De Nieuwe Limburger, 5 Jan 1968 (Reuters): Jakarta police arrest Dutch lawyer Mrs Mr Trees Soenito-Heyligers, from Zwolle, on suspicion of membership of the banned communist scholars' association HSI. Two years earlier she had defended trade union leader Njono, sentenced to death for the 1965 coup.
John H. Sullivan's 1969 American University PhD in international relations traces US-Indonesian relations c. 1963-68 and the emergence of the New Order, covering the anti-American period, the 30 September Movement and its aftermath, and regional, communist-bloc and economic relations. It is diplomatic and political his
RAND memorandum RM-5753-PR (Feb 1969), Guy J. Pauker, 'The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Indonesia'. Argues, from trial records, that Aidit planned the 30 September action against the generals and traces PKI strategy, the Chinese turn, the agrarian 'unilateral actions' and the killings (up to 300,000), and th
Official institutional history, 'Seperempat Abad DPR RI', compiled by the DPR-GR Secretariat for the 25th anniversary in August 1970; it traces parliament from the KNIP to 1970 with membership rosters. For Gerwani it matters in the 1965-66 chapters: it records the NU demand (5 Oct 1965) to ban Gerwani, the 15 Oct 1965
Article by Justus M. van der Kroef (Pacific Affairs, spring 1970) on the PKI underground and army counter-campaign after 1965, from the Blitar and Purwodadi operations to political prisoners and Moscow/Beijing exile factions. Gerwani appears once (p.50): arrests of former Communists 'including members of Gerwani (the P
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
UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office file FCO 24/1701 (1973), a TNA volume on political detainees in Indonesia. It holds briefing notes, minutes and parliamentary questions on the 1973 State Visit, the Budiardjo case and Amnesty International's campaign, plus a bound copy of Amnesty's 1973 'Indonesia Special'. In that re
Masashi Nishihara's 1973 Michigan PhD thesis on Japanese-Indonesian relations 1951-1966: war reparations, the Kishi-Sukarno settlement, lobbies, the Malaysia confrontation and the 'Sukarno groups'. Gerwani appears only once (pp. 285-286): the Nasution-Suharto group's claim that Pemuda Rakyat, Gerwani and SOBSI trained
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
Journal article by Reuven Kahane (Contributions to Asian Studies, vol. 5, 1974) giving a structural-sociological explanation of the 1965 coup and army dominance in Indonesia: religious-class polarisation, failing Sukarno-era control mechanisms, and the army's rise. Gerwani appears only in a footnote listing PKI-affilia
Tribune (Sydney), 20 May 1975, p. 7, abridged from the British magazine TAPOL (Mar 1975): thousands of women remain among about 100,000 political prisoners. Describes Gerwani's work, its banning, the sexual slander ('sex-maniacs', mutilation claims) as fuelling the massacres, torture and rape of women tapols, Plantunga
Tribune (Sydney), 20 May 1975, p. 7, abridged from the British magazine TAPOL (Mar 1975): thousands of women remain among about 100,000 political prisoners. Describes Gerwani's work, its banning, the sexual slander ('sex-maniacs', mutilation claims) as fuelling the massacres, torture and rape of women tapols, Plantunga
Full De Waarheid page, 21 Jun 1975 (p. 5), mostly unrelated (Mokum 700 festival, EEC steel output, farmers' protests). The relevant article reports the NVB's call to protest the Jakarta trial of four Gerwani women: life demanded for Sulami (about 50), 20 years for Suharti Harsono, Sri Ambar Rukmijati and Sudjinah, accu
De Waarheid, 21 Jun 1975, p. 5: boxed NVB appeal to protest the sentences on four Gerwani women, noting Sri Ambar and Sudjinah were officials of the banned SOBSI and that all four are internationally known for women's and union work. Calls for halting financial aid to the Suharto regime, restoring democratic rights and
Daily World, 3 July 1975, p. 5: page of mixed US labour news; the Indonesia item (Prague) reports the WFTU condemning the imprisonment of thousands of political prisoners in Indonesian military compounds and demanding that the ban on SOBSI be lifted, calling both violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
De Waarheid, 11 Jul 1975, p. 1: report that the Jakarta tribunal sentenced four women: Sulami, secretary of the banned Gerwani, to twenty years; Sudjinah, editor of the organisation's paper, 18 years; Sri Ambar, SOBSI board member, and Suharti, BTI board member, 15 years each. Headlined as courageous conduct before the
De Waarheid, 12 Jul 1975, p. 1: reprint of the report that the Jakarta tribunal sentenced four women: Sulami, secretary of the banned Gerwani, to twenty years; Sudjinah, editor of the organisation's paper, 18 years; Sri Ambar (SOBSI board) and Suharti (BTI board) 15 years each. Headlined 'courageous conduct before the
Tharunka (UNSW student paper), 30 July 1975, p. 8, article 'Indonesian Women' on women political prisoners after 1965. It describes Gerwani as the largest left women's organisation, targeted by a press campaign depicting members as sex-maniacs and Lubang Buaya participants, and banned in October 1965. It reports at lea
Tharunka (UNSW student paper), 30 July 1975, p. 8, clean OCR of the article 'Indonesian Women: The Banned Women's Organisation' (same article as GA-00274). It presents Gerwani as unaffiliated with the PKI, then attacked in 1965 by press stories of 'Gerwani prostitutes', 'obscene sex-dancing' and genital mutilation of g
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
FBIS item: Radio Peace and Progress (Moscow, in Indonesian, 16 Oct 1975) commentary on Ratna Sari Dewi's letter asking President Ford to explain the CIA's role in 1965. She cites hundreds of thousands killed and tens of thousands jailed without trial. A Dutch editor is quoted saying PKI, SOBSI, Gerwani and Pemuda Rakya
Norwegian building-workers' union paper, 1977, carrying Amnesty International's 'Prisoners of Conscience Year' appeal on imprisoned trade unionists. It profiles Sri Ambar Rukmiati, head of SOBSI's women's department: elected to the national board in 1964, arrested autumn 1966 and tortured, two teenage daughters also ar
Norwegian building-workers' union paper, 1977, carrying Amnesty International's 'Prisoners of Conscience Year' appeal on imprisoned trade unionists. It profiles Sri Ambar Rukmiati, head of SOBSI's women's department: elected to the national board in 1964, arrested autumn 1966 and tortured, two teenage daughters also ar
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
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
Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, 19 January 1978, p. 5, clean OCR of George Oliver's feature on the release of 10,000 political prisoners held since the 1965 coup (same article as GA-00267). It covers the official and alternative accounts of 30 September, killings of perhaps half a million, half to three-quarters of a mi
British FCO file FCO 15/2701 (1980), 'Political detainees in Indonesia': Amnesty International's April 1980 letter and memorandum to the UK government before the IGGI meeting, on release of B-category prisoners, restrictions on ex-detainees, missing persons and unfair A-category trials, plus TAPOL Bulletin extracts (No
TAPOL Bulletin no. 37 (London, January 1980): editorial on the end of KOPKAMTIB's release plan, plus Julie Southwood's long study of 1,014 political trials since 1966. It notes the 1965 Lubang Buaya claim that communist women castrated the generals, and the 1975 subversion trial of Gerwani's Sulami and Sudjinah, with S
TAPOL Bulletin no. 44 (London, March 1981): army takeover of the legal sector, Free-Aceh trials, Pramoedya's Buru novels harassed, East Timor, US human rights report. A short item (p.4) reports that eight women political prisoners long held in Bukit Duri were moved to Tangerang women's prison: Sulami (20 years), Sudjin
TAPOL Bulletin no. 53 (London, September 1982, 24 pp.): new Army 'Board' to monitor ex-tapols and Sudomo's remarks on 33,000 B and 540,000 C category people under supervision, an editorial against 65 pending death sentences (Munir, Ruslan Wijayasastra), West Papua testimonies, East Timor resettlement, arms sales, Sunar