Cempaka Belanda: Dutch State to Apologize for Indonesia Massacre

Monday, December 5, 2011

Dutch State to Apologize for Indonesia Massacre

Jakarta Globe, Mike Corder, December 05, 2011

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The Hague. The Dutch government will pay compensation and apologize to relatives of men killed by Dutch troops in a notorious 1947 massacre of villagers during Indonesia's bitter struggle for independence, their lawyer said Monday.

Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said that the apology "does justice to the gravity of what happened in Rawagede," the village on Java island where up to 430 men were rounded up and summarily executed.

"I hope it helps the relatives find closure for this exceptionally difficult episode in their lives and look to the future," Rosenthal said.

The Dutch ambassador to Indonesia, Tjeerd de Zwaan, will offer the apology during the annual commemoration of the massacre in the village, now called Balongsari, on Dec. 9.

Nine relatives of men shot in the massacre won a landmark court case earlier this year, when judges ruled that the Dutch state was responsible for the massacre.

The relatives' lawyer, Liesbeth Zegveld, says they are pleased with the Dutch apology. She added that the state also will pay each of the nine relatives €20,000 ($27,000) compensation.

"It is good that the relatives can now close the case," she said. "It happened 64 years ago and there was a tough ruling from the court necessary, but the relatives are very grateful that the state is not going to appeal and will apologize."

The Dutch government has never prosecuted any soldiers for the massacre, despite a United Nations report condemning the attack as "deliberate and ruthless" as early as 1948.

A 1968 Dutch report acknowledged "violent excesses" in Indonesia but argued that Dutch troops were carrying out a "police action" often incited by guerrilla warfare and terror attacks.

Former Foreign Minister Ben Bot expressed deep regret for offenses by Dutch forces throughout Indonesia in 1947, but the government has never before formally apologized to relatives in Rawagede.

It remains to be seen if the Rawagede ruling will open the floodgates for more compensation claims from relatives of people killed during the fight to retain control over the Dutch East Indies, which became Indonesia in 1949.

The September ruling had a very narrow focus, saying widows of men killed deserved compensation because they suffered directly from the slaying.

Associated Press

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