Netherlands apologizes for war crime in Rawagede, Indonesia

After six decades, the Dutch government begs an apology to Indonesian people for the brutality of Dutch soldiers in the massacre in Rawagede village of West Java and gives financial compensation to the widows of the victims. On Dec. 9, 1947, over 300 Dutch soldiers killed 431 men in the village when they were pursuing a leader of local fighter Captain Lukas Kustario. Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Tjeer de Zwan expressed the apology during a ceremony for the commemoration of the tragedy in the village here, attending by over 300 including the widows of the victims, their children and relatives. "On the behalf of the Duct government I beg an apology for the tragedy that took place in Rawagede on Dec. 9, 1947," Zwan said in his speech at the anniversary. The ambassador admitted that the tragedy had been an example of poor relation of the two countries. "The tragic day for you all, an extreme example of relation between Indonesia and Netherlands, could go so wrong at that time," he said. The ambassador called on both Indonesia and the Netherlands people to focus on future cooperation that would bring more benefit for the two countries. "I hope that by reflecting together what happened at that day we will also be able to turn together to the future with all the opportunities to close to productive cooperation between our two countries," he said. "The tragedy reminds us about the gross human rights violation and war crime happening in Rawagede," District Chief of Karawang Ade Saputra said in his speech. During the commemoration, the attendees paid a visit to the graves of the victims near a memorial stone of the massacre. Indonesia had been colonized by the Netherlands for more than three centuries and had been ruled by Japan for three years and half before the country proclaimed independence on Aug. 17, 1945.