International

SP Member of Parliament Henk van Gerven yesterday met with three Indonesians whose fathers were summarily executed by Dutch soldiers during the armed conflict in the 1940s, when the south-east Asian country was a colony of the Netherlands. ‘These people are asking for the same level of compensation as a number of widows of executed men have received,’ explains Van Gerven. ‘Because of the enormous suffering imposed on them, I support this demand absolutely. The Netherlands has a debt of honour to settle.’

During the colonial war thousands of Indonesians were summarily executed. Some widows have received compensation as a result of the Rawagede case in 2011, while the Netherlands has also given its apologies. The SP played a pioneering role in this. Now, a number of the children of the executed men, all of whom witnessed their fathers’ deaths, are demanding equal treatment and are in the Netherlands as a result of legal proceedings they are taking in pursuit of this demand.

‘These children of the victims are already of a substantial age,’ says Van Gerven. ‘So it’s of the greatest importance that this matter is dealt with swiftly. We mustn’t allow it to get too late for redress.’