Women - life imprisonment (Joop Morrien on the trial of Gerwani and PKI women)
De Waarheid, 25 Apr 1975, article by Joop Morrien on nearly ten years of Suharto's dictatorship. It reports the military tribunal trial of Gerwani and PKI women Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono, who went underground after 1965 and were arrested in late 1966; life is demanded for Sulami and 20 ye
Jakarta (Reuter): female communist leader sentenced
Trouw (12 Jun 1975), short Reuter dispatch via Antara: Sutinah Wiryosutejo (Sutinah Wiryosutedjo), a former member of the banned women's organisation Gerwani, sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for involvement in the 1965 'coup'. The court found her role proven the week before. Names a Gerwani member tried long after
Trial (four Gerwani women in Jakarta)
De Waarheid, 21 Jun 1975, p. 5: boxed text on the Jakarta trial of four Gerwani women: life demanded against Gerwani secretary Sulami (aged 50) for helping reorganise the PKI after 1965; with Suharti Harsono, Sri Ambar Rukmijati and Sudjinah accused of typing and passing on pamphlets, forging ID papers and aiding priso
Berkhouwer (also for socialists) goes too far
De Waarheid, 11 Jul 1975, p. 1: report that the four women tried in Jakarta (aged 50-60, arrested 1966, nine years' detention not deducted) rejected all charges; Sri Ambar had earlier refused to testify at the 1967 trial of PKI leader Sudisman unless she could show her torture injuries. The verdict notes no sign of rem
Berkhouwer (also for socialists) goes too far (reprint 12 Jul 1975)
De Waarheid, 12 Jul 1975, p. 1: report that the four women tried in Jakarta (aged 50-60, arrested 1966, nine years' detention not deducted) rejected all charges; Sri Ambar had earlier refused to testify at the 1967 trial of PKI leader Sudisman unless she could show her torture injuries. The verdict notes no sign of rem
Daily World, 26 July 1975: Women leaders jailed by Indonesian junta
Daily World (New York), 26 July 1975, p. 9: Foreign Department report that a Jakarta court on 16 June 1975 sentenced four women after a five-month trial: Sulami (general secretary of the Indonesian Women's Movement, 20 years), Sudjinah (magazine editor, 18), Sri Ambar (SOBSI women's section, 15) and Suharti Alimarkaban
TAPOL Bulletin no. 11, August 1975, on the 'show trials' ahead of the tenth anniversary. Key item (p.3): four women, including Gerwani General Secretary Sulami, sentenced after a five-month trial to 15-20 years for subversion (helping the PKPS movement, illegal cells, alleged recruitment of cooks and seamstresses for L
Women, mothers (what Suharto's envoys kept silent about)
De Waarheid, 20 Sep 1975, p. 3: article asking what the Indonesian parliamentary delegation did not mention: Plantungan women's camp in Central Java (386 women), Bukit Duri and Semarang prisons, and named women prisoners: Umi Sardjono, chair of the underground Gerwani, vice-chairs Salawati Daud and Mudigdio, Maasje Siw
Daily World, 4 November 1975: PKI leader dies in Nusakambangan camp; 100,000 political prisoners
Daily World, 4 Nov 1975, p. 10: among short news items, a report that Zain Nasution, 50, PKI central committee member and former secretary of its foreign affairs commission, died on 3 October 1975 in Nusakambangan camp after ten years' imprisonment. The PKI estimates at least 100,000 political prisoners face 'slow deat
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
Recruitment and Factional Patterns of the Indonesian Political Elite (Gregory, 1976)
Ann Gregory's Columbia PhD thesis (1976) on the recruitment, career patterns and factions of the Indonesian political elite under Guided Democracy and the New Order, based on elite biographies, with chapters on military and civilian factions. It is a quantitative study of Javanese dominance and clientelism. Gerwani is
TAPOL Bulletin no. 15, April 1976. Editorial links East Timor killings to the 1965-66 massacres; the issue devotes pages to a mimeographed East Java massacre report and to translated fictional accounts (Gestapu: Indonesian Short Stories, ed. Harry Aveling). Gerwani appears incidentally: victims included members of the
TAPOL Bulletin no. 16, June 1976, issued before the IGGI meeting. Contents: smuggled letter on prison torture including sexual torture of women (some miscarried), Fraser congressional hearings with Benedict Anderson, Sudomo interview on categories A/B/C and Buru, analysis of Oei Tju Tat's trial, Papuan killings, Amnest
TAPOL Bulletin no. 18, October 1976. Editorial 'Eleven Years' and reports on Sudomo's reneged release pledges, new arrests, IGGI's $2,400m credit, the death sentence on Sgt-Maj Marsudi for the generals' killings (with testimony that Lubang Buaya training was officially organised by the Air Force), an inside account of
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
'Sentenced': life imprisonment for Siti Sundari Abdul Rahman (East German press, 20 Oct 1976)
Foreign-news page of the SED daily Neues Deutschland. A brief ('Kommunistin verurteilt') reports that an Indonesian military court sentenced Siti Sundari Abdul Rahman, a Communist Party leader and former member of parliament, to life imprisonment. The sweep names her as Sundari Abdulrachman; her Gerwani link is not sta
'Sentenced': life imprisonment for Siti Sundari Abdul Rahman (East German press, 20 Oct 1976)
Foreign-news page of the SED daily Neues Deutschland. A brief ('Kommunistin verurteilt') reports that an Indonesian military court sentenced Siti Sundari Abdul Rahman, a Communist Party leader and former member of parliament, to life imprisonment. The sweep names her as Sundari Abdulrachman; her Gerwani link is not sta
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
Tempo, 11 December 1976: Political prisoners released
Tempo brief (11 Dec 1976) on release of another 2,500 G30S/PKI prisoners; all 540,000 Group C released, leaving 1,821 Group A, 27,132 Group B, 2,041 Group X. Sudomo says about 500,000 were killed 'but by the people'. Mentions 10 middle-aged women among 319 Group B freed in Jakarta; no Gerwani named.
TAPOL Bulletin no. 19, January 1977. Leads on 'release equals transmigration': Sudomo's 1 Dec 1976 release of 2,500 B-category tapols into 'transmigration centres' and Buru. Reports that women tapols at Plantungan (since 1971) were moved to Bulu prison, Semarang, apparently for transfer to a 'hard-core' women's camp at
State Department cable to Embassy Singapore, 30 Aug 1977: Dr. Sutanti Aidit (Congressman Koch)
Declassified State Department cable (State 207433, 30 Aug 1977) to Embassy Singapore. Prompted by Congressman Koch's challenge, it says research confirms that Dr. Sutanti Aidit was a member of Gerwani's central committee but not of the PKI's, a point the Indonesian embassy also gave, and that earlier correspondence wou
State Department cable to Embassy Singapore, 30 Aug 1977: Dr. Sutanti Aidit (Congressman Koch)
Declassified State Department cable (State 207433, 30 Aug 1977) to Embassy Singapore. Prompted by Congressman Koch's challenge, it says research confirms that Dr. Sutanti Aidit was a member of Gerwani's central committee but not of the PKI's, a point the Indonesian embassy also gave, and that earlier correspondence wou
US Embassy Singapore cable, 1 Sep 1977: Dr. Sutanti Aidit, head of Gerwani 1962-65
Declassified US cable (Singapore 3809, 1 Sep 1977) from Embassy Singapore's Ingraham answering a State query on Dr. Sutanti Aidit. He recalls that in 1962-65 she was widely known as head of Gerwani and its representative on the PKI Central Committee, calls Gerwani 'an integral part of the PKI', and suggests Amnesty's i
US Embassy Singapore cable, 1 Sep 1977: Dr. Sutanti Aidit, head of Gerwani 1962-65
Declassified US cable (Singapore 3809, 1 Sep 1977) from Embassy Singapore's Ingraham answering a State query on Dr. Sutanti Aidit. He recalls that in 1962-65 she was widely known as head of Gerwani and its representative on the PKI Central Committee, calls Gerwani 'an integral part of the PKI', and suggests Amnesty's i
The Times of India, 6 Sep 1977, p.11 (Reuter, London, 4 Sep): Amnesty International lists 62 imprisoned or missing parliamentarians in 17 countries; Indonesia tops the list with 23, most held without trial since 1965 for links with the PKI, SOBSI, BTI or the women's organisation Gerwani. Named are Subandrio, Oei Tjoe T
Jawa Pos, 29 November 1977: two PKI figures, Ir. Moedjani and Ny. Kartini, tried
Jawa Pos, 29 Nov 1977: Tulungagung subversion trial of Ir. Moedjani and Ny. Kartini alias Widji, 'chair of Gerwani East Java' and former Surabaya teacher, captured in the 1968 South Blitar (Trisula) operation.
Daily World, 21 December 1977: Indonesia prisoner release, PKI statement
Daily World, 21 Dec 1977, p. 8: short item that the PKI analysed the Indonesian government's release of 10,000 Communist political prisoners, saying perhaps 60,000-70,000 remain jailed, many since 1965, at least 15,000 died in Palembang and Surabaya camps, and new arrests roughly offset releases. Surrounded by unrelate
After 12 Years Freedom (Post-Courier, 19 January 1978)
Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, 19 January 1978, p. 5, feature by George Oliver on the release of 10,000 political prisoners held since the 1965 coup, with PKI members forced to swear loyalty. It describes the Category A, B, C system, the 1965-66 massacres (estimates up to half a million killed), Amnesty International's