Nieuws van de afdeling

25 May 2007

Will war criminals be despatched to The Hague more speedily?

The new Serbian government will do all in its power to bring Serb war crime suspects Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic before the International Court in The Hague, according to an undertaking made by Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) at a meeting in Belgrade. Serbia will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of Europe for the coming six months.

23 May 2007

Open letter to Defence Minister: Ban the clusterbomb

In an open letter, representatives of political parties and NGOs have called on Defence Minister Eimert Van Middelkoop to work towards a world-wide ban on all forms of cluster munition, with the Netherlands taking a lead. This week in the Peruvian capital of Lima an international conference is taking place the goal of which is to bring such a ban closer. SP Member of Parliament Krista van Velzen took the initiative in calling for a ban and is participating in the official Netherlands delegation along with representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence.

22 May 2007

Stop water privatisation

Speech delivered by Harry van Bommel (MP) at the International Civil Society Forum “Stop water privatisation – Alternatives to the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) in The Hague, Tuesday May 22nd 2007

20 May 2007

Words and action at the 'Top van Onderop', Amsterdam's alternative summit

"Please, stand up": with a wave of her hand American peace activist Cindy Sheehan underlined her request to people attending the closing debate of the 'Top van Onderop' – literally, 'Summit from Below' to stand up. "Okay, now you can sit down again," she said after a few moments. "See how easy it is to get out of your chair? Stand up! We need to do that more often."

18 May 2007

SP Development Spokesman: ‘Wolfowitz Successor at World Bank Should Not Automatically Be An American’

Development Minister Bert Koenders should tear up the longstanding gentleman's agreement that specifies that the President of the World Bank should be an American, argues SP Member of Parliament and Development spokesman Ewout Irrgang in reaction to the resignation of Paul Wolfowitz.

17 May 2007

SP Member of Parliament goes to Peru to present case for ban on cluster bombs

SP Member of Parliament Krista van Velzen will form part of an official delegation from the Netherlands which will participate in an international conference on clusterbombs to take place next week in Peru. The aim of the gathering is to help bring closer an international ban on these weapons. In addition to Van Velzen, the delegation will include representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence. “It’s high time that the Netherlands took steps itself and announced that our armed forces would no longer use this sort of munition,” Van Velzen says.

International