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 item notes a 1966 psychological study of women tapols in Bukit Duri.
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. It briefly mentions the progressive women's movement's fight for monogamy.
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 says their activities did not amount to crimes and asks for letters to President Suharto.
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 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. 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 arrested in 1966 for 'subversive activities', tried nine years later and sentenced to 15-20 years; readers are asked to write to President Suharto.
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 rights and must report to police. No Gerwani content.
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 remain in prison, and that perhaps 400 children live with exiled prisoners on an island colony. Gerwani is not named.
Neue Zeit, 24 November 1979, p. 12 ('Rund um die Welt'): feature 'Bei den Minangkabau regieren die Mütter' on the matrilineal Minangkabau of West Sumatra (about three million people, around Bukittinggi). It describes matrilineal descent, women's ownership of house and land, men's role as outside representatives, and adat, and predicts a shift towards nuclear families in towns. A general ethnographic piece; no Gerwani, no political context, no named individuals.
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 the Indonesian embassy. Gerwani is not mentioned.
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 (Nos 36-37). One TAPOL passage on the Anti-Subversion Law notes that in 1975 Sulami and Sudjinah of Gerwani were tried with two others, and that Sulami was accused of recruiting women for Lubang Buaya.
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 Sri Ambar and Suharti Harsono (20, 18, 15, 15 years). Dr Tanti Aidit is listed among the last 105 released.
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, and lift the ban on Gerwani.
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 Islam. Gerwani is not named in this item.
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 Islam. Gerwani is not named in this item.
Short De Waarheid item (6 Mar 1980, p.9): the planned trial of Tanti Aidit after twelve years' detention will not go ahead. It argues she had nothing to do with the 'CIA-organised coup' and her only offence was Gerwani board membership, naming Suharti, Sudjinah and Shri Ambar as fellow Gerwani women who also paid.
De Waarheid report (2 May 1980, p.5) of a talk by Mieke Lokkerbol of Komitee Indonesië on the Indonesian women's movement from Kartini to Gerwani. It describes Gerwani's programme (marriage law, rape penalties, labour law, schooling, health, price control), claims 1.5 million members in 1963, its ban after 1965, and mass arrest, rape and killing of members.
Double issue of TAPOL Bulletin (London), no. 41/42, September/November 1980. An article on ex-prisoners' continuing restrictions says many doctors are still refused permission to practise, naming Dr Sutanti Aidit with Drs Sumanto, Sumiarsih and Djajus; ex-tapols also cannot testify in court without a 'certificate of non-involvement'. Gerwani is not named in the passages found.
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), Sudjinah (18), Suharti Harsono and Sri Ambar (16), Tati Harti and Sundari Abdul Rachman (life). It also reports a mother and daughter sentenced in West Java, and reviews a Dutch book on Indonesian women.
De Waarheid review (4 Mar 1981, p.8) by Joop Morriën of a Vrouwengroep Komitee Indonesië booklet 'Vrouwen van Indonesië: strijd om bestaan'. It covers women's position under colonialism, adat and Islam, rural-urban migration and prostitution after 1965, and ends with a chapter on NVB–Gerwani solidarity with recollections by Annie A. [OCR-truncated] and Heiltje de Vos.
TAPOL Bulletin No. 46 (July 1981). A note, 'A Hundred Minus Six', reports that a four-volume Indonesian short-story anthology had to drop six writers deemed involved in G30S/PKI, among them S. Rukiah (Rukiah Kertapati), alongside Pramoedya. The same issue covers the banning of Pramoedya's Buru novels. Gerwani is not mentioned.
TAPOL Bulletin no. 47 (London, September 1981): East Timor offensive and the East Timor assembly's report, West Papuan refugees, Pramoedya's re-arrest, the new Procedural Code, and rape and lesbianism cases. Its new 'Spotlight on a Prisoner' profiles Suwardiningsih, the only woman full member of the PKI Central Committee, life-sentenced in 1968, and mentions a planned women's campaign for tried women political prisoners. Gerwani is not named.
Page of the Norwegian regional daily Ostlendingen (13 October 1981) with an article on Amnesty International's Prisoners of Conscience Week. It profiles three prisoners, including Sudjinah, 47, described as active in what was once Indonesia's largest women's movement, arrested early 1967, held eight years before trial and sentenced to 18 years. Gerwani is not named in the OCR; the identification as the Gerwani leader rests on the sweep log. Most of the OCR is noise.
Norwegian local newspaper (14 October 1981) reporting Amnesty groups' stand at Sandvika during 'Prisoners of Conscience Week'. The week's focus is three prisoners, including the Indonesian woman Sudjinah, sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment for 'subversive activity'. The rest of the page is church lists and adverts; OCR is rough.
Norwegian local newspaper (14 October 1981) reporting Amnesty groups' stand at Sandvika during 'Prisoners of Conscience Week'. The week's focus is three prisoners, including the Indonesian woman Sudjinah, sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment for 'subversive activity'. The rest of the page is church lists and adverts; OCR is rough.
De Waarheid interview (20 Oct 1981, p.5) with Annie van Ommeren-Averink, CPN politician and NVB board member, on the NVB's 35th anniversary. She recalls labour and women's struggles; a photo of Umi Sardjono, freed after years of imprisonment, hangs in her home, last seen in March 1965, and she works for the CPN's Indonesia committee. Gerwani appears only through this personal tie.
TAPOL Bulletin no. 52 (London, July 1982, 20 pp.): East Timor famine and the Nordland report, West Papua and transmigration, Dutch arms sales, Muslim political trials and torture, press bans (Tempo, Pelita), student repression, and an Atmakusumah book review noting that 46 of 163 newspapers were banned in October 1965. Gerwani and 1965 women prisoners are not discussed; only background on Indonesia's repression under the New Order.
De Waarheid feature (19 Aug 1982) in which Annie Gelok recalls NVB women's solidarity with Dutch conscripts who refused service in Indonesia (Schoonhoven refusers, 1949), the Zuiderkruis embarkation, Heiltje de Vos's 'Vrede met Indonesië' banner, and campaigns for Piet van Staveren and Ratio Koster. It touches an IDFF/WIDF Asian women's conference in Beijing but not Gerwani.
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, Sunardi trial. Neither Gerwani nor Salawati Daud is mentioned; women appear only as victims of sexual violence in Papua and Timor.
Canberra Times, 30 Oct 1982, p. 4 (AAP-AFP): short item citing Jakarta daily Sinar Pagi that seven women could be named candidates for Indonesia's Vice-Presidency, among them S.K. Trimurti, Harsati Subadio, Minister for Women's Affairs L. Sutanto and several officials' wives. Gerwani not mentioned.
Canberra Times, 30 Oct 1982, p. 4 (AAP-AFP): short item citing Jakarta daily Sinar Pagi that seven women could be named candidates for Indonesia's Vice-Presidency, among them S.K. Trimurti, Harsati Subadio, Minister for Women's Affairs L. Sutanto and several officials' wives. Gerwani not mentioned.
Gerwani Archive