US Embassy Jakarta cable, 19 Jan 1978: P.E.N. 'Freedom to Write' list of imprisoned Indonesian writers
Declassified Jakarta cable (Jakarta 0836, 19 Jan 1978, signed Masters) on P.E.N.'s list of 40 imprisoned Indonesian writers; the embassy has records on nine. Entry 30 reads 'Mrs. Sugiarti Siswadi - reportedly arrested in 1966'. It also notes Pramoedya on Buru, and says those listed were apparently held for suspected in
US Embassy Jakarta cable, 19 Jan 1978: P.E.N. 'Freedom to Write' list of imprisoned Indonesian writers
Declassified Jakarta cable (Jakarta 0836, 19 Jan 1978, signed Masters) on P.E.N.'s list of 40 imprisoned Indonesian writers; the embassy has records on nine. Entry 30 reads 'Mrs. Sugiarti Siswadi - reportedly arrested in 1966'. It also notes Pramoedya on Buru, and says those listed were apparently held for suspected in
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
TAPOL Bulletin No. 27, April 1978, with Special Supplement on the Press
TAPOL Bulletin no. 27 (London, April 1978) with a Special Supplement on press freedom. Covers student repression, prisoner-release figures, trials and a Buru letter. The supplement notes that in 1965–66 the press published sensational reports of sexual orgies by leftwing organisations, and its list of jailed journalist
TAPOL Bulletin no. 28 (London, June 1978): arms sales and Mondale's visit, 1978 student crackdown (Yogyakarta), W.S. Rendra's arrest, conditions of the 1977 releases, psychotests of detainees, the Latief trial. A letter from an East Java ex-prisoner describes the 'bon' killings of 1966–69 and a Malang women's prison ho
US State Department weekly status cable, 13 Jul 1978: 'Mrs Aidit to face trial'
Declassified State Department weekly status cable (13 Jul 1978). Citing FBIS and Kuala Lumpur radio, it reports that Dr Sutanti Aidit, widow of D.N. Aidit, will be tried for complicity in the 1965 coup attempt. It describes her as a member of the Central Committee of Gerwani, the PKI women's affiliate, and an Amnesty I
US State Department weekly status cable, 13 Jul 1978: 'Mrs Aidit to face trial'
Declassified State Department weekly status cable (13 Jul 1978). Citing FBIS and Kuala Lumpur radio, it reports that Dr Sutanti Aidit, widow of D.N. Aidit, will be tried for complicity in the 1965 coup attempt. It describes her as a member of the Central Committee of Gerwani, the PKI women's affiliate, and an Amnesty I
Trial against Tanti Aidit
De Waarheid, 25 Jul 1978, p. 2: report that the army paper Berita Yudha says a charge has been drawn up against Tanti (Soetanti) Aidit, physician and widow of PKI chair D.N. Aidit, arrested after 1965; she will be tried on allegations that as a board member of Gerwani she was involved in the '30 September Movement'. Th
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
TAPOL Bulletin no. 29 (London, August 1978): assessment of the 1977–78 prisoner releases, resettlement camps, ILO criticism, Wertheim on Suharto and the Latief trial, ex-tapol discrimination, and trials. Page 11 reports that Dr Tanti Aidit, widow of D.N. Aidit and a Gerwani member who ran a Gerwani clinic, is to be tri
Soviet Woman, 30 Sep 1978: 'Meetings, Contacts, Cooperation', Kartini Day in Moscow
Soviet Woman, 30 Sep 1978, pp. 33-36, 'Meetings, Contacts, Cooperation': readers' reminiscences, twin-town Almalyk-Kitwe, Ireland's National Day and an eye-equipment exhibition. Relevant item: Kartini Day gathering in Moscow, where E. W. Djajadiningrat, ambassador's wife, and Ludmila Pakhomova of the USSR-Indonesia Soc
Virus (Montreal), 1979: Amnesty appeal for four Indonesian women prisoners (Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati, Suhart
Issue of the Montreal listings magazine Virus (vol. 2 no. 7, 1979) with a short Amnesty International appeal. It says four women, Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono (OCR garbles the last name), members of a 'slightly leftist women's organisation' (not named, but Gerwani is meant), were arrested in
Virus (Montreal), 1979: Amnesty appeal for four Indonesian women prisoners (Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati, Suhart
Issue of the Montreal listings magazine Virus (vol. 2 no. 7, 1979) with a short Amnesty International appeal. It says four women, Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono (OCR garbles the last name), members of a 'slightly leftist women's organisation' (not named, but Gerwani is meant), were arrested in
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,
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
TAPOL Bulletin no. 34 (London, June 1979, 20 pp.): exposes inconsistencies in KOPKAMTIB release figures, resettlement camps in Kalimantan and Buru, the student trials, release oath and ex-tapol discrimination, the Nijmegen psycho-test cover-up, TAPOL's research on 366 1965 trials, IGGI aid. Gerwani is not named; one it
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
Virus (Montreal), 1979: Amnesty appeal for four Indonesian women prisoners (Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati, Suhart
Issue of the Montreal listings magazine Virus (vol. 2 no. 8, October 1979) with a short Amnesty International appeal. It says four women, Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono (OCR garbles the last name), members of a 'slightly leftist women's organisation' (not named, but Gerwani is meant), were arr
Virus (Montreal), 1979: Amnesty appeal for four Indonesian women prisoners (Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati, Suhart
Issue of the Montreal listings magazine Virus (vol. 2 no. 8, October 1979) with a short Amnesty International appeal. It says four women, Sulami, Sudjinah, Sri Ambar Rukmiati and Suharti Harsono (OCR garbles the last name), members of a 'slightly leftist women's organisation' (not named, but Gerwani is meant), were arr
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
Soviet Woman, 30 Nov 1979: 'Meetings, Contacts, Cooperation', Kartini centenary in Moscow
Soviet Woman, 30 Nov 1979, pp. 35-38, 'Meetings, Contacts, Cooperation': Soviet youth on their lives, a Soviet-American youth seminar in Tallinn, Canadian children's theatre, a teacher in Ethiopia, and a Moscow gathering for Kartini's birth centenary. Speakers include A. Belenky, Ludmila Pakhomova and Mrs Panggabean of
FCO 15/2701: Political Detainees in Indonesia (1980)
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, January 1980: Indonesia's Political Trials
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
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
JPRS 75238, 3 Mar 1980: release of 22 prisoners incl. Dr Sutanti Aidit and Pramoedya (Indonesian press reports)
JPRS translation volume (3 March 1980). Its Indonesia section reprints Indonesian press reports (Sinar Harapan, Pelita, 21 Dec 1979) on the release of Category B prisoners, including Pramoedya Ananta Toer. At the Jakarta ceremony 22 prisoners including Dr Sutanti Aidit were freed; she wept and said she would follow Isl