© Radio Netherlands Worldwide
A new, comprehensive
investigation should be launched into conduct of the Dutch military in the
former Dutch East Indies in the years 1945-1949. This is the conclusion reached
by three Dutch research institutes.
The directors of the Institute for War Documentation
NIOD, the Dutch Institute for Military History and the Royal Netherlands
Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies KITLV, told the Dutch daily
newspaper that it is essential that further investigation take place, because
the controversy over the role the Dutch military played in the region
continues.
The three institutes estimate that a new investigation
would cost 2 to 3 million euros and take about three years to complete. The
directors point out that it would be essential that Indonesian historians and
researchers be consulted.
Last year, the Netherlands formally apologised and
paid damages for the Rawagede massacre, in which the entire male population of
that village, 431 people, were murdered by Dutch soldiers. Last month, a group
of Indonesian families began proceedings to hold the Netherlands responsible
for another bloodbath in South Sulawesi.
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