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 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.
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.
Quest: A Feminist Quarterly, Vol. IV no. 2 (Winter 1978, 'International Feminism'), carrying on p. 32 the poem 'Asian Women and Political Repression' by Sugiarti Siswadi, in which women declare they are no longer only wives of heroes but 'worker soldiers'. A headnote begins 'Mrs. Siswadi, a well-known Indonesian poet, was arrested ...' (cut off in the passage found). Gerwani is not named in the passages found.
Quest: A Feminist Quarterly, Vol. IV no. 2 (Winter 1978, 'International Feminism'), carrying on p. 32 the poem 'Asian Women and Political Repression' by Sugiarti Siswadi, in which women declare they are no longer only wives of heroes but 'worker soldiers'. A headnote begins 'Mrs. Siswadi, a well-known Indonesian poet, was arrested ...' (cut off in the passage found). Gerwani is not named in the passages found.
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 criticism, Admiral Sudomo's release plan and US pressure. Gerwani is named only in a list of PKI-linked organisations whose members were arrested.
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 million arrests, Categories A, B and C, Amnesty International and US pressure. Category B prisoners are described as PKI members or those of organisations such as the Gerwani women's movement.
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 involvement in the 1965 coup attempt.
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 involvement in the 1965 coup attempt.
De Waarheid, 4 Mar 1978, p. 5: article on the NVB's record around International Women's Day, listing its causes since the war: disarmament, anti-nuclear action, opposition to wars in Korea and Vietnam, international solidarity with Gerwani in Indonesia and anti-apartheid women, and women's rights at home. Contrasts the NVB with the PvdA women. Gerwani appears as one of the NVB's solidarity causes.
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, Sudjinah and Sri Ambar 20 years, while Umi Sardjono and vice-chairs Mudigdo and Salawati Daud are still held without trial. The NVB demands release and an end to Dutch aid.
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 journalists names Gerwani's Maasje Siwi and Sudjinah (18 years).
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 holding ten women tapols since 1968. Gerwani is not named.
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 International prisoner of conscience.
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 International prisoner of conscience.
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'. The article places this in Suharto's pressure to isolate communists amid partial releases of political prisoners. OCR partly garbled.
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 Sardjono of the Jakarta command warned of subversion. Other items on the page (Rhodesia, Middle East, Sudan, Timor etc.) are unrelated; Gerwani is not named.
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 tried after 11 years' isolation; her mother Mrs Mudigdio was a PKI MP. Plantungan is listed with 117 releases.
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 Society's women's commission speak; says nearly 40 Indonesian women hold elected office. Gerwani not mentioned.
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 1966 for 'subversive activities', tried nine years later and sentenced to 15-20 years; readers are asked to write to President Suharto.
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 1966 for 'subversive activities', tried nine years later and sentenced to 15-20 years; readers are asked to write to President Suharto.
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 arrested about two million, with torture on the prison islands. Gerwani is not named.
Berliner Zeitung, 22 January 1979, p. 2: ADN report 'Frauen geben ihre Stimme dem Frieden' on a WIDF declaration calling for 8 March 1979 to be a mass manifestation for women's rights and peace, ahead of a Moscow world conference in the International Year of the Child. Among those greeted are women in Latin America, South Korea, Indonesia and Northern Ireland. Indonesia is a one-word mention; Gerwani is not named.
Neues Deutschland, 22 January 1979, p. 2: ADN item 'Frauen erheben ihre Stimme für Frieden und Abrüstung' on the WIDF (IDFF) statement for International Women's Day 1979. In a list of greetings to women fighting under repression, the WIDF greets women in Chile, Nicaragua, Uruguay and other Latin American countries 'as well as in South Korea, Indonesia, Northern Ireland' and other capitalist countries. Indonesia is a passing mention; no names or Gerwani.
Berliner Zeitung, 26 Feb 1979, p. 6: report on the international Bebel conference in Berlin (60 speakers). A short paragraph says Satiajaya Sudiman, member of the PKI leadership, described harsh conditions for Indonesian women: unequal pay and dismissal of women workers who marry or become pregnant. No mention of Gerwani; otherwise a passing item among many delegates' speeches.
Neues Deutschland, 26 February 1979, p. 6: report 'Aussprache über Fragen unserer Zeit' on the international SED Central Committee conference marking 100 years of Bebel's 'Woman and Socialism'. Satiajaya Sudiman, speaking for the Communist Party of Indonesia, said that Kartini, drawing on Bebel, had developed ideas on the struggle of Indonesian women, now carried on by the illegal organisation of Indonesia's working women. Gerwani is not named.
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 reactionaries and right-wing Muslims because Gerwani opposed feudal customs, campaigned for marriage law, land reform, women's land rights and literacy.
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 Harsono, Sri Ambar and Sudjinah (20 years), punished for regrouping the PKI and aiding prisoners' children.
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, immediately free' and 'No IGGI aid'.
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 and censorship in West Germany and the Netherlands. Gerwani is not named.