International

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel has spoken out against the condemning to death of a journalist in Afghanistan. The journalist in question had downloaded material from the Internet on the position of women in Islamic societies. "The Netherlands should make cooperation with Afghanistan dependent on whether the country is prepared to respect human rights," said the SP's and foreign affairs spokesman.

“We should not be helping build a society which is taking huge steps backwards when it comes to human rights, instead of embracing modernity and recognising that human rights are universal. The Netherlands has given substantial financial aid to Afghanistan, but this hardly seems in any way to have been earned."

Van Bommel is urging Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen to call the Afghan ambassador for immediate talks on this problem.