Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin has submitted a bill to parliament which will make it possible to bring genocide or war crimes charges against foreigners in the Netherlands for crimes committed in other countries.

Foreigners in the Netherlands can already be prosecuted for war crimes and genocide committed after 1 October 2003. However, for crimes before that date charges can only be brought if the perpetrator or victim has Dutch citizenship. The new law will make it possible to prosecute foreign war criminals for crimes of genocide committed after 1966, the year in which the Dutch Genocide Convention Implementation Act came into force.

Under the new legislation it will be possible to prosecute foreigners in the Netherlands for crimes committed during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, and also for war crimes during the civil war in the former Yugoslavia or the wars in Afghanistan.

Mr Hirsch Ballin’s bill also calls for increased cooperation with international courts such as the International Criminal Court and the Yugoslavia Tribunal, both in The Hague. The minister thinks Dutch prosecutors should be able to take over cases from these courts.