Firstly, a Dutch apology is null and void as long as the colonial governor that was in place during the “slavery past” still remains legally intact. Additionally, the Dutch State cannot offer an apology while Statia still has its “democracy” revoked. Lastly, a Dutch apology is null and void as long as Higher Supervision, Koninklijke Besluiten, Aanwijzingen, and Algemene Maatregelen van Rijksbestuur remain legal instruments of external intervention.
We have addressed a letter to the State Secretary, as well as the Chair and Vice Chair of the Decolonization Committee, in which 14 questions are raised regarding our peremptory (jus cogens) right to self-determination. Some of the questions include:
1) Can the Kingdom Council of Ministers confirm that the islands’ jus cogens right to self-determination is hierarchically superior to Het Statuut?
2) Can a Koninklijk Besluit, Aanwijzing, or Algemene Maatregel van Rijksbestuur be imposed without violating the islands’ jus cogens right to self-determination?
3) Can the Kingdom Council of Ministers confirm that because national law cannot overrule a rule of international law with a peremptory character, such as the islands’ jus cogens right to self-determination, this makes Articles 44, 50, and 51 of “Het Statuut” obsolete or superfluous?
As long as the aforementioned questions are not clearly answered, and there continue to exist legal instruments of external intervention in place, the apology originating from the Dutch State is of very little consequence.
Pro Soualiga Foundation
