Defense Minister wants to personally apologize in Hawija for bombing that killed dozens

The defense minister, Ruben Brekelmans, wants to travel to Hawija, Iraq, this year to offer a personal apology for the Dutch air assault on the city in 2015, which led to dozens of civilians' deaths, he said during a debate in parliament on Thursday. The debate was concerning a report about the incident, which was made by the former Dutch justice minister and chair of the independent committee investigating the incident, Winnie Sorgdrager.

Brekelmans stated that there are two conditions to his plan: it has to be safe, and he wants to decide what the right time is to travel to the city. In March, the minister apologized for the human suffering caused by the operation on behalf of the Cabinet. Brekelmans reiterated these apologies during the debate in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament.

Several Tweede Kamer parties had urged the minister to travel to Hawija to offer a personal apology.

The minister also announced plans to support the local community in Hawija. He hopes that this will "give weight to the apology.” The Ministry of Defense has financed several infrastructure and employment projects in the city in the past. This cost the ministry around 4.5 million euros.

Brekelmans recognized that the responses to this were “mixed.” The ministry is looking for support in the local community for new projects in which a budget of 10 million euros is available.

The Partij voor de Dieren, SP, and DENK are pleading for individual compensation for the victims. The minister is not in favor of this plan. His reasoning is that it is very hard to determine who the victims were 10 years after the incident.

Several Iraqi citizens tried to force through a damage compensation fee via the court in The Hague. The Sorgdrager commission ruled that the compensation was too late and too low a figure.

Furthermore, according to the report, the ministry’s manner of reporting the incident to the Tweede Kamer was "incorrect and incomplete.” Parliament was only told about the civilian deaths four years after they had happened. Brekelmans says he is setting "a very clear standard" when it comes to reporting civilian casualties. Even if there is a "suspicion", the top of the ministry must be informed. The Tweede Kamer will be informed within a week.

According to Sorgdrager, the Ministry of Defense was too reliant on American intelligence reports when it came to the attack. The minister defending his ministry regarding this said that they will remain dependent on other countries for certain information. He feels that the decision to attack was legally justified.

The SP even filed a motion of no confidence against Brekelmans, but this is not expected to gather enough support within parliament.

The file has not been closed with this debate. Investigations are still ongoing into how it was possible that the ministry’s video footage taken the day after the attack surfaced a few months after Sorgdrager's report.