Response to State Secretary Knops’ report to the Dutch Parliament

Dear Editor,

I have taken note of the report of State Secretary Knops to the Dutch Parliament dated May 31, 2018, and hereby wish to state the following in response.

First of all, as has been pointed out on numerous occasions, based on both international law and rulings of the Dutch Supreme Court, the intervention by the Dutch Government in February of this year (as are certain provisions in the “WolBES”, “FinBES”, and “het Statuut”) was and is unlawful and in violation of international treaties to which the Government of the Netherlands is signatory. These include the UN Charter (i.c. chapter IX, article 73) and the resolutions regarding decolonization.

As such, I wish to again state that the Dutch Government is not above international law and that the legal and other consequences of said intervention will be borne by the Dutch State, as was the case with the Dutch Supreme Court’s ruling on the “Women of Srebrenica” case. Ignoring this reality will not absolve the Dutch Government of their (international) responsibilities and obligations, nor make the situation they have placed themselves in due to their intervention go away.

Secondly, I must point out that the backlog in infrastructural and material development on Sint Eustatius as described in the report has always been evident. It is largely the result of gross neglect and the lack of willingness/governing capability over the past decades by both the Dutch Government and the local Democratic Party with which Mr. Knops’ CDA party has formed a formal alliance. This historic fact has been confirmed by a number of reports commissioned by the same Dutch Government, including the “IdeeVersa” and “Spies” reports, and the same report by Mssrs. Franssen and Refunjol which Mr. Knops used as a pretext for his unlawful intervention.

   The fact that the Dutch Government is suddenly willing and able to address these matters and make seemingly resources funds available only now after the unlawful legislation approving regime change was rushed through both of their legislative Houses, is both a glaring self-indictment of failed Dutch Government’s policies, and proof of the hypocrisy and bad faith it has been displaying over the years.

Had the Dutch Government executed the recommendations and engaged in the dialogue which the Government of Sint Eustatius had proposed as recently as March 2017, there would have been no reason to create a false pretext for the unlawful intervention.

Unfortunately, and despite calls from the current, democratically elected, legitimate coalition Government of Sint Eustatius of which I form part since March 2015, the Dutch Government chose to ignore the conclusions of said reports, and refused to address the issues at hand in accordance with its obligations under the UN Charter and the international laws and conventions regarding decolonization.

In the third place, I wish to point out that most of the observations and conclusions in the report are not substantiated by documentation, clearly biased, and not taking into account the efforts and accomplishments of the Government of Sint Eustatius over the past three years. For the sake of due diligence, good governance, and transparency, I would expect Mr. Knops to provide the Dutch Parliament with said substantiation, and the Dutch Parliament to request the same from him in return.

The legitimate Government of Sint Eustatius has presented written legal substantiation for its claim that the (legal basis for the) intervention on Sint Eustatius is a violation of the UN Charter and relevant resolutions. By doing so, it has exposed the lie by Mr. Knops’ predecessor as perpetrated in his letter of July 5th, 2017, namely that the Charter of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is in compliance with the UN Charter.

From the conclusions on pages 237 and 238 of Mr. Hillebrink’s dissertation, it is clear that that was not, and still not is the case. Based on the principle of continuity in/of Government, Mr. Knops is now responsible for his predecessor’s misrepresentation and misleading of the Dutch Parliament, the citizens within the Kingdom, and the world community.

The intervention Mr. Knops initiated and is currently carrying out on Sint Eustatius, and the lacking legal basis under international law for such, are further proof of said deception by his predecessor.

As was the case at the UN in the 1950s, and confirmed by Hillebrink in his dissertation, the Dutch Government is once again resorting to deception tactics in order to present a false image of dignity, honor, and fairness, while circumventing the voices of democracy it says to support and uphold in countries like Venezuela, China and Russia. As was the case with its intervention in the 1940s in Indonesia, however, the attempts of the Dutch Government to stop the free will of the people it colonized will not succeed in Sint Eustatius either.

Based on the above, all other irrefutable evidence that has been presented to Mr. Knops, and the fact that he has not been able to present any evidence to the contrary, I am hereby (again) urging him to immediately end the unlawful occupation of Sint Eustatius, and finalize the decolonization process of Sint Eustatius and the other five Dutch Caribbean islands lawfully and in full accordance and compliance with chapter IX, article 73, of the United Nations Charter. MP Bosman rightfully suggested this in October of 2016, and I trust that he will see to it that his suggestion is carried out.

This will mean amending and/or suspending (elements of) any and all legislation in the Dutch Kingdom that is in violation of international law, starting with the Statuut, as has been suggested by members of the Dutch Senate in June of 2016.

Clyde I. van Putten

Leader, Progressive Labour Party

St. Eustatius