The Hague District Court on March 25 ordered the Netherlands to pay compensation to the relatives of 11 men executed by Dutch soldiers in South Sulawesi in 1946 and 1947, during the 1945-49 Indonesian War of Independence. Ten of theĀ cases under consideration were found to be summary executions;Ā there was one case in which a man was randomly shot. The largest compensation, in the form of intangible damages of ā¬10,000, was awarded to a man who witnessed his father’s summary execution when he was a child. The relatives of other men were awarded material compensation for lost livelihood, varying from ā¬123.48 to ā¬3,634. The court explained that the amounts are low because many of the executed men were farmers who only earned about ā¬100 a year.Ā This judgment follows a series of āIndonesia cases,ā which the Dutch courts have been hearing sinceĀ 2011.
From Jurist, March 27. Used with permission.
Photo: KITLV
Dutch apology to Indonesia for wartime atrocities
The Netherlandsā Prime Minister Mark Rutte has apologized to Indonesia after a study found the Dutch army used “systematic and extreme violence”Ā in a vain attempt to regain control of its former colony at the end of World War II. (Al Jazeera)