The government’s defense has always been: “If we make excuses, it will lead to accountability.” But according to Lianne Wijntjes of the University of Tilburg, ‘the obligation to pay compensation is very unlikely to arise if the government apologizes for a past event’.
Legal foundations
In very rare circumstances, compensation may be awarded. It is for the court to judge whether the government is liable on the basis of the facts in the proceedings,’ says Wijntjes. ‘For this, the legal basis of liability must be met. An apology in itself is not a reason for responsibility.”
A major legal obstacle is statute of limitations. “There are a number of cases where the statute of limitations is breached due to historical injustices, but often only for surviving relatives who are still alive,” Wijntjes says. “It’s different here.” “There are elements in the apology that can help as fact in a compensation claim, such as the history of slavery which has been called a crime against humanity.”
Apology accepted
The question was whether an apology would be accepted. Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs of Sint Maarten reportedly said she did not accept it. Aruba, on the other hand, accepts an apology for the Dutch slave past. “A sincere apology is always welcome,” Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes said. She said she was “grateful” to the Netherlands for taking the first step, but she repeated what Rutte also said: “Today it shouldn’t be a point, but a comma.”