The Netherlands benefits from its reputation as open-minded, fair and just. This image rests partly on the existence in The Hague of many international courts.  The most powerful of these is the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is currently investigating Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan regime for crimes aganst humanity.

By Richard Walker

Countries and people in search of justice on any number of serious points of international law come to the Netherlands to get it. Might the Netherlands’ image as a haven of international justice be damaged by the Dutch military illegally landing a helicopter on Libyan soil?

No connection

The ICC refuses to comment on political issues but did tell RNW that they did not feel there would be a negative connection made between them and the Dutch helicopter mission which broke international law. The ICC and the Netherlands are not connected, they say.

Jair van der Lijn, Peace Operations expert at the Dutch Clingendael Institute for International Relations told the International Justice Desk that the image of The Hague as the capital of justice is important, but not damaged by this incident:

"The Hague... surely gives a boost to the image of the Netherlands... but I wonder if there is a connection to protecting your own citizens and that (image) being damaged".

Right now the Dutch Parliament is conducting a rigorous political post-mortem on the operation, with opposition parties calling the failed mission "an embarrassment".

Cycling through a red light

Clingendael's Jair van der Lijn points out that incursions like the one made by the Dutch helicopter are common and that many countries conducted similar rescue operations in Libya. It is a question of perspective, he says:
  
"There is law and there is law... in the Netherlands there is a difference between committing murder and cycling through a red light... it would be very strange if next time somebody commits a murder he refers to somebody cycling through a red light and says 'well he wasn't punished, so why should I be punished?".