Court rejects demand to postpone Dutch State’s apology about history of slavery

The Court in The Hague rejected demands from six Surinamese organizations to postpone the Dutch Cabinet’s plans to formally apologize for the country’s historical ties to slavery. They had asked the preliminary relief judge to issue an injunction to delay the national apology until 1 July, which marks the 150th anniversary that slavery was abolished in the entire Kingdom of the Netherlands.

"I cannot intervene," the judge decided in his summary judgment. His decision caused a stir in the room on Thursday afternoon. The foundations believe the national apology has been hastily put together as part of a series of speeches to be delivered on 19 December.

The second part of the case is that the State must wait to apologize until it has responded to the findings of the Adviescollege Dialooggroep Slavernijverleden, a commission assembled to provide advice in collaboration with the descendants of enslaved people and a study into the colonial era’s history of slavery. The organizations also want to be involved in the preparations for the national apology.

The judge could not test their requirements against the law because it concerns an ethical issue. It is not possible to assess whether, for example, the standards of responsibility have been violated. "It is about expressing something that the State considers itself morally obliged to do," said the judge.

"It is not in dispute that it is high time for the State to at least apologize." He also said that as a judge in preliminary relief proceedings he should exercise restraint regarding political matters.

The plaintiffs’ attorney, Joancy Breeveld, reacted with disappointment to the judge's verdict. "Injustice is actually being done here to a group that really matters. It concerns the Black descendants of the people who have suffered the most from this terrible three-century period of slavery, and that [group] is not being heard now.”

Shortly after the hearing, the judge decided to issue an oral verdict. His argument will be laid out more extensively in a written ruling that will be published in two weeks.