Netherlands: Ethiopian youth killed
01 January 1991
Netherlands: Ethiopian youth killed
artdoc May=1994
A 19-year-old Ethiopian youth has been killed in Dordrecht. He
was shot dead whilst walking with a friend in the local shopping
precinct. According to De Volkskrant, which gives no indication
as to the motive of the killing, the shooting happened following
an incident with a group of Dutch youths. Two Dutch men have been
arrested in connection with the murder (De Volkskrant 23.,
24.8.93).
Murderer of Turkish girl sentenced
A 34-year-old man, described only as Mr R.V., has been given a
12-year sentence and placed under psychiatric care for the murder
of the 12-year-old Turkish girl, Zulbye Gunduz (see Bulletin no.
5).
During the court case, throughout which Mr R.V. remained silent,
there were angry scenes, leading the judge to clear the court of
the dead girl's relatives. A psychiatrist described Mr R.V. as
`a very psychotic human being, driven by uncontrollable rage and
a deep-rooted distrust of people' (De Volkskrant 14.8.93).
Moroccan child's drowning causes uproar
On 21 August 1993 , 9-year-old Naima Quaghmiri drowned in a lake
in a park near Rotterdam. The circumstances of her death caused
an uproar in Holland, as a police witness said that she died in
full view of dozens of Dutch people who were deaf to her cries
for help and that when firemen arrived to rescue her they were
greeted with obscene gestures and racist taunts. The Rotterdam
authorities presented a different version of events on 30 August,
when they published a minute by minute reconstruction taken from
other eye-witnesses and an amateur video. Their version claimed
that, in fact, several people plunged in to the lake to try to
rescue her and that the firemen were given assistance by the
public. There were racist taunts, the authorities admitted, but
only from a small minority, not from a sadistic crowd. It seems
now that the extent of the racist indifference to the child's
drowning will never be fully known, but it is clear that a
substantial racist element among the bystanders showed brutal
glee at her death (Le Nouvel Observateur 9-15.9.93).
Refugee centres threatened
Police in Musselkanaal, Groningen, are trying to find witnesses
to an attack on a refugee centre during which shots were fired
through the centre's rear windows (De Volkskrant 17.8.93). Ten
bomb threats have been made against a refugee centre in
Oisterwijt, Brabent. In the latest incident, the refugee centre,
and the town hall, were cleared (De Volkskrant 21.8.93). In
Middelburg, a group calling itself the `Nazi Front Zeeland' have
threatened to fire bomb refugee centres (De Volkskrant 27.8.93).
And in Zundlaren, Centrum Partie `86 leaflets have been
distributed both inside and outside a centre housing refugees
from former Yugoslavia. The leaflet, which claims that without
foreigners every Dutch person's income would rise by 5%, includes
such statements as `Our own people first' and `Stop the invasion
of asylum-seekers' (NN 30.9.93).
Cemeteries desecrated
The `Nazi Front Zeeland' claimed responsibility for the
desecration of a Portuguese-Jewish cemetery in Middelburg on 21
August. Apparently, the police attempted to suppress the incident
but local people contacted the Anne Frank Centre so that the
attack was publicised (NN 14.9.93). The Nijmegen Allied War
Cemetery was also desecrated with gravestones daubed with slogans
such as `White power' (written in English) and `Auslanders aus'.
Two Dutch men were subsequently arrested (Guardian 12.8.,
2.10.93).
Police doubt racist motive after petrol attack
The police have expressed doubts as to whether an attack on a
hotel owner in Zenvool, during which the man had petrol poured
over him and received severe burns, was racially motivated. The
attack happened when a group of five masked men burst into the
hotel. The proprietor says his attackers told him, `You're
married to a Chinese woman, have Chinese ch