Woman in the news: Trees Soenito, 'Everyone has the right to a defence'
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 16 February 1966, p. 14: profile from Utrecht of Trees Soenito-Heyligers, who took on Njono's defence in the Jakarta coup trial. Her parents in Amersfoort say she often took pro deo cases and believes everyone has a right to a defence. No Gerwani content.
Indonesia and the Wertheim Committee: Nijmegen congress and Dutch aid to Suharto
Long De Tijd opinion piece by Arie Kuiper (24 Apr 1969) on the Nijmegen student congress and the Wertheim Indonesia Committee's call to halt Dutch aid to Suharto's regime. It acknowledges hundreds of thousands killed and many political prisoners but blames Muslim hatred and defends Suharto; it repeats that generals wer
Dutch Senate written questions 1969-1970, no. 70: Political prisoners in Indonesia
Dutch Senate written questions (19 May 1970) by Senator Van Hulst on Indonesian political prisoners, with PM De Jong's answer of 10 June 1970. Context on Dutch parliamentary attention to post-1965 detainees.
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
Dutch Diary, Thursday 13 Sept. (Willem Oltmans)
Willem Oltmans's 'Hollands Dagboek' in NRC Handelsblad (22 Sep 1973), entries 13-20 Sept. Covers his New Guinea/Luns campaign, Hatta, Pertamina corruption, Chile 1973 compared to Indonesia 1965 mass murder, and Nasution's letters about Aidit shared by Dewi Sukarno. Lists imprisoned Indonesian writers and journalists. N
Release demanded for four women in Indonesia (Sulami and others)
ANP item in De Volkskrant (19 Jun 1975): the Dutch Women's Movement demanded immediate release of four Indonesian women, Sulami, Sri Ruhimirjati (probably Sri Ambar Rukmiati), Sudjinah and Suharti (surname garbled), for whom prosecutors sought 20 years to life after about seven years of detention, partly for collecting
Dutch Parliament Written Question 111 (1975): Government Position on Indonesian Political Prisoners
Dutch Second Chamber written question no. 111 (Aug 1975) by Fred van der Spek and Foreign Minister Van der Stoel's reply, on an Indonesian embassy claim that the Dutch government fully understood Indonesia's political prisoner problem. Context on Dutch diplomacy over post-1965 detainees.
Last year: Amnesty frees 1,688 political prisoners
Amigoe di Curaçao, 10 Apr 1976: the Curaçao branch of Amnesty International adopts three prisoners, including Sri Kusnapsiah, 67, imprisoned in Indonesia for over ten years. No organisation is named in the text, but the case is of interest as a long-term woman political prisoner from 1965. Also reports 1,688 releases i
Constitution (Amnesty press conference on Indonesian prisoners)
Nederlands Dagblad, 6 October 1976, p. 5: partly missing report on an Amnesty International press conference in the Netherlands about Indonesian political prisoners. It states that the women in the women's camps are for the most part members of the militant Gerwani, discusses church relief for prisoners' families, and
Remaining 29,000 follow: Indonesia releases 2,650 communists after 11 years
Limburgsch Dagblad, 2 December 1976, p. 1: Jakarta announces release of 2,650 communist prisoners held since 1965 without trial, with a promise to free the remaining 29,000 within three years. At a ceremony 150 swore loyalty to Suharto; among them were students, former civil servants and members of the banned women's m
Jakarta releases 2,650 political prisoners
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 2 December 1976: Reuter report that Indonesia released 2,650 prisoners held since 1965 without trial. At a ceremony 150 swore loyalty to Suharto, among them students, former civil servants and members of the banned leftist women's movement Gerwani; 29,000 remain, with a promise to free them
Indonesia releases prisoners
Nederlands Dagblad, 3 December 1976, p. 3: Jakarta announces release of 2,650 communist prisoners held since 1965 without trial, repeats the promise to free the remaining 29,000 within three years. At a ceremony 150 swore loyalty to Suharto; they included students, ex-civil servants and members of the banned women's mo
Dutch Parliament Written Question 605 (1978): Release of Political Prisoners in Indonesia
Dutch Second Chamber written question no. 605 (Jan 1978) by Henk Waltmans on the Dutch ambassador attending a political prisoner release in Medan, with Minister Van der Klaauw's answer citing Indonesia's end-1979 timetable. Context on release of post-1965 prisoners.
Dutch Parliament Written Question 614 (1978): Political Prisoners in Indonesia (CDA)
Dutch Second Chamber written question no. 614 (Jan 1978) by three CDA members after the British ambassador criticised conditions for Buru prisoners; Minister Van der Klaauw says concern has repeatedly been voiced. Context on Buru detainees.
Immediate Release of All Political Prisoners (Komitee Indonesie Poster, c. 1978)
Komitee Indonesie (Amsterdam) campaign poster, c. 1978, demanding immediate release of all political prisoners, with silhouettes of three prisoners behind barbed wire. Dutch solidarity material on post-1965 detainees.
NVB on International Women's Day: no support for Suharto (Van Heutsz monument wrapped)
De Waarheid, 9 Mar 1978, p. 1: report that NVB women on International Women's Day wrapped the Van Heutsz monument in Amsterdam in white cloth marked 'Gerwani'. The item summarises Gerwani's pre-1965 work (clinics, crèches, kindergartens, courses, anti-polygamy campaigns) and the 1975 trials: Sulami life, Suharti, Sudji
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
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,
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
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.
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
Population movement hits Papuans
De Waarheid report (23 Mar 1985, p.3) on a Dutch parliamentary committee debate criticising Indonesia's transmigration to West Papua. CPN MP Ina Brouwer, pressing minister Schoo on freedom of organisation, states that Gerwani, 'the progressive Indonesian women's movement' that once did much for women, is banned; Schoo
Despite executions... generals can count on continued support
Front-page De Waarheid report (5 Jun 1985) on Dutch minister Schoo's opening speech at the 28th IGGI conference in Amsterdam, urging donors to continue backing Suharto's regime without mentioning executions. A Komitee Indonesië spokeswoman says she was shocked that Schoo ignored the ban on Gerwani and that existing wom
For a free Indonesia (founding of the Wertheim Foundation)
De Waarheid report (30 Nov 1987, p.4) on the launch of the Wertheim Foundation, where W.F. Wertheim praised a Hendra painting of a male and female guerrilla. He argued that the Suharto regime rests on mass murder and falsified history, and that one task is to write the real history of Gerwani, Lekra, SOBSI and the PKI.
Jan Maassen wants to see the Indies refusers together once more
De Waarheid article by Joop Morriën (6 Feb 1988, p.9) on Jan Maassen's plan for a reunion of Dutch conscripts who refused to serve in Indonesia in 1948-49 (Schoonhoven boys), recounting his three years' imprisonment and the arbitrary sentencing. Lawyers Trees Sunito-Heyligers and Clara Enthoven defended refusers by lin
Well-attended meeting in Amsterdam: East Timor must be free
De Waarheid report (24 Nov 1988, p.3) on a Komitee Indonesië solidarity evening in Amsterdam for East Timor, thirteen years after Fretilin's independence declaration. Francisca Fanggidaej, former MP from West Timor, says both Indonesians and East Timorese are victims of Suharto's regime; Fretilin's Abilio de Araujo pre
Murders (Suharto and the mass killings of 1965-66)
De Waarheid piece (2 Sep 1989, p.16) criticising Suharto's silence on the 1965-66 massacres, quoting Stanley Karnow and C.L. Sulzberger on the killings and estimates of 300,000 to one million dead. It notes mass arrests without trial of hundreds of thousands, including members of SOBSI, Gerwani and Pemuda Rakjat, and t
Lesbian women in the Third World: persecuted and recognised
Het Vrije Volk interview feature (9 Jul 1990, p.10) by Canis Zijlmans on anthropologist Saskia Wieringa's research on lesbian women in the Third World. One passage mentions her research in Indonesia on the 'three-million-member' communist women's organisation Gerwani, wiped out after Suharto's takeover, and lesbian lif