What does NRC think | Formed evidence from Hawija damages trust

« Extremely unpleasant affected », Was the committee of inquiry who, under the leadership of Minister of State Winnie Sorgdrager conducted research into the Dutch bombing of the Iraqi hawija in 2015. And rightly so: Defense, it turned out, has for years withheld a video that clearly visible the destruction that the air raid caused at the time in a residential area. There were at least 85 civilian deaths.

Because that two videos were made was clear. One video dates from at night, immediately after the attack, the other, on which the damage can really be seen, was made the next morning. The latter was viewed by the commander who was responsible for the attack and was forwarded to The Hague.

The committee, which after four years of investigation in January presented its final reporthad asked Defense for « a year and a half long » for the video. With the unsatisfactory answer that the images made had been removed immediately after the attack. The video would be « not relevant to save, » according to Defense. « The dates (sic) is overwritten the next day. »

What it’s all about again: from 2014, the Netherlands carried out Air strikes in Iraq as part of the international coalition. In the night of 2 to 3 June 2015, two Dutch F-16s were instructed to eliminate a IS car bomb factory in Hawija. It was quickly clear that so many civilian deaths fell. Dutch involvement was only revealed in October 2019, Through journalism research work from NRC and the NOS.

Again, journalistic research work is based on the population of this video. Ben Meindertsma, who at the time for the NOS and now for de Volkskrant Works, was curious by a sentence in the final report of the Sorgdrager committee about the disappeared videos. He reconstructed how the video, with such crucial evidence, could have been ‘overwritten’. Three days later the video appeared, found in the archives of Leeuwarden Air Base, where the committee itself had already searched.

Whether the video has been consciously withheld is not yet clear, but it is not unlikely. Not only in this file is transparency at Defense more confessed with the mouth than it is actually put into practice, Despite countless promises. The most famous example is a film roll of a Dutchbat soldier who disappeared in 1995 and then disappeared with possible proof of Serbian war crimes in the Srebrenica Muslim Clave.

That culture of withholding is bad. It points to a deep -rooted sense of inviolability for some within the Ministry of Defense, who think they can get away with serious matters, even if they have not been intentionally committed.

There is also contempt from the attitude of a few high soldiers: the people involved maintained that the video had been overwritten against the sorg carrier committee.

The current Minister of Defense Ruben Brekelmans (VVD) is aware of this culture. He ordered it again to search again, after which the images popped up, and now gives his full cooperation in any further investigation by the committee.

That attitude is a first step and culture change starts at the top. But with the increasing interest of defense in this world becoming more restless, the organization must also be permeated by the distrust that this case can cause. The armed forces will desperately need the support and confidence of society in the near future.

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