Dutch Army
 Dutch Army     | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Headquarters | Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Leader | Martin Wijnen |
| Type | 40px Army |
| Staff | 22,850 |
The Royal Netherlands Army is the main land force of the Netherlands. It has participated in the Napoleonic Wars, World War II, the Indonesian War of Independence, the Korean War and served with NATO on the Cold War frontiers in West Germany, the Iraq War, War in Afghanistan, as well as deployed in several United Nations' peacekeeping missions in Lebanon, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Mali. The Dutch was attributed or have been implicated in war crimes in Indonesia and Yugoslavia.
Contents
Yugoslavia
| Intro into Srebenica |
The Dutch claimed after the end of the war that air support "was just too difficult to get" and that whatever happened was inevitable. The Dutch did not admit any genocide to have taken place. And denied there was any conspiracy. This closed the case until investigative program Argos revealed the US, UK and France and Bosnia had already agreed on no air-strikes and agreed the area could not be saved, but did not inform Dutch Minister of Defence Joris Voorhoeve or Bosnian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Sacirbey. Several scholars have concluded the Dutchbat-units even had a unfavourable opinion of Muslims in general which may have contributed to their effiency.
Janja Beč-Neumann, Serbian sociologist, genocide researcher concluded the Dutchbat unit had actively comitted[1] genocide by helping Mladic separating the men and boys from their families, standing and not doing anything while Serbians raped Muslim girls in front of their eyes.[2] In 2006 Dutch government awarded the Dutch UN peacekeepers who served in Srebrenica an insignia because they believed they "deserved recognition for their behaviour in difficult circumstances". In a judgement dated 6 September 2013, The Supreme Court of the Netherlands found the Netherlands as a state responsible for the death of the 350 of the murdered men.[3]
After reports Dutch F-16s were also responsible for the failed bombing of the RTS TV-station on April 23 1999 during the war of Yugoslavia, The Dutch Union of Lawyers for Peace, several Dutch activists, the legal defence of Slobodan Milošević and a Dutch-Serbian Human rights group sued the government of Wim Kok and Foreign Affairs minister Jozias van Aarsen for the attacks in 2001.[4][5] The Dutch Court of Appeal in Amsterdam concluded the Dutch government (and by implication NATO) should've not used "United Nations Security Council Resolution 474 to justify the use of military force against Yugoslavia" and decided the government had violated international law by using force.
| "The truth matters not just to the players but to the victims and their relatives, it's there somewhere in the files in the hay and government offices around the world but national governments have fought to ensure the truth can never be known by blacking out key evidence presented to the court and insisting key documents remain secret." - BBC 2009. |
An Office Holder on Wikispooks
| Name | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Peter R. de Vries | 1976 | 1977 |
Related Quotations
| Page | Quote | Author | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan Peter Balkenende | “I don't get why you are so annoying and negative about this. Let's be happy together! Let's say: The Dutch are finally able to do this again, that VOC-mentality, looking beyond borders, dynamic! Right?!” | Jan Peter Balkenende | |
| Joris Voorhoeve | “The British commander took a vacation. Later I asked that general why actually. It was decided, he said. It was clear that Ratko Mladic had the impression that the UN posed no threat to him.” | Joris Voorhoeve | 20 January 2021 |
Employee on Wikispooks
| Employee | Job | Appointed | End | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karst Roeland Tates | Unknown job position | 1990 | 1990 | The Dutch Army refused to comment on him after acknowledging he was employed by them. |
Event Witnessed
| Event | Location(s) |
|---|---|
| Srebrenica Massacre | Srebrenica Massacre Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Alumni on Wikispooks
| Person | Born | Nationality | Summary | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rob Bertholee | 7 August 1955 | Netherlands | Spook Solider | Former Director General of the AIVD. |
| André Steur | 1970 | Netherlands | Soldier Solider War criminal? | Dutch Director of Plans & Major General of the Dutch Air Force. Connected to 2015 Hawija bombing. |
References
- ↑ http://www.groene.nl/2009/43/Janja_Bec-Neumann_over_de_lsquo%3Bracisten_en_lafaardsrsquo%3B_van_Dutchbat
- ↑ http://www.legal-tools.org/en/doc/ca1e99/
- ↑ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40417019
- ↑ https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/kok-medeplichtig-aan-navo-bombardement~bc48a8cf/
- ↑ http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg-pr010204.htm
