Dutch considering international appeal on Suriname as mass killings mount – 11 December 1986
CIA-RDP91B00874R000200200008-1
[TEMPO 3122506 34513012Z FRP EA DESK]
08/13/13
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STATE
86 3122506 SSO PAGE 001
TOR: 110600Z DEC 86
NC 3122506
THE HA 09326
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
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INFO RUEHCR/AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO IMMEDIATE 1040
RUFHLD/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 3646
RUFHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 3524
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E.O. 12356: DECL: OADR
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PINS, NS, NL, PTER
SUBJECT: DUTCH CONSIDERING INTERNATIONAL APPEAL ON SURINAME AS MASS KILLINGS MOUNT
SUMMARY:
- SECRET – ENTIRE TEXT.
- The Dutch have received reports from high-level sources that the Surinamese Army has killed “hundreds” of Bush Negroes in eastern Suriname. The Embassy has been informed in strictest confidence that the GON is considering trying to organize a multi-country approach to the UNSYG and other international bodies to use their influence to stop the killing. The Dutch are also likely to press friendly governments not to ship arms to Bouterse. (Protect our knowledge of these possible initiatives as even Dutch embassies are not yet informed.)
In the present situation, the Dutch consider the safety of civilian members of the GOS and members of the former political parties to be at risk, and are also increasingly concerned for the safety of Dutch nationals in Suriname.
DUTCH EYE INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO SURINAME KILLINGS:
- Dutch MFA contacts (strictly protect) told us December 8 that the Dutch Ambassador in Paramaribo, acting on instructions from The Hague, went to see Prime Minister Radhakishun the previous day to register the GON’s concern over the reported killing on or around November 29 of eighteen Bush Negroes near the village of Moengo Tapoe. During the meeting, Radhakishun informed Ambassador Van Houten that “hundreds” of Bush Negroes had been killed by units of the regular army, including at least 180 in the vicinity of Galibi (a village at the mouth of the Marowijne River). There were other deaths at or near Moengo, Stolkertsijver, and Zanderij Airport. According to our contacts, “another minister” of the GOS had imparted similar information to the Dutch Ambassador.
Having already seen videotape of corpses piled in the back of a truck brought out of eastern Suriname by Dutch reporters, MFA officials see “no reason” to doubt the veracity of these latest reports. (Embassy has obtained copies of these photos from press sources and pounced them to ARA-DAS Holwill.)
- Radhakishun and the other minister are reportedly in fear of their lives and dare not speak out publicly. The Dutch Ambassador has reported that there is a “serious risk” to civilian members of the Suriname government and members of the former political parties. In this connection, Foreign Minister Herrenberg supposedly asked a member of the NPS party if he would be willing to take over the party after the “decease” of current leader Henk Arron.
- The Dutch Ambassador has warned The Hague that public statements, given the current atmosphere, may heighten the risk to Surinamese political figures and Dutch nationals. Nevertheless, our contacts expect that, during December 10 parliamentary debate, Foreign Minister Van den Broek will speak of GON plans to generate wider international concern over the situation in Suriname.
- While the minister will not disclose specific details in public, MFA contacts have alerted us in strictest confidence that the GON has tentatively decided to ask the U.S., Brazil, Venezuela, France, and the U.K. to join the Netherlands in making a multi-country approach to the UNSYG to use his good offices to exert a restraining influence on the government of Suriname to stop mass killing and to comply with international treaties, such as the Geneva Convention on warfare.
- Same countries will join the Dutch in making similar appeals for intercession with Suriname to such bodies as the OAS, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, and the UNHRC. These countries would also be asked, on a bilateral basis, to exert whatever influence they have with the authorities in Paramaribo to stop what Dutch MFA officials consider “a campaign of terror” against the population of eastern Suriname.
- In addition, the Dutch are likely to approach friendly governments to encourage them not to ship arms to the Bouterse regime, and to check carefully to see whether private firms may be doing so. (The Dutch have received reports that a German firm recently delivered a helicopter to the Surinamese Army.)
- Our MFA contacts say that weighing heavily on Van den Broek’s mind is the fate of 6,000 potential Dutch “hostages” in Suriname. In response to questions from a television reporter on December 8, the minister confirmed that:
“Yes, there is an evacuation plan, but not just for Suriname. It is a normal practice to have an evacuation plan. It is also customary not to make announcements regarding details… Most Dutchmen live in and around Paramaribo—about 3,500—but 2,000 to 2,500 are spread out. They are quite a few fellow-countrymen. The interests of these fellow-countrymen play a very important role in our position and our behavior. That is why we have emergency plans.”
- The Dutch told us later the MFA is receiving “hundreds” of phone calls from citizens who have relatives and friends in Suriname following Van den Broek’s remarks. They noted that any public reference to a possible evacuation, no matter how circumspect, was bound to attract much attention in the Netherlands, given the existence of so many Dutch nationals in Suriname.
- Van den Broek also said publicly that the MFA has decided to reinforce the staff of its consulate in Cayenne, French Guiana, in anticipation of the possible arrival there of Dutch refugees from Suriname. Our contacts told us privately that this will mean sending a professional diplomat to Cayenne, as Dutch representation in French Guiana is currently limited to an honorary consul who is a French national. Barring complications with the French, they expect the diplomat to take up duties in Cayenne within a week. Our contacts said the French had informed them there are already 7,000–8,000 Surinamese refugees in French Guiana, with more arriving every day.
- Contacts also told us the minister has instructed the Dutch Embassy in Washington, which receives and relays all communications from the Dutch Embassy in Paramaribo, to maintain a twenty-four hour alert during the current crisis.
- On December 8, Minister of Development Cooperation Bukman met with the parliamentary committee on development cooperation to discuss the situation in eastern Suriname and Dutch plans for channeling emergency humanitarian assistance there. The session was held behind closed doors, since contacts between private organizations and the French government were discussed. We understand that the GON is in “daily contact” with the French authorities and is “pleased” with both the cooperation the French have shown Dutch NGOs and the relief efforts of the French themselves.
- Our MFA interlocutors privately described the MPs who attended the session as being “extremely anxious” to have Minister Bukman’s latest evaluation of the situation in eastern Suriname. Parliamentarians of all parties were enthusiastic to the point of offering Bukman a “blank check” to spend whatever was needed to help refugees and inhabitants of eastern Suriname who still remain. The Dutch press reported that the spokesmen from all three major parties were pleased with Van den Broek’s sharp condemnation of recent events in Suriname (Van den Broek labelled the killings “bestial”). The spokesman of the opposition labor party (PVDA) on Suriname, however, insisted that the GON should go even further. “The time to press Bouterse for moderation is over,” said PVDA MP Henk Knol. “Anyone who thinks a dialogue can still produce something is naive. The government must now demand Bouterse’s resignation,” Knol told the press.
- Other MPs, including liberal party (VVD) spokesman Weisglas, argued the GON must protest against governments which intend to sell arms to the Bouterse regime and called for the government to raise the human rights violations of the GOS with international organizations, including the OAS and the UNHRC. Our MFA contacts told us later that they hoped the Director General of the UNHRC can be persuaded by the Dutch démarche to instruct Amos Wako, Special Rapporteur on summary and arbitrary executions, to investigate recent events in Suriname. Wako, they pointed out, has been to Suriname on several occasions, most recently in 1984, when he gathered a report on human rights violations in Suriname that was presented to the UNHRC in March 1985.
END OF MESSAGE
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CIA-RDP91B00874R000200200008-1
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Date:
December 11, 1986
