According to the Dutch news programme Een Vandaag of 22 October, the Head of the UN working group dealing with the Zwarte Piet [Black Pete] issue in the Dutch Sinterklaas celebration, Verene Shepherd, has declared that: “The working group cannot understand why the Dutch do not see that this is a return to slavery and that in the 21st century this celebration has to stop” [translation HT]. If correct, this will create further controversy as it implies that the whole Sinterklaas event should be scrapped – sounds like a bit of overreach in terms of mandate….
(Two blackfaced white Dutch girls walking the streets during the Sinterklaas/Zwarte Piet celebration)
Although not directly related to human rights defenders, as a Dutchman I feel obliged to alert readers to the issue of whether the longstanding tradition of ‘Zwarte Piet’ (black Peter) is an innocent cultural exception or an expression of deeply ingrained racism. It has become a hot potato in the Dutch media after a letter by four UN Special Rapporteurs asked for a clarification from Dutch authorities on whether a Dutch caricature called “Black Pete” who accompanies Saint Nicholas during a traditional children’s festival is racist. “Please indicate to which extent your government has involved Dutch society, including African people… in the discussions regarding the choice of ‘Santa Claus and Black Pete’ as expression of cultural significance in the country,” it said. According to information we have received… the character and image of Black Pete perpetuate a stereotyped image of African people and people of African descent as second-class citizens, said the letter, dated January this year and published Saturday on the NRC’s website.
In the Netherlands itself emotions are flaring over the sensitive issue. The big majority of Dutch people clearly feel that a marvelous old tradition (I certainly have very fond memories of the Dutch Sinterklaas festivities) is being sacrificed on the altar of political correctness ( according to the Dutch newspaper the Telegraph some 66 percent said they would prefer that the entire Saint Nicholas festival be dropped rather than stripping it of the Black Pete character). On the other hand, when Amsterdam held a public hearing on Thursday, 21 complaints about Black Pete were filed asking the Dutch capital to revoke the permit for this year’s festival. Mayor Eberhard van der Laan is to rule on the permit in early November, his spokeswoman Tahira Limon said.
But Black Pete’s supporters called for the children’s Saint Nicholas festival to go ahead, arguing that it has been part of a Dutch tradition dating as far back as the 16th century, with the Black Petes first appearing around the 1850s.
Seen from outside the Netherlands the tradition argument seems not get much track. A blog post in the UK Telegraph makes strong arguments against its continuation and refers to a a piece in This Is Africa, where the journalist Siji Jabaar mounts a “formidable evisceration of the tradition, in which he forensically lays bare the history and evolution of Zwarte Piet, and demolishes one by one the arguments in favour of the practice“, which has this nugget of a question: “If the Dutch government thinks that Zwarte Piet is correct, just invite Barack Obama over for dinner on the 5th of December. But we all know they ain’t gonna do that; they ain’t that dumb.”.
Judge for yourself by reading the full references below:
But please note that the phrase: ‘In the United stated you have Santa Claus, in the UK he’s Father Christmas, and in the Netherlands he’s called Sinterklaas” is not fully correct. Sinterklaas is celebrated on 5 December not 25 December and the Dutch now also embrace a different Santa ClausRelated articles
Finally a tiny bit of good news from the Chinese front: After 2,5 years in jail the Chinese human rights defender Ni Yulan has been freed. In 2011 she won the Dutch Tulip for HRDs award. She has never been able to receive the award in person and even her daughter had not been allowed to leave the country for that purpose.
On 26 September 2013 many countries attended the first ministerial meeting held at the United Nations on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals.
(UN Photo/Amanda Voisard)
Foreign ministers attending the meeting, held on the margins of the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate, adopted a declaration pledging not just to protect LGBT rights but also to counter homophobic and transphobic attitudes. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay commended
Nine years after the killing of human rights defender Munir Said Thalib, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must take decisive and concrete action to ensure those responsible – including those at the highest levels – are brought to justice, and that all defenders of human rights are better protected. President Yudhoyono, who has himself described Munir’s case as a “test of our history”, but he has just one year of his presidency remaining in which to ensure full justice and reparations are delivered. The President’s failure so far to do so, at a time the protection of human rights defenders across the country remains seriously under threat, raises serious questions about his legacy.
For the fifth time the Dutch Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (NJCM) will issue the Thoolen NJCM-Scriptieprijs for the best master thesis. Any student who has followed university level education – at least partly – in the Netherlands is allowed to participate as long as the paper was written between 2011 and 2013. The winning paper will be published by the Foundation NJCM-Boekerij. The deadline is 1 november 2013. Four copies of the paper – in English or Dutch – have to be sent to: NJCM, Steenschuur 25, 2311 ES Leiden. Former winners of the award are:
– Laura Henderson, Tortured reality. How media framing of waterboarding affects judicial independence
– Erik van de Sandt, A child’s story for global peace and justice. Best practices for a child-friendly environment during the statement- and testimony-period in respect of the Rome Statute and the International Criminal Code
– Shekufeh Jalali Manesh, het recht van het kind op behoorlijke huisvesting en het BLOEM-model
– Janine de Vries, Sexual violence against women in Congo. Obstacles and remedies for judicial assistance .
The UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon gave the Annual Leiden Freedom Lecture, in the Netherlands, on 28 August 2013 and made a number of strong points relevant to human rights defenders: Read the rest of this entry »
The annual lecture on human rights in Maastricht with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, has quickly become a major event on the human rights agenda. As I was not able to attend, i have the great honor to introduce as my first guest author the well-known Theo van Boven, professor emeritus at Maastricht University, former Director of Human Rights in the UN, former Special Rapporteur on several subjects and a Patron of the MEA. With many thanks and in the hope that this will encourage others to contribute:
Theo van Boven 2011 (c) THF
On Wednesday April 17th, the newly appointed Foreign Minister of The Netherlands, Frans Timmermans, came to a very well-attended meeting at Maastricht University where he made a passionate plea for human rights as one of the cornerstones of Dutch foreign policy. While the Foreign Minister was the main speaker, his appearance was framed in a broader setting with other lively presentations on such issues as the need for consistency between domestic and foreign human rights policy (“practise what you preach”), the role of women in the Syrian armed conflict and the Rights of Lesbian ,Gay, Trans, Bisexual and Intersex Persons (LGTBI rights). Frans Timmermans expressed his strong personal commitment to human rights : “I passionately believe in human rights” and he recalled that no human right was achieved without struggle. He stressed that human rights, the rule of law, and democracy are strongly interconnected but that democratic majorities should respect the rights of minorities and individuals. The Netherlands foreign minister praised the role of persons,groups and organizations who in situations of great risk are standing up for human rights. He pledged his support for human rights activists/defenders as a “top priority“. It is of crucial importance to help human rights activists in expressing themselves and for The Netherlands to coöperate with other countries, bilaterally and through international organizations, in the defence and the promotion of the values enshrined in human rights instruments. Among the points that came up in the Q and A discussion were the need to give due and equal weight to the promotion and protection of economic,social and cultural rights together with civil and political rights; the inherent and imminent danger to human rights of the use of drones; the serious reduction in the Netherlands budget for development coöperation ( although not implying the reduction of funds in support of human rights activities); and the persistent evil of human trafficking as a contemporary form of slavery.
It is well-known that the Netherlands give a high priority to support of human rights defenders and their organisations. In his address to the high-level segment of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Geneva on 25 February, the new foreign minister Frans Timmermans confirmed that this is indeed one of his main priorities.‘Human rights defenders and organisations are having to deal with more and more obstruction and being treated as criminals,’ Mr Timmermans said. ‘In many more parts of the world, repression directed against bloggers, journalists and members of the public is increasing. This is simply unacceptable.’ Women’s rights are another of Mr Timmermans’ priorities. The Netherlands takes a stand against every form of violence against women – from rape to honour killing and human trafficking. It is also actively promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights and the participation of women in society. ‘Men must be less self-centred and give women more rights,’ Mr Timmermans continued. ‘This helps the world to move forward – and men benefit from it.’ A third Dutch priority is to promote the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders LGBT. In about 80 countries, same-sex relations are a criminal offence and in seven countries, punishable by death. ‘There are three things we need to do,’ said Mr Timmermans. ‘Promote acceptance, fight discrimination and stop the criminalisation of gay people.’ Mr Timmermans also met with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Navanetham Pillay and discussed ways of opposing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In addition the Minister had talks with NGOs actively involved in promoting LGBT rights.
![Two Zwarte Pieten [660x300]](https://i0.wp.com/www.thisisafrica.me/data/thumb/abc_media_image/6000/6384/w430.68de7.jpg)
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 