16 - 22 May 2002
Issue No.586
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 16 - 22 May 2002 Issue No.586 |
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Dutch NGOs take government to court
Twenty NGOs in the Netherlands are trying to convince their government to stop exporting weapons to Israel. After pressure failed they are now taking their case to the courts, Judit Neurink reports from Amsterdam
It is the first court case of its kind in the history of the Netherlands, says Jan van der Grinten, one of the lawyers involved in a summons to the Dutch State, urging it to ban all export of military goods to Israel. Van der Grinten and his more famous colleague Phon van der Biesen -- known for his defence of left-wing groups and squatters -- were asked by 20 Dutch NGOs and one political party to find ways to end the extensive Dutch export of military goods to Israel and those goods' transit through Dutch air and seaports.
On May 16 Van der Grinten will try to convince the court in The Hague that the Netherlands, under the European criteria for the export of military goods, is not allowed to aid and support an army that violates international treaties, obligations and human right conventions. Using extensive documentation, he states that this European code of conduct is violated in at least five of the eight articles, and possibly even in all. Export licenses cannot be given if the end-user -- Israel in this case -- does not comply with one or more of these criteria. He will present information assembled by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Defence for Children and the Dutch Special Rapporteur for the UN Commission on Human Rights, Professor John Dugard, in his bid to prove that Israel is violating the Geneva Conventions and other humanitarian laws and regulations.
Dutch organisations from all walks of life -- amongst which are numbered mainstream development organisations, religious groups, pacifists, peace groups and a small socialist party -- feel it is clear that Israel does not comply with the EU criteria. Israel's military operations in the occupied Palestinian territories include the killing of Palestinian men, women and children, the NGOs claim. They added that the Israeli state has also sponsored extra-judicial executions, the arbitrary detention and deportation of prisoners, collective punishment and torture. The organisations also protested against the continuation of Israel's settlement policy, the Israeli Defence Force's attacks on hospitals and ambulances and the destruction of homes.
"We, as a peace organisation, cannot accept that the Dutch government is indirectly involved in violating human rights,'' says Marjolein Wijninckx from the Catholic NGO, Pax Christi. "The government says it wants to integrate human rights more broadly into its policy, but we have seen no proof of that yet.''
The Ministry of Economic Affairs, which decides on export licenses, refused last month to comply with all of the demands the lawyers had presented to them. The ministry states that it is already using, "a very restrictive policy towards the export of military goods to Israel.'' But as the European Union could not agree on "a formal weapons embargo,'' the Netherlands is not applying one. Thus, the ministry added, already given licenses will not be pulled back, and the transit of weapons through Schiphol Airport and the Port of Rotterdam will not be stopped.
Candidate-parliamentary Krista Van Velzen from the Socialist Party, the only political party in the procedure, points out, that the Netherlands is rated as the seventh weapons exporting country in the world. She is sure the parliament has been influenced by the big economic gains of the weapon trade in its refusal to support a resolution on an export ban to Israel.
The Netherlands supplies Israel with all kinds of military parts, for instance wheels for armoured military vehicles, components for F-16 fighter jets and millions of clips for ammunition belts. "But also, an embargo sends out a diplomatic signal. Our government is not ready for that, just like it would not call back the Dutch ambassador, whilst some other European countries did,'' Van Velzen said.
For Wijninckx of Pax Christi, the failure of Dutch and European governments to respond to their demand was the main reason -- as the situation in the territories was deteriorating -- to start a juridical procedure. "We have chosen to present the case in a very procedural way, to make sure the judge cannot refuse us on the grounds that this is really a political matter,'' Van Velzen said. That is also why she is very interested in the outcome, as her party is very critical of Dutch weapon exports to countries like Indonesia, India and Pakistan. "And the fact that 21 organisations are behind this procedure is an important signal to the government and the Dutch society.''
The Netherlands is not the only European country under pressure from NGOs to change policies towards Israel. In Norway this resulted in a temporary stop of military imports and exports from and to Israel. Wijninckx is in contact with organisations in other European countries trying to get their government to follow the Norwegian example. This idea is supported on a broad level, by all kind of very different NGOs, she stresses, and not just by some radical, left wing and anti- military groups. It is clear that all these NGOs will be watching the outcome of the upcoming court case in the Netherlands on May 16 with more than normal interest.
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