Jakarta releases 8,000 political prisoners (The Times, 27 July 1978)
The Times, 27 July 1978, p.6, whole page of overseas news; the relevant item reports (Bandung, 26 July) that more than 8,000 political prisoners, communists jailed since the 1965 coup attempt, were released across Indonesia, about 4,000 in Bandung. They were 'B'-class prisoners who could have been tried; Colonel Sardjo
Youth club Chi Chi: Amnesty evening on Indonesia
Nieuwe Winterswijksche Courant, 12 January 1979, p. 9: youth-club notice of an information evening with Amnesty International Winterswijk, screening a film on political prisoners in Indonesia. It states that after six generals were murdered in October 1965, the army killed half a million people in four months and arres
Berliner Zeitung, 22 Jan 1979, p. 2: Women give their voice to peace
Berliner Zeitung, 22 January 1979, p. 2: ADN report 'Frauen geben ihre Stimme dem Frieden' on a WIDF declaration calling for 8 March 1979 to be a mass manifestation for women's rights and peace, ahead of a Moscow world conference in the International Year of the Child. Among those greeted are women in Latin America, So
Neues Deutschland, 22 Jan 1979, p. 2: Women raise their voice for peace and disarmament
Neues Deutschland, 22 January 1979, p. 2: ADN item 'Frauen erheben ihre Stimme für Frieden und Abrüstung' on the WIDF (IDFF) statement for International Women's Day 1979. In a list of greetings to women fighting under repression, the WIDF greets women in Chile, Nicaragua, Uruguay and other Latin American countries 'as
Berliner Zeitung, 26 Feb 1979, p. 6: Socialism secures women's rights
Berliner Zeitung, 26 Feb 1979, p. 6: report on the international Bebel conference in Berlin (60 speakers). A short paragraph says Satiajaya Sudiman, member of the PKI leadership, described harsh conditions for Indonesian women: unequal pay and dismissal of women workers who marry or become pregnant. No mention of Gerwa
Neues Deutschland, 26 Feb 1979, p. 6: Discussion on questions of our time
Neues Deutschland, 26 February 1979, p. 6: report 'Aussprache über Fragen unserer Zeit' on the international SED Central Committee conference marking 100 years of Bebel's 'Woman and Socialism'. Satiajaya Sudiman, speaking for the Communist Party of Indonesia, said that Kartini, drawing on Bebel, had developed ideas on
Gerwani (Annie van Ommeren on Tanti Aidit and the witch-hunt against Gerwani)
De Waarheid, 24 Mar 1979, p. 8: excerpt from Annie van Ommeren on Tanti Aidit, board member of Gerwani, sister organisation of the NVB. She says Gerwani had one million members, was the target of a huge smear campaign during and after the 1965 coup, with women accused of atrocities, which found fertile ground among rea
Clinic (Gerwani polyclinic 1958, Tanti Aidit)
De Waarheid, 24 Mar 1979, p. 8: sidebar on the clinic Gerwani opened on International Women's Day, 8 March 1958, a polyclinic and advice bureau for women in its building (destroyed in 1965), run by Tanti Aidit, now 12 years in pre-trial detention. Annie van Ommeren recalls the 1975 trial of Sulami (life), Suharti Harso
'IGGI aid is howling with Suharto's hangmen' (picket Amstel Hotel)
De Waarheid, 4 Apr 1979, p. 1: report on a picket line at Amsterdam's Amstel Hotel against the IGGI conference where donors and Suharto regime ministers set aid for the year; organisations including CPN, PPR, PvdA Amsterdam, Komitee Indonesie, ANJV and NVB carried boards demanding 'Sulami, Suharti, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar,
Books restrained, writers in cell: Bandar Harahap, 'Sarinah and I' (BZZLLETIN)
De Waarheid, 24 Apr 1979, p. 4: review of the BZZLLETIN issue on 'books under restraint', arguing that Indonesian literature is little translated while many writers are jailed under Suharto: Pramoedya on Buru, Bandar Harahap, Buyung Saleh and writer Sudjinah, held since 1966 in Bukit Duri women's prison. Covers Rendra
Lubis' Land under the Rainbow: history with sloppiness, errors and bias
Joop Morriën's critical review in De Waarheid (6 June 1979, p.5) of Mochtar Lubis's illustrated history 'Het land onder de regenboog'. He faults its errors and 'virulent anti-communism', says it adopts Suharto's version of 1965, and notes the Madiun 1948 and 1965 killings of communists and Lekra artists' imprisonment.
Prisoners of Conscience (The Observer, 12 August 1979)
The Observer, 12 Aug 1979, p.8, 'Prisoners of Conscience': Amnesty International notes up to 20,000 untried political prisoners remain in Indonesia and takes up four women active in Gerwani, arrested 1966 and tried nine years later: Sulami (20 years), Sudjinah (18), Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono (15 each). It
Daily World, 11 October 1979: 2,000 Indonesian political prisoners released
Daily World, 11 Oct 1979, p. 7: world-news column; the Indonesia item reports that 2,000 political prisoners were released from 'special camps' in Jakarta-reported news, most held since 1965-66, with another 2,000 from Buru to follow. Indonesian democratic sources call it positive but note ex-prisoners lose civil right
'Children are tortured' (The Observer, 14 October 1979)
The Observer, 14 Oct 1979, p.2, Ian Mather, 'Children are tortured': on an Amnesty International report on torture of children in many countries. For Indonesia it reports that the daughter of Sri Ambar, a woman trade unionist, was tortured in her mother's presence and disappeared, that many children arrested in 1965 re
Cauldron: Women and Labor No. 2
Tribune (Sydney), 24 Oct 1979, p. 11, 'Cauldron' women's column: planning for the second Women and Labor Conference (Melbourne, May 1980); the Melbourne group's monthly meetings have covered topics including the Indonesian women's movement; plus a note on rising female unemployment. No Gerwani detail.
Neue Zeit, 24 Nov 1979, p. 12: Among the Minangkabau the mothers rule
Neue Zeit, 24 November 1979, p. 12 ('Rund um die Welt'): feature 'Bei den Minangkabau regieren die Mütter' on the matrilineal Minangkabau of West Sumatra (about three million people, around Bukittinggi). It describes matrilineal descent, women's ownership of house and land, men's role as outside representatives, and ad
New objectives at 11th NVB congress
Front-page De Waarheid report (12 Feb 1980) on the 11th congress of the Nederlandse Vrouwenbeweging (NVB), which re-elected Riek Hoogkamp. The congress adopted a declaration asking Dutch ministers to press Indonesia to restore civil rights of released political prisoners, grant amnesty to women independence fighters, a
Woman and the Okto (reader's letter on the NVB congress)
Reader's letter in De Waarheid (15 Feb 1980, p.8) from NVB Groningen delegates, complaining that the report on the NVB's 11th congress omitted Groningen women's role in the Okto and Philips labour actions. It welcomes the coverage of the declaration on Indonesian political prisoners and 'our sister organisation Gerwani
Trial will not go ahead (Tanti Aidit)
Short De Waarheid item (6 Mar 1980, p.9): the planned trial of Tanti Aidit after twelve years' detention will not go ahead. It argues she had nothing to do with the 'CIA-organised coup' and her only offence was Gerwani board membership, naming Suharti, Sudjinah and Shri Ambar as fellow Gerwani women who also paid.
Indonesian women (lecture by Mieke Lokkerbol)
De Waarheid report (2 May 1980, p.5) of a talk by Mieke Lokkerbol of Komitee Indonesië on the Indonesian women's movement from Kartini to Gerwani. It describes Gerwani's programme (marriage law, rape penalties, labour law, schooling, health, price control), claims 1.5 million members in 1963, its ban after 1965, and ma
Tempo, 25 October 1980: Criticism of Tapol (Carmel Budiardjo vs Derek Davies)
Tempo piece (25 Oct 1980) on the polemic between British activist Carmel Budiardjo, editor of the Tapol bulletin in London, and Far Eastern Economic Review editor Derek Davies, who criticised her past communist links and new sponsors. Concerns advocacy for ex-G30S prisoners; no Gerwani content.
Women of Indonesia (review of the Komitee Indonesie women's group booklet)
De Waarheid review (4 Mar 1981, p.8) by Joop Morriën of a Vrouwengroep Komitee Indonesië booklet 'Vrouwen van Indonesië: strijd om bestaan'. It covers women's position under colonialism, adat and Islam, rural-urban migration and prostitution after 1965, and ends with a chapter on NVB–Gerwani solidarity with recollectio
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
Conversation on the 35th anniversary of the Dutch Women's Movement (Annie van Ommeren-Averink)
De Waarheid interview (20 Oct 1981, p.5) with Annie van Ommeren-Averink, CPN politician and NVB board member, on the NVB's 35th anniversary. She recalls labour and women's struggles; a photo of Umi Sardjono, freed after years of imprisonment, hangs in her home, last seen in March 1965, and she works for the CPN's Indon
Berita Yudha, 13 March 1982: 'Latent danger of extreme left and right in Indonesia' (4)
Berita Yudha, 13 Mar 1982, p. 1: final part of a series retelling the official PKI chronology to 30 September 1965 and asserting that 3,000 'youth and Gerwani' trained at Lubang Buaya.
'Don't go - don't go - peace with Indonesia' (Annie Gelok on the Schoonhoven refusers)
De Waarheid feature (19 Aug 1982) in which Annie Gelok recalls NVB women's solidarity with Dutch conscripts who refused service in Indonesia (Schoonhoven refusers, 1949), the Zuiderkruis embarkation, Heiltje de Vos's 'Vrede met Indonesië' banner, and campaigns for Piet van Staveren and Ratio Koster. It touches an IDFF/
Chance for Women (Canberra Times, 30 October 1982)
Canberra Times, 30 Oct 1982, p. 4 (AAP-AFP): short item citing Jakarta daily Sinar Pagi that seven women could be named candidates for Indonesia's Vice-Presidency, among them S.K. Trimurti, Harsati Subadio, Minister for Women's Affairs L. Sutanto and several officials' wives. Gerwani not mentioned.
Chance for Women (Canberra Times, 30 October 1982), duplicate
Canberra Times, 30 Oct 1982, p. 4 (AAP-AFP): short item citing Jakarta daily Sinar Pagi that seven women could be named candidates for Indonesia's Vice-Presidency, among them S.K. Trimurti, Harsati Subadio, Minister for Women's Affairs L. Sutanto and several officials' wives. Gerwani not mentioned.
A woman vice-president for Indonesia? (Berita Harian, 30 Oct 1982)
Berita Harian (Singapore) AFP report, 30 Oct 1982: seven Indonesian women figures may be named candidates for vice-president to replace Adam Malik. Only the lead is available; the sweep notes S.K. Trimurti among them, which the snippet does not show and is unconfirmed. Gerwani is not mentioned.
Berita Yudha, 8 July 1984: Steering teenagers away from frustration
Berita Yudha, 8 July 1984, p. 4: youth-page essay using 1965 as a warning, saying teenagers drawn to the 'PKI education system' were used to murder the generals at Lubang Buaya; Gerwani invoked in passing.