Brussels, 10/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - While an amendment to the Amnesty Law was voted through by Surinam's National Assembly on Saturday 7 April to guarantee immunity for President Desi Bouterse, the European Union noted the vote that the Netherlands, the former colonial power, condemned with the utmost vigour.
The spokesman for EU High Representative Catherine Ashton states in a press release that: “This amendment will have an important impact on the ongoing judicial process concerning human rights violations committed in the 1980's, including the murder of political opponents on December 8, 1982. It is important that all Surinamese, public authorities and citizens, regardless of political affiliation, join together and work to consolidate the ongoing healing and reconciliation process in the country. Reconciliation and justice go hand in hand, and should be ensured within the framework of the basic principles of the separation of powers and the respect of Suriname's international commitments”. Uri Rosenthal, Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, was blunt and straight to the point, saying: “When a president, suspect of murder in a trial, and his party, push through a law that shields him from prosecutions, he abuses the victims, obstructs justice, perverts the rule of law according to international standards, and stains the reputation of his country in the eyes of the world community.” (AN/transl.jl)