Group Sues Dutch War Crimes in Rawagede

VIVAnews – This is what happened on December 9, 1947: the Dutch soldiers’ trample entering Rawagede village. The soldiers came to search for a group of rioters. However, what happened was a massacre. As many as 430 settlers died, all were men.

It was raining on that unfortunate day, arousing uncanny atmosphere. Red liquid, water mixed with blood, swamped the village. Women and children—the remaining settlers—buried the bodies with whatever strength and tools they had. The stench of the bodies from shallow graves was in the air for days. It was the cruelest and bloody crime the Dutch had ever committed between 1945 and 1949.

Rawagede is now gone, the name is changed to Balongsari village, in Rawamerta, Karawang. It is situated between Karawang and Bekasi. Sixty four years have passed, but the Rawagede legal case is not completed.

The families of the massacre victims filed a lawsuit at The Hague District Court on Wednesday, December 9, 2009. Represented by Liesbeth Zegveld, the families asked the Netherlands government to acknowledge the cruelty they have committed in Rawagede. They also asked for compensation.

The trial of Rawagede case is not yet complete. On Monday, June 20, 2011 at 9.30am local time, the lawyer is scheduled to read out a pledge or pledooi administratie. “The group of the victims’ families who become witnesses will leave for the Netherlands on Wednesday, June 15, 2011 from Soekarno-Hatta airport,” says the press release of the Committee of Dutch Honorary Debts that VIVAnews received on Tuesday evening, June 14, 2011.

It calls on Indonesian community, especially who are living in European Union countries, to watch the trial this Monday. Especially because the trial will be held a day before the commemoration of the death of Indonesia’s first president Sukarno on June 21, 2011.

The then Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Nikolaos van Dam said his government had conveyed a deep regret over the Rawagede massacre. This was delivered when van Dam visited the 61st commemoration of Rawagede Tragedy at Rawagede Monument, Balongsari village, Rawamerta, Karawang district, West Java on December 9, 2008

“It was estimated that the number of Indonesians who died because of the Dutch’s violence was large. On behalf of the Dutch government, I would like to convey a deep regret over all the sufferings,” said van Dam, who retired as senior diplomat in 2010.

Translated by Indah Lestari