Netherlands Apologizes for 1947 Indonesia Massacre
ASIA NEWS
DECEMBER 9, 2011, 2:43 A.M. ET
Associated Press
RAWAGEDE, Indonesia – After six decades of waiting, relatives of men
killed in a notorious massacre during Indonesia’s bitter struggle for
independence finally got what they wanted: an official apology from
the Dutch state.
Tjeerd de Zwaan, ambassador to Indonesia, made the announcement before
hundreds of villagers in Rawagede, scene of the Dec. 9, 1947, killings
of up to 430 boys and young men by Dutch troops.
The crowd, tense with emotion, erupted in cheers and applause.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Tjeerd de Zwaan, left, and claimants’
lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld, center, joined widows of Rawagede massacre
victims after the Dutch envoy offered a formal apology on behalf of
the Dutch government during a ceremony at the war memorial in the town
of Rawagede, in West Java province on Friday. The Dutch government
formally apologized to Indonesia for the Dutch army’s 1947 executions.
Tears rolled down the cheeks of surviving widows, now in their late
80s and early 90s, some of whom had started to doubt they would ever
hear those words.
“It makes me feel my struggle for justice was not useless,” said Cawi
binti Baisa, who was 20 when her husband of two years headed to the
rice paddy in the morning, never to return.
Dutch troops clinging to their retreating colonial empire arrived in
Rawagede just before dawn 64 years ago and opened fire, sending sleepy
residents scattering from their homes in panic.
The soldiers were looking for resistance leader Lukas Kustario, known
for ambushing Dutch bases. When villagers said they didn’t know where
he was, nearly all the men were rounded up and taken to the fields.
Squatting in rows, with both hands placed on the backs of their heads,
they were shot one by one.
The apology – more than six decades later – followed a landmark ruling by
a Dutch court in September that said the state was responsible for the
massacre.
Associated Press
A student looked at the memorial wall up at the heroes’ cemetery in
Rawagede, West Java, Indonesia, in September.
It also agreed to pay 20,000 ($27,000) to each of the 10 plaintiffs,
three of whom have since died, said their lawyer, Liesbeth Zegveld.
But it wasn’t immediately clear when or how funds would be distributed.
The presence of the ambassador at the annual commemoration held at
Rawagede Hero Cemetery – where many of the victims were buried in a mass
grave – caused a huge, emotional stir.
Big white tents were erected to provide relief from the blazing tropical sun.
“Today, December 9,” the ambassador began, “we remember the members of
your families and those of your fellow villagers who died 64 years ago
through the actions of the Dutch military.
“On behalf of the Dutch government, I apologize for the tragedy that
took place.”
Several women involved in the case said that was much more important
than whatever money they eventually get. What they most wanted was
closure.
Wanti binti Sariman was nine months pregnant with her second child
when her 26-year-old husband, Tarman, was taken to a field with around
60 other men.
She later found his body in the last of three rows of corpses.
“I was so shocked to see him lying there with the other men,” she
said. “It had been raining. Their blood was mixed with the water,
creating red pools all around them.
“I can’t get that image out of my head,” she said. “I still have
nightmares about it.”
Some men managed to escape, hiding in the swamps and plantations, she
said. But they were eventually chased down by dogs and shot.
“It was horrific. But I’ve come to accept it. That was our destiny,”
the widow said as she wiped away her tears. “And of course, we have to
forgive the troops who killed our men.”
The other women around her nodded.
“It’s true,” said Lasmi binti Kasilan, who lost her baby after her
seventh month of pregnancy when she learned of her husband’s death.
“We never wanted vengeance. We wanted an apology and compensation, and
in the end, we got it.”
The Dutch government has never prosecuted any soldiers for the
massacre, despite a United Nations report condemning the attack as
“deliberate and ruthless” as early as 1948.
A 1968 Dutch report acknowledged “violent excesses” in Indonesia but
argued that Dutch troops were carrying out a “police action” often
incited by guerrilla warfare and terror attacks.
Former Foreign Minister Ben Bot expressed deep regret for offenses by
Dutch forces throughout Indonesia in 1947, but the government had
never before formally apologized to relatives in Rawagede.