Experts criticise Dutch government: Netherlands doing too little against violence in Gaza
image: Emad El Byed via Unsplash
Leading experts claim the Dutch government is doing too little about the situation in Gaza, even pointing to a violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Larissa van den Herik, Professor of International Law, comments on the topic in RTL News and BNR Radio.
The Genocide Convention states that contracting parties have an obligation to undertake efforts to prevent genocide. According to some experts, the Netherlands is currently breaching this obligation. Though Van den Herik does not go that far, she does argue that the Netherlands should take the obligation under the Genocide Convention seriously and that the Dutch state should at least explicitly recognise the risk of genocide, and thus also the legal obligation to do what it can to contribute to the prevention of genocide. 'This obligation means that the government must properly explain which concrete and serious measures will be taken. These measures must be appropriate in view of the extremely serious and urgent situation. Of course, the question also arises why certain proposed measures, such as sanctions, were not taken a long time ago.'
In the BNR Radio interview, Van den Herik says that terminology is very important in this situation. Speaking of violations of international humanitarian law, as the Dutch government does, implies that the people of Gaza are an ancillary victim of excessive acts of war. When the terms genocide and crimes against humanity are used, this indicates that what is happening in Gaza is an actual frontal and direct, targeted attack on a civilian population. 'That's clearly a different narrative.'
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All media items are in Dutch.