The Netherlands is planning to close the net on old genocide suspects. On Thursday the Dutch parliament approved a bill that will extend the time limit for detecting and prosecuting genocide.

The bill - which will now go to the Senate – makes it easier for the Netherlands to tackle genocide and war crimes suspects retroactively and work more closely with international criminal courts. The bill stipulates that cases dating as far back as 1966 can be dealt with.

Under current law, the Netherlands can only prosecute foreigners suspected of international crimes - including genocide - if the crimes were committed after 1 October 2003. So hundreds of foreigners accused of serious atrocities have come to the Netherlands in the belief that they are in no danger of legal action. It has given the Netherlands the image of being a safe haven for such people.

Unacceptable immunity
Up to now, prosecution has only been possible if the crime of genocide was committed by or against a Dutch citizen. This means that in the case of the massacres in Rwanda (1994), Srebrenica (1995) and Cambodia (1975-79), Dutch prosecutors are not able to bring a charge of genocide, the most serious crime under international law.

Instead, they are forced to submit alternative charges of war crimes or torture, like in the recent trial of Rwandan asylum seeker Joseph Mpambara. The Dutch district court in The Hague sentenced him to life imprisonment in July for war crimes during the genocide.

When former Minister for Justice Ernst Hirsch Ballin proposed the amendments, he said:

"It is unacceptable that a person who is otherwise guilty of genocide is immune from prosecution, because the Netherlands, before the time of the crime, had no jurisdiction. This is an undesirable signal to victims and their families."

More old criminal cases
However, he stressed that he would be cautious in granting retroactive effect. Under the new law, an accused person who is on Dutch territory - including suspects who are transiting via Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport - can be arrested.

The new measure comes as Dutch prosecutors and the special investigation team on international crimes expect more old criminal cases in the coming years. The majority of these cases deal with refugees suspected of international crimes, such as the Rwandan massacres, the wars in Afghanistan between 1978-1992 and, in particular, the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.

More international cooperation
The new bill also regulates the extradition of genocide and war crimes suspects to other countries and international courts and allows Dutch courts to take over cases from international criminal tribunals.

International courts don’t have unlimited capacity to prosecute suspects of international crimes and justice. Because of their limited mandate and temporary nature, they focus primarily on high-level suspects. One major consequence of the new genocide law is that persons suspected of lesser crimes can now be left or transferred to the Dutch authorities.

(hs)