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| Indonesian widow Anti Rukiyah, in her 90’s, visiting the tomb of her husband, Saleh Tanuwijaya, at the Rawagede monument of independence where victims of a 1947 massacre by Dutch military troops are buried in the town of Rawagede, West Java. (AFP Photo) |
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The Hague.
Dutch authorities are discussing a possible settlement with families of victims
executed by Dutch colonial troops in an Indonesian village in 1947, a foreign
affairs spokesman said on Wednesday.
“The
(Dutch) state opened discussions yesterday (Tuesday) with the lawyer
representing the relatives to see if a settlement can be reached,” Job Frieszo
told AFP.
In
September, a Hague-based court ruled in favour of seven widows and a survivor
of the massacre at the village of Rawagedeh east of Jakarta, known today as
Balongsari. An eighth widow in the case died earlier.
The court
said the Dutch state was liable for executions during an operation to root out
a suspected independence fighter during Indonesia’s war of independence and
ordered that the victims’ relatives be compensated, but it did not set down an
amount.
Asked about
a possible amount Frieszo said: “No, no, the discussions are still in an early
stage.”
The talks
was a result of the court’s decision, he added.
Although
the Dutch government in the past expressed “deep regret” over the conduct of
some of its troops in pre-independence Indonesia, it has never formally
apologized for any excesses including the massacre at Rawagedeh.
Dutch
authorities say 150 people died in the atrocity while a victims’ association
claims 431 lost their lives.
Indonesia’s
former colonial masters, the Dutch colonized the Asian country from the early
17th century. Indonesia gained independence in 1949.
Agence France-Presse
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