Van Mook's Legacy in South Sulawesi

Investigations into Dutch war crimes in Indonesia reveal shocking atrocities. But the process of finding the truth is worth examining.

October 16, 2000

Lieutenant Governor-General Van Mook is rattled. Every day, reports stream in from Makassar telling of atrocities committed by Captain Raymond Westerling and his commandos -- torturing innocent villagers in order to force them to confess, executing them and quickly ridding South Sulawesi of the 'extremists'. In one case, women were stripped naked in the rain alongside their parents to force them to speak and tell investigators the hideouts of the

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