FCO 24/1701: Political Detainees in Indonesia (1973)
UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office file FCO 24/1701 (1973), a TNA volume on political detainees in Indonesia. It holds briefing notes, minutes and parliamentary questions on the 1973 State Visit, the Budiardjo case and Amnesty International's campaign, plus a bound copy of Amnesty's 1973 'Indonesia Special'. In that re
Ten torture cases to be used by Amnesty (The Guardian, 11 October 1973)
The Guardian, 11 Oct 1973, p.8, Peter Cole: Amnesty International launches Prisoner of Conscience Week with ten emblematic torture cases. One is an Indonesian woman, Mrs Sri Ambar[...] (surname cut off in OCR), head of the women's department of the SOBSI trade union federation, who after arrest in 1966 was stripped nak
FCO 15/1941: Political Detainees in Indonesia (1974-75)
British Foreign and Commonwealth Office file FCO 15/1941 (1974-75), 'Political detainees in Indonesia': ministerial letters on the National Peace Council and TAPOL campaigns, Research Department notes on Carmel Budiardjo, UN human-rights briefing, ICRC/Buru material and TAPOL Bulletin extracts. Gerwani features in the
South China Morning Post, 26 Nov 1975, p.22, Kenneth Whiting (AP), 'Indonesia: a fresh start': ten-year retrospective on the 1965 coup and 'bloodbath' (about 300,000 killed, 100,000 jailed, 20,000 political detainees still held), with oil-led economic recovery. A short passage says women were killed if believed to be p
Women round the World: Indonesian Women (Kinesis, June 1977)
Kinesis (Vancouver feminist paper), June 1977, p.10, 'Women round the World': a section on Indonesian women. It says Gerwani, the largest women's organisation (over one million members), was banned for alleged complicity in the 1965 coup and blamed for atrocities; many members suffered torture and sexual abuse in inter
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
Army Spokesman on Release of Gerwani Ex-Chairwoman Sundari Abdulrahman (FBIS, 23 Aug 1989)
FBIS item (ANTARA, 23 Aug 1989): armed forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Nurhadi Purwosaputro said the release of Sundari Abdulrahman, 68, former chairwoman of Gerwani, followed completion of her term and presidential remission. She had been sentenced to life in 1976 in Tanjungkarang and held in Tangerang Women's Prison. He
Tempo, 29 August 1999: 'Gulag' called the New Order (review of Carmel Budiardjo's memoir)
Tempo book review (29 Aug 1999) of Carmel Budiardjo's prison memoir on New Order detention (Likdam, Bukit Duri, 'bon' interrogations, ET stigma). It records her witness to teenage women political prisoners tortured to make the script of Gerwani's involvement in the Lubang Buaya killings work, and notes she founded Tapo
South China Sunday Morning Post, 23 Apr 2000, p.10, Vaudine England: profile of Sudjinah Halina (72), former Gerwani activist and political prisoner, as Indonesia reopens debate on 1965. She recounts Solo childhood, guerrilla courier work (1947-49), study at Gadjah Mada, the 1955 Prague youth festival, a job with the W
Challenges of Political Rehabilitation in Post-New Order Indonesia: Gerwani (McGregor and Hearman, 2007)
McGregor and Hearman (2007) read Gerwani leaders Sulami's and Sudjinah's memoirs as political rehabilitation: distancing from the PKI, rebutting the Lubang Buaya slander, socialist critique and claims to citizenship. Key scholarly analysis of survivor memoirs.
Tempo, 7 March 2011: A critique of Plantungan (documentary review)
Tempo review (7 Mar 2011) by Martin Aleida of Putu Oka Sukanta's documentary 'Plantungan', screened at GoetheHaus, finding it under-researched. It features former Plantungan prisoners Siti Suratih, Suci Danarti, Pujiati, Mujiati and Sp. Tican and rebuts the Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI film's slander of women; Aleida adds Ta
Generating History: Violence and the Risks of Remembering for Families of Former Political Prisoners (Conroe, 2012)
PhD dissertation (University of Michigan, 2012) by Andrew Conroe: an ethnography of former political prisoners (eks-tapol) and their children and grandchildren in Yogyakarta, centred on the group Fopperham, on memory, silence and uncertain family histories. Gerwani appears through family accounts and events: Bu Marni,
Tempo, 1 October 2012: Erwin's rice and tajin porridge (1965 detention in Jakarta)
Tempo piece (1 Oct 2012) on conditions of 1965 political prisoners in Jakarta: torture and tiny rations at Cipinang, Salemba, Kalong HQ and Bukit Duri, with testimony of Eko Wardoyo, Bedjo Untung, Jawito. Includes Gerwani member and journalist Sri Sukatno, jailed years at Bukit Duri, describing electric torture at 'Gan
Tempo, 1 October 2012: Gulag on the bank of the Lampir river (Plantungan camp)
Tempo report (1 Oct 2012) on the Plantungan camp (Kendal) for women Group B political prisoners, opened 1971 in a former leprosarium. Names Gerwani activists and others held there: Sumiyarsi Siwirini ('Lubang Buaya doctor'), Siti Suratih, Mia Bustam, Pujiati, C.H. Sumarmiyati, Mujiati. Covers conditions, 'santi aji' in
Tempo, 1 October 2012: Another way to settle the 1965 tragedy (M. Imam Aziz)
Opinion piece by M. Imam Aziz in Tempo (1 Oct 2012) summarising Komnas HAM's findings of nine crimes against humanity in 1965 (500,000 to 3 million killed, 1.8 million detained, Plantungan named for women) and proposing a non-judicial path: presidential apology, victim recovery, comparing ICC, South African and Austral
Tempo, 1 October 2012: Forced labour at Moncongloe
Tempo report (1 Oct 2012) on the Moncongloe 'Instalasi Rehabilitasi' camp (Gowa, South Sulawesi), open 1969-79 with about 1,000 political prisoners doing unpaid forced labour (20 km road, army land); hepatitis, sexual harassment of women prisoners, a pregnant nurse expelled. Based on Taufik's thesis/book and testimony
Tempo, 1 October 2012: 'I often carried a long axe' - introduction to the special edition on 1965 executioners
Editor's introduction (Tempo, 1 Oct 2012) to the special edition on 1965 executioners, prompted by The Act of Killing and Anwar Congo. It sets out the aims (view from perpetrators, Banality of Evil, verification of sources), mentions Sikka, Palembang and the camps at Buru, Plantungan and Moncongloe as an Indonesian Gul
Tempo, 1 October 2012: Not only on Buru Island (Operations Kalong and Trisula)
Tempo report (1 Oct 2012) on Operasi Kalong (Jakarta, from Aug 1966) and Trisula (Blitar, 1968), Kopkamtib interrogation and torture sites (Gunung Sahari II, Plantungan, Jalan Gandhi, Kemaro, Moncongloe), with torture methods (electric shock, stingray whip, 'ayat kursi'). It lists other intelligence task forces, one at
Ripples, Echoes, and Reverberations: 1965 and Now in Indonesia (Stroud, 2015)
Martha Stroud's 2015 UC Berkeley/UCSF medical-anthropology dissertation, based on fieldwork in Yogyakarta (2010-12), examines how the 1965-66 killings shape daily life through propaganda, surveillance, stigma, silence and justice. Gerwani appears mainly as the object of New Order propaganda: the Lubang Buaya mutilation
Tempo.co, 28 December 2018: A look inside the Gerwani book seized by the TNI as 'PKI'
Tempo.co report (28 Dec 2018) on the seizure by TNI and police in Kediri of 19 books from a bookshop owner, including Amurwani Dwi Lestariningsih's 'Gerwani: Kisah Tapol Wanita dari Kamp Plantungan' (Gramedia 2011), which describes torture and sexual violence against women prisoners. The owner says the books are mainst
From Indonesia with Love: Political Prisoners and their Pen Pals (Hearman, 2020)
Hearman's 2020 article reconstructing the 1982-92 letters between ex-Gerwani militant Pudji Aswati, imprisoned for subversion, and English Quaker author Patricia Cleveland-Peck, showing how befriending became a transnational activist network. Rare transnational Gerwani prisoner correspondence.
Tempo, 3 October 2020: Cinema of friendship between women ex-prisoners ('You and I')
Tempo feature (3 Oct 2020) on Fanny Chotimah's documentary 'You and I' (DMZ festival award) about Solo ex-political prisoners Kaminah and Kusdalini, Pemuda Rakyat/Gita Patria choir members detained in 1965 and later rejected by family; contrasts it with the Pengkhianatan film's razor-blade scene and the Plantungan docu
The Act of Singing: Women, Music and the Politics of Truth and Reconciliation (Weintraub, 2021)
Andrew Weintraub's 2021 study of the Dialita choir from 2018-21 fieldwork with members including Njoto's daughter Irina Dayasih, arguing collective singing is critical remembrance and memory activism where legal routes are blocked. Substantial English-language study.
Tempo, 2 October 2021: Song of the alarm (Umi Sardjono in Bukit Duri prison)
Tempo feature (2 Oct 2021, Riky Ferdianto and Mustafa Silalahi) on Umi Sardjono in Bukit Duri prison (detained 20 Oct 1965, solitary cell as category A, 'Senayan cluster' with Dahliar, Mudigdio, Salawati Daud, Kartinah Kurdi). Witnesses Mudjiati, Utati, Nani Nurani Affandi describe forced confessions of Lubang Buaya da
Tempo, 2 October 2021: Umi Sardjono and the annual PKI ghost
Tempo column (2 Oct 2021, Budi Setyarso) using Umi Sardjono's life to argue that 1965 history is still painted in black and white. It notes her arrest without trial, Bukit Duri and Plantungan until 1979, Gerwani's origins in Gerwis, about 1.5 million members by 1960, literacy courses, her immigration and marriage-law w
Tempo English, 4 October 2021: Opinion - Umi Sardjono and communism phobia (the annual ghost)
English edition of the Tempo column 'Umi Sardjono and the Annual Ghost' (4 Oct 2021) arguing that 1965 history is still black and white. It uses Umi Sardjono's life (arrest without trial, Bukit Duri, Plantungan to 1979), Gerwani's Gerwis origins, a mid-1960s membership of 1.5 million, literacy classes, her immigration
Dialita: Collective Memories of Former Women Political Prisoners in Java (Lestariningsih and Sunarti, 2022)
Memory Studies article (2022) on the Dialita choir of former women political prisoners and relatives as a vehicle for identity and 'cultural reconciliation', drawing on interviews with Uchikowati, Utati and others; co-author wrote a book on Plantungan Gerwani prisoners. Key study.
Tempo, 20 August 2022: Mia Bustam's third memoir (learning not to hold grudges)
Tempo feature (20 Aug 2022, Dian Yuliastuti and Seno Joko Suyono) on the launch of Mia Bustam's third memoir, 'Kelindan Asa dan Kenyataan'. It recounts her arrest in Yogyakarta on 23 Nov 1965, 13 years' detention without trial (Vredeburg, Wirogunan, Plantungan, Bulu) for Lekra membership, release in 1978, and her later
Mia Bustam's paintings and embroidery (Tempo, 20 Aug 2022)
Tempo feature (20 Aug 2022) by Seno Joko Suyono and Nurdin Kalim on the paintings and embroidery of Mia Bustam, former wife of the painter S. Sudjojono. Her children recall her Lekra activity, the loss of a self-portrait when the Lekra secretariat was raided in 1965, and works made in Wirogunan prison (1966-71) and at
Tempo, 2 October 2022: Memory of sewing machines and smuggled paper (political prisoners at Plantungan and Buru)
Tempo report (2 Oct 2022, Dini Pramita and Dody Hidayat) on forced labour and memory of 1965 political prisoners. Yosephina Endang Lestari recalls Plantungan women's camp (sewing unit, Santiaji Pancasila, poor health); Ita F. Nadia describes its five aims including re-domestication of women. Hersri Setiawan (Buru) and