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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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