Behind the news: Chinese in Indonesia
Leeuwarder Courant, 24 May 1967, p. 1: front-page background column on the persecution of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia after 1965, citing camps in Medan, roundups in Borneo, closed Chinese schools in East Java, and the mass killings of communists and suspects in which Chinese families died. The tone is stereotyping. Ger
Adam Malik visits colleague Luns
Tubantia profile (25 Oct 1967) of Adam Malik on his visit to The Hague to meet Luns: Dutch plea for clemency for Subandrio, New Guinea, credit needs, his role against Sukarno. Notes that in 1965 Mrs Subandrio led a women's demonstration against Malik, then trade minister. Gerwani not named; context for Subandrio's wife
Indonesian protests abroad against stance of Soviet leaders
De Waarheid, 4 Nov 1967, p. 3: report that Indonesian representatives abroad of SOBSI, Pemuda Rakjat and Gerwani protested Soviet leaders' stance towards the Suharto regime. SOBSI secretary Setiati Surasto condemned a Soviet union delegation's January 1967 visit; Gerwani rejected a 'hypocritical' WIDF resolution in Eas
Protest telegram from NVB executive over arrest of Trees Sunito-Heyligers
De Waarheid, 5 Jan 1968, p. 1: telegram from the NVB executive to the Indonesian ambassador in The Hague protesting the arrest of lawyer Trees Sunito-Heyligers, recalling her anti-fascist work, her defence of Dutch soldiers who refused colonial war and her defence of union leader Njono, and demanding release of her and
Dutch-born jurist arrested in Indonesia
Limburgsch Dagblad, 5 January 1968, p. 1: Reuters/ANP report that Jakarta police arrested Dutch-born lawyer Trees Soenito-Heyligers (52, from Zwolle) as a suspected member of the banned scholars' association HSI; she had defended trade-union leader Njono, sentenced to death. Her husband Soenito, parliament secretary an
Beatrix and Claus hunting in the Federal Republic (item on arrest of Trees Soenito-Heyligers)
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 5 January 1968, p. 1: short wire item under an unrelated royal-hunt headline: Jakarta police arrested Dutch-born lawyer Trees Soenito-Heyligers as a suspected member of the banned HSI; two years earlier she defended SOBSI leader Njono, who was sentenced to death. No Gerwani content.
Dutch jurist arrested
Nederlands Dagblad, 6 January 1968, p. 1: brief report that Jakarta police arrested Dutch-born lawyer Trees Soenito-Heyligers on suspicion of membership in the banned scholars' association HSI; she had defended SOBSI leader Njono, who was sentenced to death for the 1965 coup. A second item on Cyprus is unrelated. No Ge
T. Sunito-Heyligers must be free: CPN Vlaardingen telegram
De Waarheid, 16 Jan 1968, p. 1: short item that the CPN branch in Vlaardingen sent a telegram to the Indonesian embassy in The Hague protesting persecution of democrats in Indonesia and demanding release of lawyer Trees Sunito-Heyligers, recently detained by the Jakarta regime, and other Indonesian freedom fighters.
Indonesia and the Wertheim Committee: Nijmegen congress and Dutch aid to Suharto
Long De Tijd opinion piece by Arie Kuiper (24 Apr 1969) on the Nijmegen student congress and the Wertheim Indonesia Committee's call to halt Dutch aid to Suharto's regime. It acknowledges hundreds of thousands killed and many political prisoners but blames Muslim hatred and defends Suharto; it repeats that generals wer
Dutch Women's Movement protests Suharto's visit: letter to ministers
De Waarheid, 5 Aug 1970, p. 1: full text of the NVB executive's letter to Dutch ministers protesting President Suharto's planned state visit. It accuses his regime of causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, rejecting clemency, and holding at least 125,000 prisoners and exiles, among them many members of the 'million-m
Sandwich-board action in The Hague against Suharto visit: 'Freedom for the women of Gerwani'
De Waarheid, 18 Aug 1970, p. 1: report that a dozen women demonstrated with sandwich boards in The Hague against Suharto's planned visit, carrying signs 'Freedom for the women of Gerwani' and 'Suharto unwanted', distributing the NVB letter and later protesting at the Indonesian embassy.
Rotterdam women demonstrated against Suharto's visit
De Waarheid, 19 Aug 1970, p. 1: report that Rotterdam women demonstrated on the Lijnbaan and at the Beurs against General Suharto's state visit, with signs demanding release of political prisoners in Indonesia and especially members of Gerwani, handing out the NVB letter. Port workers also telegraphed Minister Luns.
The Hague women demonstrated against Suharto's visit
De Waarheid, 4 Sep 1970, p. 1: report that NVB members in The Hague carried sandwich boards for several days against Suharto's visit ('The women of Gerwani must be free', 'Not a cent for the generals'), handing out thousands of pamphlets until police took the women in at 3:30 pm on 3 September, amid public applause.
Women's movement needed: Truus Divendal on Gerwani and Indonesia
De Waarheid, 7 Sep 1971, p. 4: report on the NVB's speech by Truus Divendal arguing a women's movement is still needed. She reports fundraising for the South Vietnamese NLF and addresses Indonesia: Gerwani, which earlier played a large role in eliminating illiteracy, now has thousands of members imprisoned; the NVB dem
Resolution closing the NVB congress of 1971: lift the ban on Gerwani
De Waarheid, 1 Nov 1971, p. 6: report on the close of the NVB's 25th-anniversary congress, which adopted a resolution on education, equal rights and government policy and urged support for the Vietnamese NLF. The congress also demanded lifting of the ban on Gerwani and freedom for Angela Davis; G. van der Laan succeede
Dutch Diary, Thursday 13 Sept. (Willem Oltmans)
Willem Oltmans's 'Hollands Dagboek' in NRC Handelsblad (22 Sep 1973), entries 13-20 Sept. Covers his New Guinea/Luns campaign, Hatta, Pertamina corruption, Chile 1973 compared to Indonesia 1965 mass murder, and Nasution's letters about Aidit shared by Dewi Sukarno. Lists imprisoned Indonesian writers and journalists. N
Release of Indonesian women demanded: Women's Action Day 1975 protest letter
De Waarheid, 2 Jun 1975, p. 1: report that the NVB's Women's Action Day '75 sent a protest letter to the Suharto regime (copy to minister Pronk) demanding release of four Gerwani women: life imprisonment demanded against Sulami, secretary of Gerwani, and 20 years each against Sri Ambar Rukmijati, Sudjinah and Suharti H
Women's movement magazine condemns Indonesian trial: NVB demands freedom for Gerwani women
De Waarheid, 21 Jun 1975, p. 5: report that the NVB monthly 'Vrouwen' urges protest against the heavy sentences passed in late April on four Gerwani members. It recalls the 1965 coup, bloodbath and camps, ten years of deteriorating living conditions and foreign aid through the IGGI (up to 880 million dollars a year). T
NVB demands freedom for Gerwani women (full newspaper page, 21 Jun 1975)
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
Protests (NVB appeal for four Gerwani women)
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
Stop support for the Suharto regime
De Waarheid, 21 Jun 1975, p. 5: boxed text 'Stop support for the Suharto regime' from the NVB monthly 'Vrouwen': the IGGI group (US, Japan, West Germany, Netherlands) gives up to 880 million dollars yearly to the regime; its April meeting was postponed amid confusion over Indochina; Suharto fears liberation victories.
Tortures (article by Annie van Ommeren in 'Vrouwen')
De Waarheid, 18 Oct 1975, p. 5: closing part of a review of the NVB monthly 'Vrouwen'. Annie van Ommeren's article stresses women's role against the regime, with Gerwani members prominent, names prominent women held and tortured with burning cigarettes and electric shocks in Plantungan, Bukit Duri and Bulu prisons, and
'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,
Despite executions... generals can count on continued support
Front-page De Waarheid report (5 Jun 1985) on Dutch minister Schoo's opening speech at the 28th IGGI conference in Amsterdam, urging donors to continue backing Suharto's regime without mentioning executions. A Komitee Indonesië spokeswoman says she was shocked that Schoo ignored the ban on Gerwani and that existing wom
Letters: Suharto's murderous fear of old, loyal communists
Reader's letter in NRC Handelsblad (6 Jul 1985) answering a plea for clemency for old communists. The writer asserts the Lubang Buaya generals' murder was 'historically' the PKI's work, 'assisted by the communist women of the Gerwani', cites televised exhumation, and attacks Pramoedya's Nobel candidacy. Repeats the New