Ralat: Lupa judul tulisan Peristiwa Pembantaian di Rawagede di pers internasional Akhirnya pers internasional juga memberitakan mengenai peristiwa pembantaian yang dilakukan oleh tentara Belanda di Desa Rawagede pada 9 Desember 1947, di mana pada hari itu, tentara Belanda membantai 431 penduduk laki-laki di atas usia 15 tahun, tanpa proses apapun! Setelah di Belanda pada 24 November 2008 di berbagai media –termasuk beberapa media terkemuka seperti Elsevier, NRC Handelsblad, Volkskrant, Trouw, dll.- diberitakan mengenai penolakan Pemerintah Belanda atas tuntutan kompensasi dari korban selamat terakhir dan 9 janda korban pembantaian di Rawagede, sehari kemudian, pada 25 November 2008, Kantor Berita Internasional, The Associated Press (AP) menurunkan berita mengenai hal ini. Berita dari AP kemudian dikutip dan disebarluaskan oleh berbagai media di berbagai Negara, a.l. USA, Belgia, Malaysia, bahkan di China, yaitu South China Morning Post. Sudah tentu di Indonesia sendiri, berbagai media juga mengutip berita dari AP tersebut, a.l. The Jakarta Post, Tempo-interaktif, Rakyat Merdeka-Online dan sejumlah weblogs. Alasan yang dikemukakan oleh Pemerintah Belanda, bahwa status peristiwa tersebut telah kadaluarsa, atau telah melampaui batas waktu, sangat tidak tepat. Di International Criminal Court – ICC (Pengadilan Kejahatan Internasional) yang berkedudukan di Den Haag, Belanda, berdasarkan Statuta Roma yang menjadi landasan ICC, ada tiga jenis kejahatan yang tidak ada kadaluarsanya, yaitu:
Genocide – Pembantaian etnis, War crimes – Kejahatan perang, Crimes against humanity – Kejahatan atas kemanusiaan. Pembantaian etnis Armenia yang dilakukan oleh Turki tahun 1915, kini dibahas lagi di Eropa. Penjahat perang Jerman dan Jepang, tetap dapat dituntut sampai kapanpun. Yang dilakukan oleh tentara Belanda di berbagai tempat di Indonesia seperti di Sulawesi Selatan (11 Desember 1946 – 21 Februari 1947), Rawagede (9 Desember 1947), Kranggan (Januari - Februari 1949) termasuk kategori kejahatan perang dan kejahatan atas kemanusiaan. Memang di ICC juga tidak berlaku azas retroaktif. Namun seperti yang diberlakukan terhadap penjahat perang di Rwanda (Afrika) yang membantai etnis Tutsi tahun 1994, dan penjahat perang Serbia, yaitu Radovan Karadzic dan Slobodan Milosevic atas pembantaian etnis Bosnia di Srebrenica tahun 1996, dapat diadili di suatu tribunal internasional di Den Haag. Di harian Belanda Trouw edisi 11.12.1993, Kneepkens, Dosen yang memberi kuliah mengenai Hukum di Masa Perang (Law of War) di Universitas Erasmus Rotterdam, Belanda, mengusulkan agar dibentuk tribunal yang terdiri dari pakar-pakar hukum internasional untuk menelitii kejahatan perang yang dilakukan oleh tentara Belanda selama agresi militer di Indonesia antara tahun 1946 – 1949. Nampaknya Pemerintah Belanda juga melupakan bahwa yang telah dilakukan oleh tentara Belanda terhadap penduduk sipil selama agresi militer, jelas melanggar Konvensi Den Haag (The Hague Convention) ke II, 29 Juli 1899, dan Konvensi Den Haag ke IV, 18 Oktober 1907, yang diperkuat oleh Konvensi Jenewa (Geneva Convention) ke IV tahun 1949. Jakarta, 28 Oktober 2008 Batara R Hutagalung Mengenai pembantaian di Rawagede 9 Desember 1947, dapat dibaca di: http://batarahutagalung.blogspot.com/2006/08/pembantaian-di-rawagede-9-desember.html ===================================================== The Associated Press Dutch gov't lawyer says no massacre compensation by Mike Corder The Hague Relatives of victims of a notorious massacre by Dutch troops during Indonesia's war of independence can no longer apply for compensation because the statute of limitations has expired, the government said. One survivor of the Dec. 9, 1947, summary executions in Rawagedeh on Java island and nine female relatives of some of the dozens of men killed are seeking compensation from the Dutch state. Their attorney, Liesbeth Zegveld, said Monday that a government lawyer has written to her saying the case can no longer be heard because it is too old. Zegveld said she was surprised by the ruling. The killings, for which the Dutch government has previously expressed regret, were still being discussed by lawmakers nearly 61 years later. "I am surprised they dare to invoke this," she said of the statute of limitations. "I find it unreasonable." Zegveld said she was pleased the government offered to discuss the case with her clients to help them with their grieving. However, she said she would not rule out taking the case before a Dutch court, despite the government's assertion it is too old. Foreign Ministry spokesman Aad Meijer underscored the government's regret, calling the killings, "one of the worst examples of the painful and violent way the Netherlands and Indonesia separated at the time. It was an execution of a large group of men without any form of trial." Meijer said former Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot made a public statement of deep regret in 2005, after which both the Dutch and Indonesian government agreed that compensation was no longer an issue. "A line was drawn by both countries under this painful part of their shared history," he said. Indonesia declared its independence from Dutch colonial rule when World War II ended in 1945. The Netherlands fought unsuccessfully to try to maintain control of its lucrative Asian outpost and Indonesia was finally recognized as independent in 1949. Meijer said the Dutch ambassador to Indonesia will attend a Dec. 9 memorial service in Rawagedeh, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) east of the capital, Jakarta. It will be the first time such a senior Dutch diplomat has attended the annual memorial event. Pers internasional yang mengutip AP antara lain: International Herald Tribune: http://www.iht.com/indexes/ap/apsectionindex.php?section=europe The Malaysian Insider http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/world/13108-dutch-say-no-to-java-massacre-compensation- USA Today http://content.usatoday.com/topics/article/Places,+Geography/Countries/Indonesia/01vsdu01eCdAj/1 South China Morning Post http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2c913216495213d5df646910cba0a0a0/?vgnextoid=297d532e622dd110VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=teaser&ss=World&s=News HLN Belgia http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/961/Wetenschap/article/detail/506151/2008/11/24/Geen-schadevergoeding-nabestaanden-executies-Java.dhtml http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27891884/ Pers dan weblog Indonesia: The Jakarta Post http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/11/25/dutch-gov039t-lawyer-says-no-massacre-compensation.html Tempo - interaktif http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/nasional/2008/11/25/brk,20081125-147916,id.html http://indosnesos.blogspot.com/2008/11/dutch-govt-lawyer-says-no-massacre.html http://www.pr-inside.com/dutch-gov-t-lawyer-says-no-massacre-r934195.htm