Trial begins in Jakarta: Dutch woman defends Untung
Trouw (14 Feb 1966): on the eve of the Untung and Njono trials in Jakarta, Dutch-born lawyer Trees Soenito-Heyligers, herself a PKI member, takes on the defence after others refused. Profiles her and her husband as 'non-extreme' communists with Leiden training. No mention of Gerwani; context for the 1965-66 Mahmillub t
Indonesian Plot: Tribunal Verdict on Njono Due Today (Canberra Times, 21 February 1966)
Canberra Times, 21 Feb 1966, p. 6 (AAP-Reuter): the military tribunal trying PKI leader Njono is due to give its verdict; prosecution demanded death. His government-appointed woman lawyer, Mrs Trees Sunito, had 32 hours to prepare. Foreign press barred; Chinese agency criticism of the trial noted. Gerwani not named.
Indonesian Plot: Tribunal Verdict on Njono Due Today (Canberra Times, 21 February 1966), duplicate
Canberra Times, 21 Feb 1966, p. 6 (AAP-Reuter): the military tribunal trying PKI leader Njono is due to give its verdict; prosecution demanded death. His government-appointed woman lawyer, Mrs Trees Sunito, had 32 hours to prepare. Foreign press barred; Chinese agency criticism of the trial noted. Gerwani not named.
Unrest in Jakarta, Untung in court: strike force included Gerwani members
De Volkskrant report (24 Feb 1966) on unrest in Jakarta and the opening of Untung's trial. The prosecutor said his strike force of 5,000 included 2,000 communists, "men and women, of the organisations Gerwani, Pemuda Rakjat and the BTI". No claims of torture or sexual misconduct appear in this item.
Angkatan Bersendjata, 25 February 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 25 Feb 1966, during Untung's Mahmillub trial. A Padang anecdote mocks a PKI figure who called Gerwani 'Gargani' and Lekra 'Lecigak'; new Dwikora cabinet installed.
Berita Yudha, 25 February 1966
Berita Yudha, 25 Februari 1966. Reports of the Mahmillub trial sessions of Lt. Col. Untung with two Gerwani items; Sukarno warns he will not be 'dongkel'-ed amid KAMI blockades.
Untung confesses to murder of six generals
Algemeen Dagblad (1966-02-25) on Lt.-Col. Untung's trial before the special military tribunal: he now admits that 'taking away' the six generals meant killing, denies PKI membership and claims he acted against a 'council of generals'. Notes Trees Sunito refused to defend him and sought clemency for the condemned Njono.
Students try to prevent swearing-in: trial of Untung begun
Gereformeerd Gezinsblad wire item (25 Feb 1966, p.1) on the opening of Colonel Untung's trial in Jakarta for treason and armed rebellion. The prosecutor claimed Untung gathered 5,000 people before the coup, including Tjakrabirawa troops, paratroops and 2,000 members of the PKI and its linked women's organisation Gerwan
Trial after failed coup: Untung admits order to murder generals
Het Vrije Volk/Reuters report (25 Feb 1966, p.21) on Colonel Untung's trial before the Jakarta court-martial: he admits his order to take away the generals meant they should be killed, says he acted to save Sukarno from a military plot and denies PKI membership. Lawyer Trees Soenito-Heyligers asked Sukarno to pardon Nj
Angkatan Bersendjata, 28 February 1966
Angkatan Bersendjata, 28 Feb 1966, during Untung's Mahmillub trial. The 'Pos Piket' corner jokes that the alleged 'Dewan Djenderal' tape is 'the tape of Gerwani at Lubang Buaya', presupposing the sexual slander as common knowledge.
Night Walk of the Ghosts (Canberra Times, 14 April 1966)
Canberra Times, 14 Apr 1966, p. 2: first part of an anonymous Jakarta writer's anti-PKI reconstruction of 30 Sep-1 Oct 1965, casting Aidit and Untung as plotters and describing the murder of generals, with young Communist 'gangs of youths and girls' trained in camps. Gerwani not named; story continues next day. Cold Wa
Bloody Orgy at Halim Air Base (Canberra Times, 15 April 1966)
Canberra Times, 15 Apr 1966, p. 10: concluding part of a 'Special Correspondent' account repeating the Lubang Buaya slander. Claims 100 Gerwani women at Halim took razor blades, tortured and mutilated the generals, citing 'Mrs Djamilah' via the Djakarta Mail (15 Nov), singing 'People's Blood'. Adds Nasution escape narr
Bloody Orgy at Halim Air Base (Canberra Times, 15 April 1966), duplicate
Canberra Times, 15 Apr 1966, p. 10: concluding part of a 'Special Correspondent' account repeating the Lubang Buaya slander. Claims 100 Gerwani women at Halim took razor blades, tortured and mutilated the generals, citing 'Mrs Djamilah' via the Djakarta Mail (15 Nov), singing 'People's Blood'. Adds Nasution escape narr
Atrocities: account of the generals' killing and alleged Gerwani role
De Tijd article "Gruwelen" (23 Apr 1966) recounting the 1 Oct 1965 killings of the generals, claiming a hundred Gerwani women at Halim took part in torturing them with knives and razor blades after "training" including sexual orgies and blood oaths, citing a 15-year-old "Miss Djamilah" and the Djakarta Mail of 5 Nov. A
Atrocities: account of the generals' killing and alleged Gerwani role (duplicate record)
De Tijd article "Gruwelen" (23 Apr 1966) recounting the 1 Oct 1965 killings of the generals, claiming a hundred Gerwani women at Halim took part in torturing them with knives and razor blades after "training" including sexual orgies and blood oaths, citing a 15-year-old "Miss Djamilah" and the Djakarta Mail of 5 Nov. D
Dossier of a slaughter
Tribune (Sydney), 29 Jun 1966, p. 5: editorial attacking Western press whitewashing of the Suharto regime plus a long reconstruction of 30 Sep-1 Oct 1965 taken from the British New Left Review, portraying the movement as junior officers' action. It mentions that Halim auxiliaries from Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani took par
Dossier of a slaughter
Tribune (Sydney), 29 Jun 1966, p. 5: editorial attacking Western press whitewashing of the Suharto regime plus a long reconstruction of 30 Sep-1 Oct 1965 taken from the British New Left Review, portraying the movement as junior officers' action. It mentions that Halim auxiliaries from Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani took par
Sinar Harapan, 6 Dec 1966: 'Night of Terror, Dawn of Hope' (V), Clarence Hall serial
Sinar Harapan, 6 Desember 1966: 'Malam Teror Fajar Harapan' (V). Serial translation of Clarence Hall's 'Indonesia: Night of Terror, Dawn of Hope' ends with the claim that the kidnapped generals were 'handed over to about 100 screaming Gerwani members'; also an essay on education as protection against betrayal.
Executions in Indonesia: Untung and others, with Gerwani blamed
De Tijd commentary by C.H. Schaap (29 Sep 1967) on the executions of Untung and others for the 1965 coup. It says the generals were killed at Halim by "volunteers" trained by Maj. Sujono, "among them members of the communist women's organisation Gerwani", and notes the trials were broadcast and published.
Berliner Zeitung, 3 Nov 1968, p. 5: Protest against massacre
Berliner Zeitung, 3 November 1968, p. 5. ADN/BZ brief 'Protest gegen Massaker': the IDFF (WIDF) telegraphed General Suharto its outrage at continuing massacres of Indonesian patriots and democrats, calling them a flagrant violation of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. The same page's column 'Es geschah in dieser Woch
The forgotten massacre: 'More killed than in Vietnam so far'
Tribune (Sydney), 21 Jan 1970, p. 8: extract from Hong Kong's Eastern Horizon of letters by an Indonesian writing as 'Barbro Karabuda' on the 1965-66 massacre and prisoners (official 86,000 detainees; torture; Army extortion). The writer finds Tanti Aidit in Bukit Duri women's prison in Jakarta with Aidit's mother-in-l
The forgotten massacre: 'More killed than in Vietnam so far'
Tribune (Sydney), 21 Jan 1970, p. 8: extract from Hong Kong's Eastern Horizon of letters by an Indonesian writing as 'Barbro Karabuda' on the 1965-66 massacre and prisoners (official 86,000 detainees; torture; Army extortion). The writer finds Tanti Aidit in Bukit Duri women's prison in Jakarta with Aidit's mother-in-l
The revolution passes Indonesia by: interview with Ernst Utrecht
Second half of a De Volkskrant interview (29 Aug 1970) with Prof. Ernst Utrecht on his book on Indonesia ahead of Suharto's Dutch visit. Utrecht says the Jakarta branches of Gerwani and Pemuda Rakyat "wanted to take part and did take part" in the 1965 coup, that the PKI leadership said these were independent organisati
South China Morning Post, 26 Nov 1975, p.22, Kenneth Whiting (AP), 'Indonesia: a fresh start': ten-year retrospective on the 1965 coup and 'bloodbath' (about 300,000 killed, 100,000 jailed, 20,000 political detainees still held), with oil-led economic recovery. A short passage says women were killed if believed to be p
Imprisonment: Wertheim on continued prosecution of Gerwani women
Closing section of a Wertheim piece in De Volkskrant (28 Apr 1981). It states that women active in Gerwani are still prosecuted: in 1979 two were given extremely heavy sentences without credit for detention since 1965, and with six other Gerwani women were moved to Tangerang. The rest concerns ex-CIA officer McGehee an
Tempo, 6 October 1984: Stories of October 1965
Long Tempo feature (6 Oct 1984), New Order-era 'scattered stories' of 30 Sept-1 Oct 1965 told by witnesses: Catherine Panjaitan, Dewi Sukarno, Bambang Wijanarko, Mangil, Roeslan Abdulgani, Sugandhi, Salim Said, Syu'bah Asa. Frames events as a PKI coup and describes army/RRI takeover. Gerwani is not mentioned.
Untung (Djoko Untung and Gatot Sutarjo sentenced to death)
De Waarheid item (21 Aug 1985, p.3) profiling death-row PKI prisoners Djoko Untung and Gatot Sutarjo, sentenced at Blitar on 2 Jan 1976, with Suharto rejecting clemency. Untung's wife Natsia, a known East Java Gerwani member, was arrested in 1968 and still imprisoned; Sutarjo's wife Poedji Aswati was jailed for 15 year
The moving indictment of Mohammad Munir
De Waarheid (30 Sep 1985, p.5) excerpts the 1973 defence plea of PKI/union leader Mohammad Munir, executed in May 1985, before a military tribunal. He describes the post-October 1965 hate campaign aimed at PKI, Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani, the mass killings and camps; an editorial note says the generals' deaths were used
Not guilty (close of Mohammad Munir's plea)
Continuation of De Waarheid's excerpt of Mohammad Munir's 1973 defence plea (30 Sep 1985, p.5). He denies the PKI attempted a coup, criticises Suharto's economic policy, and demands release of all 30 September prisoners including those in Buru, Nusakambangan and the women's camp Plantungan. A footnote glosses Gerwani a
Harian Neraca serial 'Siapa menabur angin akan menuai badai' (65): Njono's confession and Untung as 'puppet'
Harian Neraca, 18 Maret 1989, p. 10: instalment 65 of Soegiarso Soerojo's serial. Covers Njono's confession on training at Lubang Buaya and opens a chapter on Untung as 'puppet'; names Mudigdio, mother of Aidit's wife, as a Gerwani figure.