'Poncke' Princen (21-5-1925 - 21-2-2002) An obituary for this person appeared in the Melbourne Age newspaper (see below). It mentions that he was influenced by anarchist ideals in his youth.
Poncke Princen deserted the Dutch military and joined the Indonesion independence movement in 1948. He played a major role in defending human rights in Indonesia since then, particularly recently in regards to East Timor and Aceh, but also in regards to helping to organise Trade Union organisations. He was outspoken against Sukarno and the Suharto regimes in defence of Human Rights (and was jailed a number of times for his Human Rights stance). In 1993 he applied for a Visa to visit the Netherlands. A Visa was denied him and caused much debate at the time, with strong opposition from Veterans organisations. Takver http://www.takver.com/history/feedback.htm ---------------------------------------------------- OBITUARIES - JOHANNES CORNELIS, `PONCKE' PRINCEN - FEARLESS CHAMPION OF, HUMAN RIGHTS Author: Jill Jolliffe Date: 28 Feb 2002 Words: 737 Publication: The Age Section: The Culture Page: 11 21-5-1925 - 21-2-2002 Poncke Princen, who died last Thursday in Jakarta, was an extraordinary figure who played a fearless role in upholding human rights in Indonesia. Born in The Hague, he was raised by freethinking parents and influenced by anarchist ideals in his youth. During World War II, he was captured by the Germans and spent time in a Nazi concentration camp. He later enlisted in the Dutch army and was sent to Indonesia to fight in the so-called ``police action" to restore Dutch colonial rule against Indonesian nationalists. He quickly sympathised with the Indonesian nationalists, and in 1948 deserted to fight with them against his compatriots. Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno, decorated him with the Guerrilla Star, Indonesia's highest honour. Princen took out Indonesian citizenship, converted to Islam and was elected to the Indonesian parliament in 1956. His stand caused great bitterness in Holland, where he was branded as a traitor and banned from returning to his homeland until the closing years of his life. In death, however, Dutch cabinet minister Jan Pronk paid him a cautious tribute. ``Poncke Princen was no hero, martyr or saint, but first and foremost a human rights activist," he told Radio Netherlands. Unlike many opponents of the Suharto regime who had never criticised the populist Sukarno, his record on political freedom was thoroughgoing. He was imprisoned by both Sukarno and Suharto for his defence of human rights, serving more than eight years in jail. In the early 1970s, he was a founder of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute. Despite his critical role, his prestige in Indonesia always remained high because of his role in the independence struggle, and in the early 1990s he was a founding member of the Group of Fifty, a movement for democratic reform that included conservative military figures who had fallen out with Suharto. But he stood out from others because of his early stand in support of East Timorese self-determination, a cause that was taboo even in the most progressive circles, where nationalism reigned supreme. In later years, he was treated for skin cancer and a series of strokes. Yet his luminous spirit shone through his wrecked body, and he continued his work as before. After the imprisonment of East Timorese resistance hero Xanana Gusmao in 1992, the two formed a friendship, although Princen was only able to visit him personally after the reformasi movement gained force in 1998. In the wake of the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in Dili, Princen gave sanctuary in his house to five young East Timorese who had fled their homeland. A stand-off with the Indonesian military followed, but he successfully negotiated with Jakarta military commander General Hendropriono - then perceived as a liberal harbinger of ``reformasi" - for their safe passage to Jakarta airport, from where they travelled to Portugal. Gusmao, who is likely to be East Timor's first president after elections in April, said in Dili that he was deeply saddened by Princen's death. He said his first contact with him had been when he was still leading the guerrilla struggle in East Timor's mountains. They corresponded from that time, a link that continued during the Timorese leader's imprisonment in Jakarta. ``After the reformasi movement began, he visited me at the first opportunity," Gusmao recalled. ``It was a very emotional meeting, and I thanked him for the support he had given to our people. ``He then came frequently and we usually discussed the evolution of the democratic struggle in Indonesia. He encouraged us in our struggle. East Timor owes a lot to him." The Timorese leader's Australian wife, Kirsty Sword, also knew Princen from her work with the Timorese underground after 1990. ``I can still remember him telling me the story of how he came to be in Indonesia. He told how the Indonesians proudly refused to hand him over to the Dutch during the early years of Sukarno," she recalled. ``He said `Suharto would be glad to hand me over today'." Princen was almost alone in taking up the cause of East Timor in Indonesia. Despite being a vocal critic, he had enormous respect in Indonesia, and was considered almost untouchable." Jill Jolliffe is The Age correspondent in Dili. ------------------------------------------------ see http://www.gn.apc.org/tapol for updates from the Indonesian Human Rights Campaign . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
