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
Dutch Women's Movement protests Suharto's visit: letter to ministers
De Waarheid, 5 Aug 1970, p. 1: full text of the NVB executive's letter to Dutch ministers protesting President Suharto's planned state visit. It accuses his regime of causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, rejecting clemency, and holding at least 125,000 prisoners and exiles, among them many members of the 'million-m
Sandwich-board action in The Hague against Suharto visit: 'Freedom for the women of Gerwani'
De Waarheid, 18 Aug 1970, p. 1: report that a dozen women demonstrated with sandwich boards in The Hague against Suharto's planned visit, carrying signs 'Freedom for the women of Gerwani' and 'Suharto unwanted', distributing the NVB letter and later protesting at the Indonesian embassy.
Rotterdam women demonstrated against Suharto's visit
De Waarheid, 19 Aug 1970, p. 1: report that Rotterdam women demonstrated on the Lijnbaan and at the Beurs against General Suharto's state visit, with signs demanding release of political prisoners in Indonesia and especially members of Gerwani, handing out the NVB letter. Port workers also telegraphed Minister Luns.
The Hague women demonstrated against Suharto's visit
De Waarheid, 4 Sep 1970, p. 1: report that NVB members in The Hague carried sandwich boards for several days against Suharto's visit ('The women of Gerwani must be free', 'Not a cent for the generals'), handing out thousands of pamphlets until police took the women in at 3:30 pm on 3 September, amid public applause.
Rape case may fully restore rule of law: the Sum Kuning case (Hugh Mabbett, Straits Times, 1970)
The Straits Times, 31 December 1970, p. 10, by Hugh Mabbett: Yogyakarta court acquits 17-year-old egg seller Sum Kuning (Sumarijem), who reported rape by youths from powerful families and was charged with a false report. Police tortured a noodle seller, Trimo, and threatened her with electric torture and an accusation
Indonesian Girl's Ordeal: Victim of 'Classic Conspiracy Case' (Canberra Times, 2 January 1971)
Canberra Times, 2 Jan 1971, p. 8 (Hugh Mabbett): reports the Sum Kuning case in Yogyakarta, where a 17-year-old egg seller was raped, then tortured by police and charged with a false report. Police tried to tar her with an accusation that in 1965, aged about 12, she was a Gerwani member; the court exposed the fabricati
Indonesian Girl's Ordeal: Victim of 'Classic Conspiracy Case' (Canberra Times, 2 January 1971), duplicate
Canberra Times, 2 Jan 1971, p. 8 (Hugh Mabbett): reports the Sum Kuning case in Yogyakarta, where a 17-year-old egg seller was raped, then tortured by police and charged with a false report. Police tried to tar her with an accusation that in 1965, aged about 12, she was a Gerwani member; the court exposed the fabricati
Indonesia Girl Admits Torture (Canberra Times, 13 January 1971)
Canberra Times, 13 Jan 1971, p. 7 (AAP-Reuter): at the trial of Sukatno, ex-chairman of the Communist youth organisation, Gerwani member Emmy Marjani, 24, now under arrest, testifies she gouged a general's eyes on 30 Sep 1965 and saw friends mutilate another, claiming she was paid one million rupiah. Repeats the Lubang
Indonesia Girl Admits Torture (Canberra Times, 13 January 1971), duplicate
Canberra Times, 13 Jan 1971, p. 7 (AAP-Reuter): at the trial of Sukatno, ex-chairman of the Communist youth organisation, Gerwani member Emmy Marjani, 24, now under arrest, testifies she gouged a general's eyes on 30 Sep 1965 and saw friends mutilate another, claiming she was paid one million rupiah. Repeats the Lubang
Day woman gouged general's eyes with a knife: Emmy Marjam testimony (Straits Times, 1971)
The Straits Times, 13 January 1971, p. 2: at the special-court trial of Pemuda Rakjat chairman Sukatno, witness Emmy Marjam, 24, a Gerwani member now under arrest, testifies that she gouged a general's eyes with a knife and saw friends mutilate another's genitals at Lubang Buaya after training from 26 Sept. Reported as
Women's movement needed: Truus Divendal on Gerwani and Indonesia
De Waarheid, 7 Sep 1971, p. 4: report on the NVB's speech by Truus Divendal arguing a women's movement is still needed. She reports fundraising for the South Vietnamese NLF and addresses Indonesia: Gerwani, which earlier played a large role in eliminating illiteracy, now has thousands of members imprisoned; the NVB dem
Resolution closing the NVB congress of 1971: lift the ban on Gerwani
De Waarheid, 1 Nov 1971, p. 6: report on the close of the NVB's 25th-anniversary congress, which adopted a resolution on education, equal rights and government policy and urged support for the Vietnamese NLF. The congress also demanded lifting of the ban on Gerwani and freedom for Angela Davis; G. van der Laan succeede
Tempo, 1972: The political prisoner problem
Tempo article (online archive, dated 1972) on the political prisoner (tapol) problem: Archbishop Leo Soekoto urges society to help, Amnesty and the Red Cross press Jakarta, Buru resettlement of about 5,000 Group B prisoners is presented as the best option, and officials still see ex-PKI as a threat. No Gerwani content.
ANP news report, 21 June 1972 (Women to Buru)
ANP radio bulletin, 21 June 1972: 700 Indonesian women and their children will join husbands detained on Buru, where 10,000 alleged communist men have been held for three years. Suharto allowed family reunification, limited to one child per woman; more groups to follow. Gerwani not named but relevant to the fate of pol
Abadi, 17 February 1973, p. 1: After Munir, Six More
Harian Abadi, 17 Feb 1973, p. 1: Jakarta prosecutors prepare six more 'PKI ringleader' case files after Muhamad Munir's trial, stressing that one is 'a Gerwani named Sulami'.
Not a bit of butter: press freedom and imprisoned writers in Indonesia
Fragment of a De Volkskrant piece (2 Apr 1973) on press freedom in Suharto's Indonesia, listing imprisoned writers and journalists (Bandaharo Harahap, Oei Hay Djun, Mrs. Sugiarti Siswadi, Mrs. Rusijati, Mrs. Lies Sukatno and others) and rebutting H.B. Jassin's claim of press freedom. Gerwani is not named.
Berita Harian, 9 May 1973: first woman to be tried over 1965 coup attempt (Sumali)
Berita Harian, 9 May 1973 (Reuters, lead only). A court spokesman said the first woman to be tried over the 1965 coup attempt would soon appear in a local court: Sumali, described as a leader of Gerwani, the PKI women's wing.
First woman to be tried over the 1965 coup: 'Gestapo' woman (Berita Harian, 1973)
Berita Harian, 9 May 1973, p. 3, Reuters: a court spokesman says Mrs Sumali, a Gerwani leader, will be the first woman tried over the 1965 coup, charged with torturing an army general with a razor blade; she was arrested with other Gerwani members at Lubang Buaya on 1 October 1965 after six generals' bodies were found.
Austrian minister at Israeli reception (with note on Sulami trial)
Amigoe di Curaçao news roundup, 8 Oct 1973. The only relevant item is a brief note that the trial of Mrs Sulami, 50, secretary-general of the PKI women's section (Gerwani), is about to begin in Jakarta for alleged part in the 1965 coup. The rest concerns Austrian and Israeli diplomacy.
Ten torture cases to be used by Amnesty (The Guardian, 11 October 1973)
The Guardian, 11 Oct 1973, p.8, Peter Cole: Amnesty International launches Prisoner of Conscience Week with ten emblematic torture cases. One is an Indonesian woman, Mrs Sri Ambar[...] (surname cut off in OCR), head of the women's department of the SOBSI trade union federation, who after arrest in 1966 was stripped nak
Swiss press, 12 Oct 1973: Amnesty torture campaign, Sri Ambar hung by her wrists
Swiss Thurgauer Zeitung, 12 October 1973, a dpa wire report on Amnesty International's 'Week of the Political Prisoner' campaign against torture, naming ten torture victims. The Indonesian Sri Ambar (Sri Ambar Rukmiati per the sweep log) is said to have been beaten stripped and hung naked by her wrists a whole night. H
Swiss press, 12 Oct 1973: Amnesty torture campaign, Sri Ambar hung by her wrists
Swiss newspaper page (Walliser Bote, 12 Oct 1973) of agency news, mostly German Ostpolitik and Swiss matters. A short item on Amnesty International's anti-torture campaign says that the Indonesian woman Sri Ambar was beaten naked and hung by her wrists for a whole night; the catalogue identifies her as Sri Ambar Rukmia
Berita Harian, 12 Feb 1974: former Gerwani chair jailed for life in Tebing Tinggi
Berita Harian, 12 Feb 1974 (AP, lead only). A court in Tebing Tinggi, North Sumatra, sentenced Amnah, a former leader of the Indonesian women's movement (Gerwani), to life imprisonment for involvement in the PKI's 1965 coup attempt.
Dunántúli Napló, 12 Feb 1974: former Indonesian women's movement chair sentenced to life
Dunántúli Napló, 12 Feb 1974, brief Jakarta report (via radio): the former chairwoman of the Indonesian women's movement, name garbled in OCR as 'Amnah', was sentenced to life imprisonment for taking part in the September 1965 events; a former BTI chairman got twenty years. The translator's guess of Umi Sardjono is uns
Former Gerwani chair jailed (Berita Harian, 1974)
Berita Harian, 12 February 1974, p. 3, AP: a court in Tebing Tinggi, North Sumatra, sentences Mrs Amnah, former Gerwani chair, to life imprisonment for involvement in the PKI's failed 1965 'power seizure' (per Radio Jakarta); Maryo, ex-chair of the BTI, gets 20 years. Shows continuing New Order trials of Gerwani leader
Daily World, 9 April 1974: Asian scholars panel on political prisoners in the Philippines and Indonesia
Daily World, 9 April 1974, p. 3: page with several items; the Indonesia-related part is a short report that an Association of Asian Scholars panel on martial law in the Philippines (3 April; Kerkvliet, Stauffer, Manglapus) also raised political prisoners in the Philippines and Indonesia. Other articles cover the Vietna
Jakarta trial for women (South China Morning Post, 4 February 1975)
South China Morning Post, 4 Feb 1975, p.22 (AFP, Jakarta, 3 Feb): four leading women of the outlawed PKI went on trial in Jakarta District Court charged with conspiracy to topple the Government. Miss Sulami was secretary general and the other three were board members of the 'defunct communist women's movement' (Gerwani
New victims of Suharto: life sentence demanded for secretary of Indonesian women's movement
De Waarheid, 23 Apr 1975, p. 4: report that life imprisonment was demanded in Jakarta against Sulami, secretary of Gerwani, and twenty years for three other women, on charges of undermining authority, raising money for families of imprisoned or killed patriots, and involvement in preparing the PKI's 1965 'uprising'. Th