De Nieuwsgier, 27 June 1952 (Sin Po): on the Korean War anniversary, a nine-organisation delegation including Gerwis, SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat, Lekra and the peace committee protests at the US embassy against alleged bacteriological warfare, but is turned away. They write to the foreign minister asking Indonesia to press f
US State Department Office of Intelligence Research report IR-6165, 'Communism in the Free World' (January 1953), a compilation of about 30 country studies of communist capabilities, held in the CIA reading room. The Indonesia study (IR-6165.3) covers PKI aims and tactics, labour, and front organisations. Section VI.A
Bintang Timur, 6 May 1958, p. 1 (after APRI's recapture of West Sumatran towns). Reports the Gerwani DPP's protest to the US and Taiwan governments over their intervention supporting Permesta/PRRI, demanding they stop interference, respect Indonesia's sovereignty and Asia-Africa, and appealing to American women to pres
CIA Current Intelligence Weekly Summary, 12 Nov 1959, a long multi-topic report; the Indonesia part (pp.23-27) assesses PKI strength (Aidit's claim of 1.5 million members, Java as base, army and Sukarno restrictions, Aidit's 1959 Moscow and Peking trip). It names GERWANI as the PKI's women's front, alongside Pemuda Rak
Two US Embassy Djakarta weekly situation telegrams (JOINT WEEKA 14 and 15), 6 and 13 April 1962, on the West New Guinea dispute, PKI-Sukarno friction, Partindo, wage demands and military matters. Gerwani appears only once: it joined SOBSI and others in protesting the 'undemocratic' draft election bill providing for pop
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao (12 Jan 1964, p. 4) on Indonesian responses to US pressure: a Harian Rakjat editorial calling for 'confrontation' of Malaysia, the Seventh Fleet and SEATO, and New Year messages from SOBSI, BTI, Pemuda Rakyat and the Peace Committee. The Gerwani Central Committee pledges support for the go
LBJ Library National Security File, Indonesia (Sept 1964-Feb 1965): White House/State memoranda, Djakarta cables and CIA OCI reports on Sukarno's leftward drift, 'Sukarnoism' anti-PKI movement, succession, Malaysia and the USIS library crisis. Includes the CIA 'Sukarno and the Communists' report, listing Women's Front
CIA Office of Current Intelligence report 'Sukarno and the Communists' (23 Oct 1964, ten pages), pre-coup assessment of the PKI-Sukarno relationship. Describes PKI growth to a claimed three million members and its fronts, including the Women's Front (GERWANI), 'almost two million'; also the cabinet, National Front, lan
Xinhua roundup in Renmin Ribao (5 Dec 1964, p. 5) on world reaction to the US-Belgian attack on Stanleyville, Congo, including a 10,000-strong anti-US demonstration in Jakarta that stormed and burned the USIS library. Gerwani appears in one sentence: its Central Council demanded withdrawal of the aggressor forces, alon
CIA intelligence memorandum, 6 October 1965, an early US assessment of the 30 September Movement; names Gerwani as reportedly involved and relays Suharto's 4 October claim that Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani volunteers trained near Halim. Early US echo of the Lubang Buaya narrative.
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180317 (2-9 Oct 1965): Jakarta embassy and Foreign Office telegrams on the 30 September coup, Suharto's takeover, Sukarno and Omar Dani, Soviet press silence, and a Singapore proposal for unattributable propaganda to blacken the PKI. Gerwani is named in Suharto's 4 Oct statement and a 6 Oc
CIA Bi-Weekly Propaganda Guidance, 25 Oct 1965, calendar and background on the 30 September coup. It notes WIDF's 20th anniversary (26 Nov), lists GERWANI among PKI women's fronts (p.21), and repeats that about 3,000 PKI youth and women's group cadres were trained at Halim air base in September, with Gerwani and Pemuda
UK Foreign Office file FCO 15/155 (Feb 1967 to June 1968) of Jakarta embassy letters, press cables and an air attache's report on the Mahmilub trials of Supardjo and Omar Dani, plus a June 1968 note on a Soviet protest over PKI prisoners. Gerwani appears only in the Omar Dani report, as female youth trained at Lubang B
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
South China Morning Post, 17 July 1999, p.37, Marian Wilkinson (Sydney Morning Herald), 'Killing off the communists': newly released US embassy and CIA cables show US officials encouraging the army's anti-PKI campaign in Oct-Nov 1965, urging anti-PKI propaganda that links 'diabolical murder and mutilation of the genera