Ben Schoenmaker News Today

The suffering caused by the bombing of Nijmegen on February 22, 1944, was not discussed for decades because it was carried out by a friendly nation. The government also failed to recognize it for a long time. This was stated by outgoing State Secretary Maarten van Ooijen (Public Health, Welfare, Sports) on Thursday in Nijmegen at the 80th commemoration of the city bombing.

Last week researchers in the Netherlands and Indonesia finally laid out the ways in which the Dutch state both condoned and concealed its systematic use of “extreme violence” during the Indonesian war of independence. In response, the Dutch prime minister apologised. But the findings focus on laying out the facts and skirt any issues of criminal responsibility.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte apologises after study shatters long-held belief that cases of violence were isolated.

AMSTERDAM: The Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte offered a full apology to Indonesia on Thursday after a review...

Prime Minister Mark Rutte apologizes after study by Dutch and Indonesian researchers shatters long-held belief that there were only isolated cases of

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Thursday offered a full apology to Indonesia after a historical review found that the Netherlands had used “excessive violence” in a vain attempt to regain control of their former colony after World War II. Rutte was addressing the study’s findings, which said that the Dutch military had engaged in systematic, excessive and unethical violence during Indonesia’s 1945-1949 struggle for independence, highlighting that this had been condoned by the Dutch g...

Dutch apologise for violence in Indonesian War of Independence