Nieuws van de afdeling

1 December 2015

Investigation into Turkish action needed

Below is the text of a letter sent by SP Member of Parliament and spokesman on foreign affairs Harry van Bommel to the national daily newspaper Trouw.

1 December 2015

Van Bommel: December Murders trial must be resumed

Foto: SP

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel is determined to see the legal action concerning the so-called December Murders in Surinam resumed. In December of 1982, fifteen young men, well-known as active opponents of the then dictator of the former Dutch colony, Dési Bouterse, were tortured and killed following a series of arrests. ‘Since the adoption of the amnesty law these proceedings have been in a sort of legal vacuum,’ says Van Bommel. ‘It needs to be rapidly brought out of that situation, because this kind of serious human rights abuse should not qualify for impunity.’

1 December 2015

Parliament supports SP: more clarity needed on development spending

A majority of MPs today voted to support a proposal from SP Member of Parliament Eric Smaling for more clarity regarding the budget for development policy. ‘International solidarity is high on the SP’s list of priorities,’ says Smaling. ‘For that reason it’s of great importance to us that every euro of development money is spent effectively. I’m delighted that Parliament has supported my call for more transparency.’

28 November 2015

Tiny Kox: "Combating terrorism while protecting Council of Europe standards and values"

Foto: Anna Kolotova | UEL PACE

Introductionary speech Council of Europe current affairs debate.

'Combating terrorism while protecting Council of Europe standards and values'

Tiny Kox, UEL - Sofia, Bulgaria November 27, 2015

130 Innocent people massacred in Paris, 224 passengers and crew of a Russian airliner killed while heading from Sharm-el-Sheik to St. Petersburg, 100 mostly young men and women murdered in peaceful demonstration in Ankara, 43 visitors bombed dead on a market in a suburb of Beirut, 12 people murdered in Tunis by a bus bombing. Meanwhile Brussels turned into a city of fear where normal life almost came to a stand still, a state of emergency was declared in France, and a French request for derogation from certain provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights has been made. All over Europe and the rest of the world people are preparing for new atrocities by the so called Islamic State terrorists who have declared war on the values we here in the Council of Europe call fundamental: democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

28 November 2015

SP leader Emile Roemer concludes XXI SP Congress: ‘In unity we work for a better world’

Foto: SP

‘Today we have concluded a long and extensive discussion within the party. From this will come tasks for the whole of the SP, tasks to make the party even stronger, even broader and even bigger. ‘ So said Emile Roemer at the close of the SP’s 21st Congress.

27 November 2015

Smaling: sustainability and employment must be priorities during climate summit

Foto: International Hydropower Association

Next week, the Climate Summit will take place in Paris. A hundred and eighty countries will discuss measures to mitigate the rise in global temperatures, the aim being to ensure that storms, drought and flood don’t begin to dominate our lives. In order to achieve that, emissions of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, must be greatly reduced. The summit is an excellent opportunity to make progress towards moving from a fossil-fuel based to a sustainable society. The sooner, the better.

International