1964 – 2012
CIA Office of Current Intelligence report 'Sukarno and the Communists' (23 Oct 1964, ten pages), pre-coup assessment of the PKI-Sukarno relationship. Describes PKI growth to a claimed three million members and its fronts, including the Women's Front (GERWANI), 'almost two million'; also the cabinet, National Front, lan
The Times of India, 8 Nov 1965, p.1 (Jakarta, 7 Nov): the PKI and affiliated mass organisations in Bali, including Gerwani (Women's Movement), Pemuda Rakjat, Lekra, BTI, student, teachers' (PGRI) and SOBSI unions, have been suspended; leaders must report daily and a curfew applies. Sukarno says he is considering bannin
Leeuwarder Courant, 18 March 1966, p. 1: report on Suharto's army placing Foreign Minister Subandrio, twelve other ministers and Saleh in 'protective custody' after the 11 March order, with tanks aimed at the Merdeka palace, Adam Malik made acting foreign minister, and student demonstrations. Suharto cites trial testim
TAPOL Bulletin no. 6, August 1974. Covers the Hariman Siregar (Malari) trial, tapol forced labour on the Cilacap oil pipeline and Nusakambangan cement works, prison conditions, Australian and British military links and trials of 1965 detainees. It reports on Plantungan women's camp (food, commander Major Prayoga, death
TAPOL Bulletin no. 7, October 1974. Covers the Indonesian Defence Department's attack on TAPOL, the Hariman Siregar trial, admissions on tapol forced labour, 'C' category releases and re-arrests, non-involvement certificates, civil-service purges (teachers and PLN staff dismissed) and plans for October Week in Britain.
TAPOL Bulletin no. 15, April 1976. Editorial links East Timor killings to the 1965-66 massacres; the issue devotes pages to a mimeographed East Java massacre report and to translated fictional accounts (Gestapu: Indonesian Short Stories, ed. Harry Aveling). Gerwani appears incidentally: victims included members of the
TAPOL Bulletin no. 16, June 1976, issued before the IGGI meeting. Contents: smuggled letter on prison torture including sexual torture of women (some miscarried), Fraser congressional hearings with Benedict Anderson, Sudomo interview on categories A/B/C and Buru, analysis of Oei Tju Tat's trial, Papuan killings, Amnest
Unclassified US State Department cable (7 Sep 1977) reporting Amnesty International's list of 62 imprisoned or disappeared former legislators; Indonesia has the longest list (21). Among the Indonesians named are Kartinah Kurdi and 'Umiharti Sardjono' (Umi Sardjono), both former Gerwani leaders, still detained 12 years
The Times of India, 6 Sep 1977, p.11 (Reuter, London, 4 Sep): Amnesty International lists 62 imprisoned or missing parliamentarians in 17 countries; Indonesia tops the list with 23, most held without trial since 1965 for links with the PKI, SOBSI, BTI or the women's organisation Gerwani. Named are Subandrio, Oei Tjoe T
Tempo column (1 Oct 2012) arguing that reconciliation must start from perpetrators' confession. Discusses victim-count disputes (78,000 to 3 million), The Act of Killing and Anwar Congo, Gus Dur's apology versus NU refusals, the Palu mayor's apology, and calls for lifting the ban on Marxism. Gerwani is not mentioned.
Tempo explainer (1 Oct 2012) on victim statistics for 1965-66 (estimates 200,000 to 3 million; most likely about half a million), weighing the Oei Tjoe Tat commission's 78,000, Kopkamtib's 1 million, Sarwo Edhie's 3 million and census evidence. It notes army propaganda about torture of the generals at Lubang Buaya was