King apologises for violence of wartime
The King of the Netherlands has apologised for ‘‘excessive violence’’ that included massacres and summary executions during the Indonesian war for independence 75 years ago.
Willem-Alexander is making his first official visit as head of state to Indonesia. He expressed his regret for the conduct of the Dutch military during the war, from 1945 to 1949, as he stood beside President Joko Widodo at the Indonesian leader’s official residence, a former colonial building in Bogor, outside Jakarta.
‘‘I would like to express my regret and apologise for excessive violence on the part of the Dutch,’’ he said. ‘‘I do so in the full realisation that the pain and sorrow of the families affected continue to be felt today.’’
Widodo acknowledged the apology, which came as both countries signed an economic partnership agreement covering agriculture, healthcare, coastal protection and the maritime industry. ‘‘We certainly cannot erase our history, but we can learn from the past,’’ he said. ‘‘We try to learn from history to strengthen our commitment to build an equal relationship that respects and benefits each other.’’
After the declaration of an independent Republic of Indonesia in 1945, known as the proklamasi, the Netherlands, with initial support of Britain, tried to use military force to hold on to what was then known as the Dutch East Indies. ‘‘In the years immediately after the proklamasi, a painful separation followed that cost many lives,’’ Willem-Alexander said.
The independence struggle erupted in 1945 two days after Japan’s surrender in World War II, after three years of occupation by the Japanese that weakened the Dutch grip on their colony. At the time, the Dutch monarch was Queen Wilhelmina, WillemAlexander’s great-grandmother, who abdicated in 1948.
Independence leaders Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta were accused of collaborating with the Japanese and conflict quickly broke out against the British army, which was temporarily administering Indonesia under Earl Mountbatten. With British assistance, the Dutch set up a Netherlands Indies Civil Administration in Jakarta in 1946 and the following year stepped up military operations to crush the independence movement.
In 2011 the Dutch acknowledged the massacre of 431 men and boys in the Javanese village of Rawagede and paid compensation of euros 20,000 (NZ$36,000) for each victim. During four years of war, Dutch soldiers carried out summary executions of thousands of Indonesian independence fighters whose widows finally won compensation in 2013.
Between 45,000 and 100,000 Indonesians were killed during the fighting, including more than 25,000 civilians, compared with 5000 Dutch military fatalities.
The atrocities turned world opinion against the Dutch and under pressure from the United States in 1949, Queen Juliana, the new Dutch monarch, formally recognised Indonesian independence.
‘‘It is a hopeful and encouraging sign that countries which were once on opposite sides have been able to grow closer and develop a new relationship based on respect, trust and friendship,’’ the king said. – The Times
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