasional, datang ke Papua.
Menurut siaran pers Forum Demokrasi, "Ibu Carmel Budiardjo, yang saat ini telah berusia 85 tahun, menunjukkan komitmen untuk berjuang bersama bangsa Papua agar menemukan jati diri dan kebebasan hakiki yang diberikan oleh Tuhan kepada bangsa Papua." Dia dinilai "terbukti gigih" dalam memperjuangkan "harkat dan martabat" bangsa Papua sejak 1970an.
Budiardjo dibaptis dengan nama: Papuaumau (bahasa Mee) atau Venia Ati (bahasa Maybrat) atau Bin Syowi (bahasa Biak). Semua kata tersebut berarti "putri sulung" dalam tiga bahasa di Papua. Benny Giay mengatakan "Ibu Carmel" adalah "orang asli Papua" karena perjuangan dan komitmen terhadap hak asasi manusia.
Prosesi pengukuhan ditandai dengan prosesi tarian adat oleh mahasiswa dan mahasiswi di Bali. Mereka mengantar Mama Yosepha, yang memikul noken berisi gambar Carmel Budiardjo. Lukisan kayu ini menggambarkan Budiardjo dengan salah satu tangan menantang Pulau Papua dan manusia Papua. Sekaligus tertulis juga nama Papua Carmel Budiardjo: Papuaumau atau Venia Ati atau Bin Syowi.
Dalam pidatonya, Carmel Budiardjo mengatakan dia terharu dan berterimakasih kepada Forum Demokrasi. Dia menyatakan akan tetap bikin kampanye soal hak asasi manusia bangsa Papua.
Carmel Budiardjo kelahiran London pada 1925. Dia lulus dari University of London pada 1946. Dia bertemu dengan Suwondo Budiardjo, seorang pegawai Indonesia, ketika mereka ada di Praha. Mereka menikah dan pindah ke Jawa pada 1952. Carmel bekerja untuk Departemen Luar Negeri. Pada 1965 Jenderal Soeharto mengambil alih kekuasaan serta memenjarakan ribuan kaum komunis Indonesia, termasuk Suwondo selama 12 tahun. Carmel sendiri, sebagai ekonom kiri, dipenjara tiga tahun dan diusir dari Indonesia sesudah bebas pada 1971.
Di London, Carmel Budiardjo mendirikan Tapol, singkatan dari "tahanan politik," guna kampanye pembebasan para tapol di Indonesia. Tapol lantas memperluas kampanye mereka dengan riset tentang kegiatan militer Indonesia dan pelanggaran hak asasi manusia di Timor Timur, Aceh dan Papua. Buletin Tapol merupakan referensi penting soal hak asasi manusia di Indonesia pada 1970an hingga 1990an. Pada 1983, Tapol menerbitkan buku West Papua: The Obliteration of a People. Dia menulis otobiografi Surviving Indonesia’s Gulag soal kekejaman militer Indonesia terhadap para tapol komunis.
Kerja Budiardjo di bidang hak asasi manusia mendapat penghargaan di berbagai tempat. Pada 1995, Carmel Budiardjo menerima penghargaan Right Livelihood Award dari Stockholm. Pada 1999, International Forum for Aceh, yang berpusat di New York, memberi gelar khas perempuan Aceh kepada "Tjut Carmel Budiardjo."
Menurut M. Nur Djuli dari International Forum for Aceh, "Kami juga memberinya sebuah plaque bertuliskan poem bahasa Aceh, bunyinya: Reudôk di glé ujeuën muprœt-prœt, aneuëk guda rœt ôn naleuëng paya. Meunyo lôn ingat budi gata gœt bak tiep simpang rœt lôn rô ië mata."
Makna puisi dalam bahasa Aceh tersebut:
Thunder on the mountain, showering rains,
A filly grazing swamp grass,
Whenever I recall your good deeds,
At every street corners
Tears drop from my eyes.
Carmel Budiardjo memang banyak bekerja untuk masyarakat yang mengalami penindasan --meminjam terminologi Hasan di Tiro-- oleh "bangsa Indonesia Jawa." Hasan di Tiro adalah pendiri Acheh/Sumatra National Liberation Front. Tahun lalu Presiden Timor Leste Jose-Ramos Horta memberi Bintang Timor Leste kepada Budiardjo karena "impressive contribution to peace, to the Timorese people and to humanity."
Di Bali, acara ditutup dengan jamuan khas Papua berupa papeda, kuah ikan, petatas, keladi dan daun kasbi. Budiardjo didampingi putra dan putri dia dalam upacara tersebut.
Translation of the address by Benny Giay
Denpasar, 28 December 2010
On this special day, we are gathered here to represent the Papuan victims of human rights violations which have been part of our suffering since 1962, bcause we Papuans have been conditioned to be powerless (see 9 June 2001 document of the Department of Internal Affairs). We now consciously take the following decision:
(a) To grant recognition to Carmel Budiardjo who has chosen to CROSS OVER and take the path of suffering together with the Papuan Nation;
(b) We therefore accept you, Carmel Budiardjo, as a member of the Papuan Nation, a member of the Papuan community (according to the definition in Melanesian culture; those who have survived and not been murdered by the Indonesian Pharaoh as well as those who have been murdered in the past and in the present);
(c) we therefore on this day as representatives of the aforesaid community grant you, Carmel Budiardjo, the Papuan name: Papuaumau (Elder Daughter of Papua - Mee/Paniai), Venia Ati (Genuine daughter of Papua: Maybrat/Sorong), Bin Syowi (Foremost Daughter: Biak).
In the first matter, Carmel crossed over to become part of the history of another people, as did the Jewish people. We have read about the struggle of Edith Stein, of Anne Frank, Elie Weisel and Lemkin who fought to ensure that the United Nations would adopt a law on Genocide. The task of crossing over and becoming part of the history of another nation is something very difficult to do. But you, Carmel Budiardjo, are an extraordinary person. You have shown us that everything is possible. You have shone a candle in our lives.
In the history of Papua, you, Carmel Budiardjo have become a link: a leader who has drawn us Papuans together, one with the other. Thanks to your work, we have become conscious of our fellow citizens in Biak, Serui, Amungme, Muyu, Puncak Jaya, Merauke, Jayapura/Tanah Tabi, Manokwari and Sorong. Your life has been part of our history. We are grateful for your struggle which has helped us never to forget our own history and has fostered in us the essence of our own history, our position, our social and cultural history under Indonesian oppression and in world history.
But you have also become part of our struggle, a voice for our people who have been silenced by Pharaohs in all parts of the world. You have helped us to understand that there still exists a spirit of solidarity and humanitarianism in the world , there are still those who understand democracy and human rights (as we understand it), there are still those who are concerned about those who take the path of Memoria Passionis.
You have represented the voice of the community who have been victimised (including those who have been murdered or who have disappeared) as well as those who are now being killed or who are incarcerated in prisons: speaking on this day to the powers-that-be in the world and within the international community. We acknowledge your determined struggle since 1973, since the time you raised your voice about mass killings in Biak, up to December 2009 when you raised your voice at the Foreign Office with regard to the kidnap and murder of Kelly Kwalik.
On the basis of this understanding and in this spirit, we welcome you Carmel Budiardjo as a member of the Papuan Nation and grant you a Papuan name: as from today and forever more. We shall call you an ELDER DAUGHTER of the Papuan People. (Papauaumau, Venia Ati, Bin Syowi).
Thank you:
May the Lord God Almighty, the forefathers of the Papuan Nation grant us all Amoleee..., Waaahhh... Koyaaa..., Meen, Tabea..., Foi...,Kaonak, Yepmum, Doromomo, Acemooo...
[Delivered by Reverend Dr Benny Giay .]