Yusril urged to apologize to Dutch
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
An expert on international relations urged Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra on Thursday to officially apologize to the Dutch over his recent statement expressing his antipathy for the nation.
Bantarto Bandoro of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said it was inappropriate for a minister to express his or her personal sentiments against other countries or their citizens.
"In diplomatic relations, words expressing antipathy are not appropriate for ministers who represent the state administration. To prevent a possible rift in our bilateral relationship, Yusril himself has to give an explanation and offer an apology to the Dutch," Bantarto said.
Yusril has come under fire following his interview with the Jakarta-based correspondent of a Dutch television station who questioned the minister's plan to revise the Criminal Code (KUHP) from the human rights point of view.
Yusril responded by saying "the Netherlands always criticizes Indonesia for its human rights record. But how many Indonesian people were killed by the Dutch when they were in this country. Capt. Westerling killed thousands of Indonesian people in Sulawesi, but the massacre was never investigated. I hate them".
The statement sparked strong reaction in the Dutch parliament and prompted the ruling party, VVD, which is a coalition partner of the Christian Democratic Party (CDA), to urge the government to sever diplomatic ties with Indonesia and to recall its ambassador from Jakarta.
Yusril said on Thursday that he was ready to clarify his statement and even challenged the Dutch Embassy to an open debate "to give some understanding to the young generation of the Dutch and their brutality toward the Indonesian people".
He also warned the Netherlands administration against intervening in Indonesia's internal affairs.
"Why do the Dutch intervene so much in our internal problems, including the plan to revise our Criminal Code. Do they think that this country is still their colony?," Yusril asked reporters on the sidelines of a human rights seminar held by his ministry.
Earlier, foreign affairs minister Hassan Wirayuda said that Jakarta was ready to clarify Yusril's statement, saying that there was probably some misinterpretation within the Dutch parliament and among Dutch citizens over the remark.
Speaking on the sidelines of the newly concluded ASEAN Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali on Wednesday, Hassan asked the Dutch parliament not to react strongly because "Pak Yusril had not meant to say he was anti-Dutch but anti-injustice".
"We will clarify it," Hassan said, adding that such clarification would hopefully end the dispute.
Under the administration of former president Soeharto, relations between the two countries had been tested following Soeharto's rejection of aid from Dutch-sponsored donor countries under the Inter-Governmental Group on Indonesia (IGGI) in 1992 for what he claimed was the Netherlands interference in Indonesia's internal affairs.
The donor countries later on agreed to set up the Consultative Group for Indonesia (CGI) to replace the IGGI.