Delayed justice

A Dutch court has ordered the Netherlands to pay compensation to seven widows and one survivor of an infamous 1947 massacre in an Indonesian village during the southeast Asian nation's war for independence from its colonial rulers.

"The court finds that the state acted wrongly through these executions and that the state is liable to pay damages in terms of the law," said Judge Daphne Schreuder.

In 1947, Dutch troops massacred scores of people as they combed through the village of Rawagedeh, now called Balongsari, in search of a single independence fighter. While the Netherlands put the number of dead at 150, victims associations say 431 is a more realistic number.

The Dutch government has admitted in the past that executions took place and expressed "deep regret" over the conduct of some troops during the conflict. None of the soldiers involved have been prosecuted, and the Dutch government argued that the case was not valid due to the statute of limitations.

No statute of limitations

The three-judge bench at a civil court in The Hague, however, called the government's argument "unacceptable" because the case was "highly unusual" and had "no precedent."

The victims' legal representation said the state had been "rapped over the knuckles" by the judgment.

"Justice has been done," said plaintiff lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld. "This means that the state can't just sit in silence for 60 years waiting for the case to go away or the plaintiffs to die and then appeal to the statute of limitations."

Bert-Jan Houtzagers, a lawyer for the Dutch government, expressed surprise at the court's ruling and said he and his client would have to study the 17-page judgment before deciding whether or not to appeal.

"We will look at it first before making any statements," said Houtzagers.

Author: Spencer Kimball (AFP, AP)
Editor: Martin Kuebler