Carmel Budiardjo, TAPOL’s founder and driving force for many decades, passed away peacefully on the morning of Saturday 10th July.
She will be greatly missed by all of us in TAPOL and in the wider TAPOL family, the extensive network of people whose lives were touched - and sometimes transformed - by her passionate and determined campaigning for human rights, justice and democracy in Indonesia, East Timor, Aceh and West Papua. For many of us she was a great mentor as well as a beloved friend.
TAPOL stands for 'tahanan politik' or 'political prisoners' in Indonesian. Carmel, a British citizen then living in Indonesia, was imprisoned without trial in Indonesia following former President Suharto’s rise to power in 1965. An Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, Carmel was released after three years’ imprisonment and she returned to the UK. In 1973 she founded TAPOL to campaign for the release of the tens of thousands of political prisoners following the 1965 atrocities and in support of the relatives of the hundreds of thousands who were killed. Carmel was determined to raise international awareness of those atrocities and injustices in which many western countries, including the UK, were complicit in their attempts to halt what they saw as the rise of communism.
Over the next three decades, TAPOL's work broadened to encompass wider issues of human rights, peace and democracy in Indonesia, including in Aceh, East Timor and the contested territory of West Papua. Wherever possible, and despite the extreme repression of the New Order regime, we built close relationships and collaboration with the very brave human rights defenders and pro-democracy campaigners there. In 1995, Carmel received the Right Livelihood Award, after being nominated by the International Federation for East Timor.
With awareness growing also of the environmental damage being wrought by the regime on nature and local communities, in 1988 Carmel helped set up a sister organisation, Down to Earth, to fight for ecological justice. Later, in 2007, Carmel and TAPOL were also founder members of the London Mining Network, established to support communities harmed by London-based mining companies.
As Indonesia became more democratic during the 2000s, we increasingly turned our attention to the region of West Papua. There, human rights violations have continued, largely out-of-sight and un-discussed within Indonesia as well as internationally. For TAPOL’s international work on West Papua, Carmel also received the John Rumbiak Human Rights Defender Award and was honoured as an 'Eldest Daughter of Papua' by leaders of West Papuan civil society in 2011.
TAPOL is still today very much as Carmel set it up: a small organisation/network of committed staff, volunteers and collaborators, all aiming for a big impact. We remain committed to her ideals of promoting justice and equality across Indonesia, and are deeply grateful for all that she contributed and taught us. Our thoughts and sincere condolences for this huge, sad loss go to Carmel’s family in particular, but also to all those across the globe who knew and loved her.
Film: ‘Carmel and the story of TAPOL’ by Sanne Van Den Berg, Su Lin Lewis, Barbara Patilla and Jonnie Kinder, 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3kdrMXXE0o
Book: ‘Suharto’s Gulag: Surviving Indonesia's Military Rule: A Western Woman's Memoirs’, by Carmel Budiardjo, Cassell Global Issues, 1996.
On Thursday (July 8), Papua recorded its highest single-day rise in COVID-19 with 405 additional cases since the pandemic hit it last year, the task force spokesperson, Silwanus Sumule, said.
There were also 10 new deaths on the day. This single-day increase in both COVID-19 cases and deaths was the highest since 2020, he said in a statement that ANTARA quoted in Jayapura on Sunday.
Sumule predicted that the number of those contracting the virus could likely continue to rise so that the people at large were obliged to keep obeying the health protocols.
The highest single-day case spike was contributed by the districts of Biak Numfor with 121 cases, Merauke (70), Mimika (50), Jayapura (40), Yapen (36), and Asmat (10), as well as Jayapura City with 36.
The new cases were also contributed by the districts of Paniai and Jayapura with nine cases respectively, as well as Mappi with six cases, and Tolikara (3), he added.
"Please do not undermine the pandemic because the COVID-19 virus continues to mutate, and the mutations may result in the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants," he said.
As of July 8, Papua had recorded 26,286 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in 2020 but some 22,789 COVID-19 patients had fully recovered while 515 others succumbed to the deadly virus.
Now, 3,002 residents with COVID-19 syndromes are being hospitalized at various hospitals and centralized treatment centers in this eastern Indonesian province, the task force revealed.
The COVID-19 pandemic initially hit the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019 and subsequently spread across the globe, including to nations in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Indonesian government announced the nation's first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020.
Since then, the central and regional governments have been endeavoring to slow infections by implementing health protocols.
Emergency public activity restrictions have also been imposed on the islands of Java and Bali from July 3 - July 20, 2021 to address an alarming resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
As part of efforts to win the fight against COVID-19, the Indonesian government has been conducting a nationwide vaccination program to contain infections since January 13, 2021.
As of July 9, 2021, a total of 35,775,567 Indonesians have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, an increase of 914,881 compared to the previous day, according to the Health Ministry.
The number of Indonesians who have received the second vaccine dose reached 14,868,577 on Friday, up 246,075 from the previous day, it added.
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The Jakarta-Jayapura flights are currently being operated by Batik Air alone, while Lion Air has suspended its services since July 6, 2021, head of Lion Air group - Jayapura office, Agung Setya Wibowo, told ANTARA here on Friday.
Wings Air is operating flights on the Sentani-Dekai and Sentani-Wamena routes, he said, adding that flight services to the Papuan cities of Timika, Merauke, and Nabire have been suspended since July 6, 2021.
The suspension of flight services to and from the three cities would be effective until July 20, 2021, Wibowo informed.
"The suspension has not just been triggered by the enforcement of public activity restrictions, but also by requirements for passengers to show their polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results," he said.
"In fact, the PCR testing requirements for airline passengers could not yet be fulfilled by several cities in Papua, including Merauke," he added.
Speaking on the issue, spokesperson for Merauke district's COVID-19 task force, Neville Maskita, said PCR tests are only meant for those showing coronavirus symptoms and are not available for travelers.
The rapid tests are being conducted at the Merauke Public Hospital, and the samples tested per day are limited to 94, he informed.
The COVID-19 pandemic initially hit the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019 and subsequently spread across the globe, including to nations in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Indonesian government announced the nation's first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020.
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Since then, the central and regional governments have striven incessantly to flatten the nation's coronavirus curve by applying healthcare protocols.
Emergency public activity restrictions have also been imposed on the islands of Java and Bali from July 3 - July 20, 2021 to address an alarming resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
As part of efforts to win the fight against COVID-19, the Indonesian government has been conducting a nationwide vaccination program to contain infections since January 13, 2021.
As of July 9, 2021, a total of 35,775,567 Indonesians have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, an increase of 914,881 compared to the previous day, according to the Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, the number of Indonesians who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 has reached 14,868,577, up 246,075 from the previous day, it added.
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