Close friends for 400 years
By Håkan Emsgård, Ambassador of Sweden to the Netherlands.
2014 is a very special year for me as Swedish Ambassador in the Netherlands. This year we are celebrating 400 years of diplomatic relations between Sweden and the Netherlands. A milestone in the relations between our countries, but also an excellent opportunity to look forward together.
On April 5, 1614 a treaty on defense, trade and shipping was signed between Sweden and the Netherlands. As part of this treaty, it was decided to exchange resident ambassadors, which makes the Netherlands the first country with which Sweden exchanged ambassadors in this way.
Relations between the countries have since then remained close. The extensive trade has linked our counties throughout the centuries. During the Dutch golden age in the 17th century trade with the Baltic region was a main source of wealth and prosperity for the Netherlands. Today, a large part of the Swedish foreign trade passes through the port of Rotterdam. Bilateral trade stands for close to seven billion euro per year. Sweden and the Netherlands rank among each other’s 10 largest export markets.
The celebrations in 2014 will focus on the excellent relationships that exist between our two countries. Rather than looking back, we are focusing on areas of mutual interest and where both countries face similar challenges – in order to shape our common future. Business between our two countries is central in this respect.
For me, there are three sectors that are particularly interesting when it comes to the bilateral relations. One of these sectors is innovation and research, with particular focus on sustainability – both Sweden and the Netherlands ranking high on the Global Competitive Index. What can we do in order to maintain these positions? Secondly, a very interesting sector is the creative industries sector; film, music, fashion, design. And thirdly we focus on public sector challenges, such as healthcare, ageing populations, education, local government, labor market participation. These are all challenges our two societies share and where joint solutions are needed. To learn from each other is a key.
One highlight of the celebration year took place in the beginning of April when the Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia paid an official visit to the Netherlands, accompanied by the Swedish Minister for Trade, Dr. Ewa Björling. This two-day visit was a huge success, and showed also the close relationship between the Royal Families.
In addition to this, I am looking forward to a number of activities, ranging from a Swedish Month in The Hague, focus on Swedish film for a young audience at the international Cinekid festival in Amsterdam, business events in cooperation with the Brabant region and the Royal School of Technology, a digital bridge between The Netherlands and Sweden and much, much more. If you want to know more about the celebration year, please visit www.swe400nl.com
International Criminal Law and International Legal Approaches to Terrorism
Annual Summer Law Programme on International Criminal Law and International Legal Approaches to Terrorism
By Tanya Mehra LL.M., Education Development Manager, T.M.C. Asser Instituut From 2 – 25 June 2014, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut will organise the Eighth Annual Summer Law Programme on International Criminal Law and International Legal Approaches to Terrorism. This Summer Law Program in The Hague is the product of a unique collaboration between the War Crimes Research Office of American University’s’ Washington College of Law and the T.M.C. Asser Instituut. During this program, participants will have the opportunity to explore some of the most critical, legal issues today in The Hague, the legal capital of the world. The course on International Criminal Law will provide a thorough understanding of ICL, from substantive crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes) to the functionings of the international tribunals (ICTY, ICTR, ICC and hybrid tribunals) to the general role of the defence and victims. The course on International Legal Approaches to Terrorism in the 21st Century will cover the salient aspects in the fight against terrorism. From different forms of terrorism (terrorism in the air, terrorism on the sea and terrorism in cyberspace) to applicable law (international humanitarian law, international human rights law) to trying terrorists both domestically and internationally. This year’s speakers include, amongst others: H.E. Judge Fausto Pocar, Judge, ICTY; Mr. Guido Acquaviva, Chef de Cabinet, Office of the President, STL; Ms. Helen Duffy, International Human Rights Lawyer; Ms. Alinda Verhaeg, Head of Case Analysis Unit at Eurojust; H. E. Judge Christine van den Wyngaert, ICC; Mr. Karim Khan, QC, Barrister, Temple Garden Chambers; Prof. dr. Larissa van den Herik, Professor of Public International Law, Leiden University. To complement the lectures, six afternoons will be devoted to study visits to various international courts and institutions in The Hague. Some of the confirmed study visits include: The ICC, the OPCW and the ICTY. These study visits will provide the participants with the chance to discover the structure and functioning of the various institutions and to ask their questions to working professionals on site. 40 students from US law schools will attend this summer law program. An additional 10 seats are available for interested students and young professionals from across the globe. “This has been a great month […] I never would have had access to the sites and lectures that we have had here” Participant in the 2013 Summer Programme on ‘International Criminal Law and International Legal Approaches to Terrorism’ For further information please contact: Charlotte O’Reilly, Project Manager Education & Events T.M.C. Asser Instituut educationtraining@asser.nlThe End of Aid
By Ton Schouten, senior programme officer at IRC, an international think-and-do tank supporting water sanitation and hygiene services for life.
Providing first time access to water and sanitation in developing countries is a matter of aid: fighting extreme poverty. But developing permanent services is a different ball game and it needs to be led by government. More than 30 percent of water systems in Sub-Sahara Africa are not functional. Only around 20 percent of the functioning water systems provide a basic level of service: water of WHO accepted quality, flowing 90 percent of the time and at a reasonable distance from the house. Meaning that 80 percent of the water systems in Africa provide a bad service!
Over the last decades huge progress has been made in constructing water systems. But many of the shiny pumps and pipes break within two to three years. It is like on a conveyer belt: infrastructure gains are undone by losses at the end of the belt.
Non-functionality and break downs of water systems show that something is very fundamentally wrong in the system that delivers water. For decades that system was driven by providing first time access. Now that system needs to provide permanent water services and it can’t. Providing first time access is a matter of aid and fighting extreme poverty; get the pumps and pipes in fast. But developing permanent services is a different ball game and it needs to be led by government. It needs to develop the systems for maintenance of water systems, for support after construction, for spare parts, for repairs and it must plan for replacement. No aid agency can do that. Government should not do that all by itself; communities and private sector are better equipped for doing the job. But government regulates it all, through policy, legislation, guidelines, subsidies to reach the ultra-poor and more.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. That government role is played in the US and in Europe. And that is how it should be. Africa should not be aid dependent for the rest of our times. No country should. And it won’t. Africa has some fast growing economies and stable democracies and some countries are not marked poor anymore but middle income. The public systems (water, health, education) need a lot of improvement, but the trend is irreversibly going in that direction. Experts say that by 2050 Africa will be the China of the world. The aid industry better be ready for that and start shifting the focus of its work from providing first time access to supporting the delivery of permanent services.
Both government and aid must get their act together. Governments should stop leaning and depending on good willing aid organisations. They should show leadership and vision towards the aid industry, stimulate the private sector and be accountable towards their citizens. Aid organisations should also get their act together and stop running around in parallel projects each with their own manuals, technologies, guidelines and philosophies and cooperate with (local) government, challenge it and at the same time align with it.
We in IRC help countries to gradually make that future come true. With respect for all stakeholders, but in the first place boosting government to develop the systems and take the leadership to deliver permanent services to citizens. Aid will stop one day and it should stop one day. Aid organisations should be confident that they have supported the building of water systems when it was desperately needed and can leave the country with the systems in place to provide long term access to water for all.
About IRC
IRC is an international think-and-do tank that works with governments, NGOs, entrepreneurs and people around the world to find long-term solutions to the global crisis in water, sanitation and hygiene services. At the heart of its mission is the aim to move from short-term interventions to sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services. With over 45 years of experience, IRC runs projects in more than 25 countries and large-scale programmes in seven focus countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is supported by a team of over 100 staff across the world.
For more information please visit www.ircwash.org
Non-functionality and break downs of water systems show that something is very fundamentally wrong in the system that delivers water. For decades that system was driven by providing first time access. Now that system needs to provide permanent water services and it can’t. Providing first time access is a matter of aid and fighting extreme poverty; get the pumps and pipes in fast. But developing permanent services is a different ball game and it needs to be led by government. It needs to develop the systems for maintenance of water systems, for support after construction, for spare parts, for repairs and it must plan for replacement. No aid agency can do that. Government should not do that all by itself; communities and private sector are better equipped for doing the job. But government regulates it all, through policy, legislation, guidelines, subsidies to reach the ultra-poor and more.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. That government role is played in the US and in Europe. And that is how it should be. Africa should not be aid dependent for the rest of our times. No country should. And it won’t. Africa has some fast growing economies and stable democracies and some countries are not marked poor anymore but middle income. The public systems (water, health, education) need a lot of improvement, but the trend is irreversibly going in that direction. Experts say that by 2050 Africa will be the China of the world. The aid industry better be ready for that and start shifting the focus of its work from providing first time access to supporting the delivery of permanent services.
Both government and aid must get their act together. Governments should stop leaning and depending on good willing aid organisations. They should show leadership and vision towards the aid industry, stimulate the private sector and be accountable towards their citizens. Aid organisations should also get their act together and stop running around in parallel projects each with their own manuals, technologies, guidelines and philosophies and cooperate with (local) government, challenge it and at the same time align with it.
We in IRC help countries to gradually make that future come true. With respect for all stakeholders, but in the first place boosting government to develop the systems and take the leadership to deliver permanent services to citizens. Aid will stop one day and it should stop one day. Aid organisations should be confident that they have supported the building of water systems when it was desperately needed and can leave the country with the systems in place to provide long term access to water for all.
About IRC
IRC is an international think-and-do tank that works with governments, NGOs, entrepreneurs and people around the world to find long-term solutions to the global crisis in water, sanitation and hygiene services. At the heart of its mission is the aim to move from short-term interventions to sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services. With over 45 years of experience, IRC runs projects in more than 25 countries and large-scale programmes in seven focus countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is supported by a team of over 100 staff across the world.
For more information please visit www.ircwash.org
Slovakia ratifies amendments
Slovakia ratifies amendments to the Rome Statute on the crime of aggression and on article 8 related to war crimes
The President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, Ambassador Tiina Intelmann, observed and warmly welcomed the deposit at the United Nations on 28 April 2014 of the instruments of acceptance of the 2010 amendments to the Rome Statute, by H.E. Mr. Peter Burian, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic.
The 2010 Amendments to the Rome Statute are two sets of amendments that were adopted by consensus at the first Review Conference of the Rome Statute, held in Kampala, Uganda. The first of these amendments pertains to article 8 of the Rome Statute, which characterizes the use of certain weapons during non-international armed conflict as war crimes. The second concerns the provisions for the exercise of jurisdiction of the Court over the crime of aggression. The crime of aggression was initially included in the Rome Statute in 1998 as one of the crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court, while the definition of the crime and the mechanism for the Court’s exercise of jurisdiction were deferred to a Review Conference. The amendments adopted in Kampala, Uganda in 2010 define the crime of aggression and provide for the conditions for the exercise of jurisdiction over this crime. The Court may exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression once thirty States Parties have ratified the amendments, and subject to a decision to be taken after 1 January 2017 by the States Parties. “The deposit of instruments of acceptance by Slovakia brings the number of States that have ratified both amendments to fourteen. The Kampala Amendments, especially on the crime of aggression, strengthen the international legal framework that prohibits the use of force and increases the guarantees of peace and of respect for the territorial integrity of the States Parties to the Rome Statute. I hope that other States Parties from all regions will follow suit,” stated President Intelmann. Slovakia ratified the Rome Statute on 11 April 2002, making it one of the first sixty States to contribute to the entry into force of the Statute, thereby establishing the ICC. Slovakia also ratified the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Court on 26 May 2004. Slovakia has also completed the process of domestic implementation of the Rome Statute through the incorporation of the crimes and general principles contained in the Rome Statute, and of the necessary provisions to ensure effective cooperation with the International Criminal Court.Reintegration of Returning Migrants
‘Opportunities and Challenges’: International Conference on the Reintegration of Returning Migrants
Exploring the opportunities and challenges migrants face in their reintegration process when returning from the Netherlands. That was the main aim of the international conference organized by IOM in The Hague on 3 April 2014, which was part of a three day programme funded by the European Return Fund, with co-funding from the Dutch Repatriation and Departure Service.
The conference was attended by more than 100 representatives from the diplomatic community, the Dutch government, the European Union, civil society, Academia, as well as by IOM missions, government representatives and NGOs from China, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Libya, Mongolia, Morocco, Suriname, Belgium and Switzerland. As IOM the Netherlands in 2013 assisted 50% of its returnees with in-kind reintegration support, the conference dealt specifically with the necessity for in-kind reintegration modalities, including the importance of professional pre-departure and post-arrival counselling, and the advantages related to delivering it.
On 2 April IOM organized field visits for the participants from the counties of origin. During these visits potential returnees in various parts of the Netherlands received first-hand information about return and reintegration options. On the day after the Conference, 4 April, delegations of the countries of origin met with their diplomatic representations in the Netherlands and Dutch government officials for further bilateral discussions.
The programme supported the need to evaluate the impact of reintegration assistance provided under Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) projects, as well as to strengthen the coordination among different stakeholders in the return and reintegration process. With the outcomes of the conference, IOM aims to contribute to future policies and practices that will enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of voluntary return and reintegration. The final results will be composed in an e-booklet, which will be available on the IOM website soon (www.iom-nederland.nl).
Women as agents of change in peacebuilding processes
Matthijs van der Beek, UPEACE Centre The Hague .
Summary of the lecture by Ms. Judy Cheng-Hopkins, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, on 7 March 2014.
The kick-off of the lecture series “Peace Building in Progress” by UPEACE Centre The Hague took place on Friday 7 March in the Academy Building of the Peace Palace. In these lectures various speakers will have the opportunity to share their views on peace and peacebuilding policies. We were honoured to welcome an important and passionate speaker, Ms. Judy Cheng-Hopkins, who works as the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support for the United Nations. Moreover, she is a Member of the Council for the University for Peace in Costa Rica, which indicates her interest in the relevance of peace education.
Her lecture dealt with the developments in peacebuilding and the many challenges that lie ahead for the United Nations (UN) and all parties involved. As stated in the short introduction by our Chairman Marius Enthoven, it is often uncertain what “peacebuilding” is about. It was upon Judy Cheng-Hopkins to explain to a very mixed audience, made up of policymakers, representatives from NGOs, universities and students, what the UN are aiming at in their peacebuilding missions and what problems need to be tackled before conflicting parties can realize sustainable peace. Currently, the UN undertake fifteen peacekeeping operations worldwide and one special political mission in Afghanistan. Such operations on the ground do not complete what is considered to be “the peacebuilding process”. According to Cheng-Hopkins, peacebuilding in a UN context can best be understood as a long and difficult process from war to sustainable peace, consisting of very different stages. During conflict and wars this process already starts early with humanitarian assistance and mediation between, preferably, the conflicting parties and UN representatives. Once a ceasefire has been achieved and the UN are mandated by the Security Council to launch a peacekeeping operation, blue helmets need to avoid relapses into violence and must provide protection to civilians. At the same time they assist, along with mediators and NGOs, in many forms of peacebuilding measures, such as the implementation of peace agreements, power-sharing arrangements, strengthening the rule of law and social and economic development. Thus peacekeeping operations encompass not only the observance of ex-combatants, but also the building of institutions that are ideally capable in providing justice and socio-economic recovery. In many cases, however, reality shows different outcomes compared to the high expectations among the UN and the international community. Over a period of more than sixty years of UN peacebuilding missions, Cheng-Hopkins argued, post-conflict societies faced many problems that prevent a future of peace and harmony. Among these general problems she distinguished relapses into violence, military domination by some groups (at the expense of civil society), high levels of corruption, and no access to education for youth. States often remain fragile in this manner, since violence disrupts any further development. Why then are the peacebuilding operations so important? According to Cheng-Hopkins, the involvement of a supra-national body as the UN can play a vital role in peacebuilding by helping the conflicting parties through the above mentioned stages. Knowledge about peacebuilding has grown over the last decades, thanks to a large amount of research, peace education and practical experience. Since the international community has the capacity to assist in (post-) conflict societies, there is no good reason to stay aside. Conflicts ask our attention because instability can have major consequences across the borders if one thinks for example about terrorism, drugs trafficking and refugee streams. Although the UN peacekeeping operations can assist in state-building processes in many ways, the current strategies are also lacking. Cheng-Hopkins identifies the exclusion of women from the peacebuilding process as the greatest gap in UN’s policy. She argued that women are the ultimate victims of conflicts, suffering from miserable family circumstances and sexual violence by soldiers. But seeing them as victims only does neglect that women can also be “agents of change”. In many (conflict) societies women are responsible for agriculture, raising their children and in providing most other family needs. From a grassroots level, she believes, women can fulfil all kinds of peacebuilding roles, but in order to achieve that, the peacebuilding paradigm must change. UN operations are mainly targeted on men when it comes to peacebuilding measures and are therefore inherently biased. Only over the past ten to fifteen years women issues received more and more attention among UN bodies. Promoting the role of women in peacebuilding is not easy, however, since there are several obstacles. Many societies ignore or downgrade the role of women in public life and should undergo a cultural change before these ambitious ideas by Cheng-Hopkins can be put in practice. The current peacebuilding mission in Liberia proved that such cultural change is difficult, when only safe projects are financed by the UN and the international community. Thus to educate men within conflict societies about the benefits of women participation in peace processes and to change traditional role patterns, requires a strong belief and cooperation among the UN, international organizations and business leaders who work together. Peace education that acknowledges the role of women as “everyday peacebuilders” can be an important tool in changing the paradigm and in opening the way to perhaps a more effective strategy of peacebuilding. www.upeace.nlICC opens a preliminary examination in Ukraine
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, opens a preliminary examination in Ukraine
On 17 April 2014, the Government of Ukraine lodged a declaration under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute accepting the jurisdiction of the International criminal Court (ICC) over alleged crimes committed on its territory from 21 November 2013 to 22 February 2014.
Upon receipt of a referral or a declaration made by a state pursuant to Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute, the Office of the Prosecutor, as a matter of policy, opens a preliminary examination of the situation at hand. Accordingly, the Prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, has decided to open a preliminary examination into the situation in Ukraine in order to establish whether the Rome Statute criteria for opening an investigation are met. Specifically, under Article 53(1) of the Rome Statute, the Prosecutor shall consider issues of jurisdiction, admissibility and the interests of justice.
The Cypriote-Dutch relationship dates back to the Middle-ages
By the Ambassador of Cyprus, Dr Kyriacos Kouros.
First contact between the Cypriots and the Dutch took place in the late 16th century. It had to do mainly with isolated visits of pilgrims en route to the near-by Holy Lands.
The oldest Dutch text available so far is by a student of ecclesiastical law at the Utrecht University named Iohann van Kootwyck who set foot on Cyprus in 1598 – 1599 on his way to and from Jerusalem and made extensive references to his impressions and observations in the island.
The contemporary state of affairs
Cypriote-Dutch relations have nothing worthwhile to display until 1960 when the Republic of Cyprus was established and the two states started building ties. When Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004 and the EUROZONE in 2008, mutual goals and common aspirations took the relationship on the next level.
The Cypriot-Dutch bilateral track remains quite active. Only this year so far, Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans and Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem under his capacity as EUROZONE President paid separate visits to Cyprus. Cypriote visitors to the Netherlands included Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis who came to talk about prospects in the domain of energy, following the discovery of significant amounts of natural gas off-shore the island; and the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Alexandros Zenon, also paid a working visit. More ministerial visits are on the making. Apart from the Embassy of Cyprus in The Hague, we also operate an office for the promotion of Cypriote tourism in Amsterdam. Cyprus is a fascinating destination for those who like spending quality time under the sun in marvelous beaches, swimming in crystal clear seas, enjoying Mediterranean cuisine and night life, appreciating environmental friendly holidays, and exploring a family-oriented destination with thousands of years of civilization attractions including stone age settlements, Greco-Roman sites, Byzantine and Muslim places of worship, medieval castles, and all this located in an area the size of one fourth of the Netherlands! A ship registry office is also operates in Rotterdam since maritime affairs are contributing substantially to our economy. Our Registry ranks tenth among international fleets and third within the EU! The political situation in Cyprus To those of us who follow developments in international affairs, the prevailing situation in Cyprus is an anomaly in contemporary Europe. This is an EU member-state a large part of which is under a 40-year occupation by a foreign army of an EU membership candidate! A no man’s land between the cease-fire lines patrolled by UN peace keeping force UNFICYP also provides for a mistaken impression of a “border”! The Netherlands was one of the countries which contributed a contingent and since their first arrival in 1998 more than 900 Dutch had served in UNFICYP. In February 2014 a fresh round of fully-fledged negotiations for a viable Cyprus settlement has been launched. This is the sixth such attempt under the UN Secretary General’s good services. We hope it will be the last attempt for the benefit of all concerned stakeholders on a local, regional and international level. The important of the natural gas findings Cyprus can play a significant role in the energy security of the EU and our Eastern Mediterranean region’s stability due to the natural gas reserves discovered off shore of Cyprus. However, there is an urgent need to adopt a common EU policy, with a view to secure energy security in the wider region, that will not only be positive for EU but for the Middle East as well. If you wish to learn more about Cyprus in general, we suggest the following website: http://www.aboutcyprus.org.cy/. If you want to travel to Cyprus for holidays, we suggest you seek advice from the website www.visitcyprus.com/ but be very careful if you seek advice from other websites due to the prevailing situation in CyprusThe International Chamber Music Festival in Wassenaar
By John Dunkelgrün
Music lovers who come to The Netherlands delight in the performances of the well known orchestras, not a few of true world class. Less known are the many smaller ensembles and organizations all over the country that specialize in a particular aspect of music. One such is the International Chamber Music Festival in Wassenaar. Started four years ago its aim is to provide really great chamber music for people in Wassenaar and surroundings. They started a music festival that is getting more and more attention as well as critical acclaim. The festival this year, in the “Dorpskerk” (village church), in the beach pavilion “Sport” and in “De Paauw”, the stately old town hall, will take place on May 23, 24 and 25. Not only is the quality of the music of the highest standard, the small town atmosphere makes the performances uncommonly “gezellig”.
For information and tickets, please go to www.icmf.nl
Remembrance / Kwibuka
By Alexander W. Beelaerts van Blokland, Justice (Judge) in the Court of Appeal and Special Advisor International Affairs of the Municipality of The Hague
This year it is hundred years ago that World War I started as we all know. As you might know The Netherlands were not involved directly. But some of the remembrances take place here as well. On Friday April 25th I was present at ANZAC Day: on April 25th 1915 the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) entered –very far from their homeland- World War I in the Turkish peninsula Gallipoli (Gelibulo in Turkish) in one of the most terrible fights of that horrible war. Ever since the Australians and New Zealanders have their ANZAC Day on April 25th all over the world and so that happens in The Hague every year as well. At Westduin Cemetery. An impressive ceremony during which the Australian ambassador H.E. Mr. Neil Mules AO told the many Australian and New Zealanders in The Netherlands as well as many ambassadors and several Dutch such as former Defence minister Hans Hillen, representatives of the Dutch armed forces, the ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Royal Household, that Australia lost 8.700 men in that fight and New Zealand 2.700. In his speech the Turkish ambassador H.E. Mr. Sadik Arslan told us that even 250.000 Turkish soldiers died in only that fight that lasted several weeks against many more countries than Australia and New Zealand alone. It must have been a nightmare in spring of 1915.
Much more recently another nightmare took place with even almost one million deaths: the Rwanda genocide in 1994. And that nightmare has also its yearly remembrance – in Rwanda called: kwibuka – and again in the Netherlands that happens in The Hague. I was present on Monday April 7 in The Hague City Hall . The Rwandan ambassador H.E. Mr. Jean Pierre Karabanga told us that in hundred days almost one million Tutsis have been killed by fellow Rwandans, almost 10.000 a day……… and the world did nothing.
a.beelaerts@planet.nl