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News 2009

30 December 2009

Automated body scan is answer to flight safety

“The introduction of the automated body scan would be a good way to make flights safer," says SP Member of Parliament Ronald van Raak. “With a bodyscan which can be performed by computer, you can take people's privacy right out of the issue. Only when the computer alarm goes off would it be necessary for a security person to take a look, which seems to me acceptable. Safety must be the priority."

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24 December 2009

YOU and I are WE!

SP XVIth National Congress, January 2010: Proposed Closing Statement

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23 December 2009

SP demands immediate information when civilians fall victim to Dutch arms

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel has asked Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop to ensure that he is informed immediately of any civilian victims of Dutch military activities in Afghanistan. Van Bommel’s demand follows revelations by national public television channel RTL, which used a request under the WOB, the Dutch equivalent of a freedom of information act, to obtain information which SP Members of Parliament have repeatedly requested. Van Bommel is also trying to find out if financial compensation paid to victims’ families compares with that paid out by other combatant nations.

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21 December 2009

Spy-flights over Venezuela from Curaçao: SP demands answers

SP Member of Parliament and foreign affairs specialist Harry van Bommel is demanding an explanation from Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen regarding American espionage flights over Venezuela. The flights have for the last few weeks been taking off from the airfield at Hato in Curaçao, an island in the Dutch Antilles which remains under Dutch sovereignty. A Boeing RC-135 aircraft has flown daily missions into Venezuelan airspace. This has provoked the anger of the Venezuelan government, which accuses the Netherlands of contributing to existing military tensions between Colombia and Venezuela. “The Netherlands must dispel tension with Venezuela and promise that we will in no sense give our approval for any threats or sabre rattling.”

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21 December 2009

By withdrawing, the Netherlands would be supporting Afghanistan

US President Barak Obama has elected to greatly increase troop strength, step up combat and then gradually withdraw from Afghanistan. Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop regards Obama’s failure to talk about an ‘exit strategy’ as a sensible decision. Yet an exit strategy is precisely what is needed in this hopeless war.

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