NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #26/NN_1992_26.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/8322

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From: Gert van Velzen <[e-mail]>
Subject: News: on Dutch policing, justice and domestic security.
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Research indicates increase in corruption in Holland

A team of researchers of the Free University in Amsterdam
published a report in September in which they conclude the
level of government fraud and corruption is rising. They
estimate an average of one incident of a civil servant or
politician engaging in such practices every day. Minister
Dales has called the report "exaggerated", but earlier this
year she instructed the Binnenlandse Veiligheidsdienst (BVD,
Dutch security service) to do an audit of government and
corporate organisations to bring to light weak spots and
corruption-prone situations in an effort to prevent corruption
from happening. Apparently not everybody is pleased with Mrs.
Dales' concern: burgomaster Mr. Ed Nijpels of Breda (pop.
120,000) has declared his city hall off limits for "raincoats
and trench hats" and has called on his colleagues to do the
same.
Only 15 to 20 suspects of government fraud or corruption
appear in the courts each year. An inquiry among a great
number of Rijksrecherche investigators (winternal affairs
bureau) showed that many departments, including the police,
prefer to deal with such embarrassing incidents without
calling in external assistance or persecuting suspects in
court. Justice department officials recently expressed their
concern over apparent leaks of information to organized crime,
that hampered successful investigations.
A spokesman at the Centrale Recherche Informatiedienst (CRI-
central criminal information service) stated that no
information was available on Sicilian mafia activities in the
Netherlands. Other Italian criminal organisations, such the
camorra from Naples, have been known to operate in Holland.
A Justice Department investigation also showed that several of
the larger Dutch banks have been facilitating money laundering
and related activities of known organised crime figures.

----

whistleblowing in The Hague no longer tolerated

The Dutch cabinet has decided that civil servants are no
longer allowed to have background conversations with
journalists on subjects on which ministers still have to make
a decision. Once a decision has been made, only the public
relations offices are allowed to give clarifying statements.
The administrative heads of the departments have been asked to
see to it that leaks will no longer occur and that breaches of
confidentiality are investigated.

----

BVD boss expresses gloomy world view

In a speech in Utrecht on Sept. 23 to heads of the new
regional police forces, the head of the BVD mr. A.W.H. Docters
van Leeuwen expressed his concern over a further decay of
moral principles in the coming years. For the new regional
forces this will mean a continuous adaptation to new
situations. Although Holland is not Los Angeles yet, everybody
has given up the idea that such things can never happen here,
says Docters. In the worst case, communication could be
limited to the threat with or actual use of force.

----

Chief of Amsterdam police takes on illegal North-Africans

Drs. E.E. Nordholt, the chief commissioner of the Amsterdam
police force, has declared that stringent measures are needed
to cope with an estimated 500 illegal North Africans that are
held responsible for the major part of all muggings and
robberies in Amsterdam's inner city. Although most of the
suspects claim to be Moroccans, the Moroccan government
refuses to take them back because none of them have any
identification papers. The Dutch government is now seeking for
ways to exert pressure on the Moroccan government through EC
channels to get it to cooperate. Local organisations of
Moroccans in Amsterdam have also turned to the police to ask
for tougher measures, since they experience the detrimental
effects of the street crime on the image of Moroccan
community.

----

Assistant secretary of Justice mr. Kosto: those that scold at
migrants are not necessarily racists

In a speech held in Amsterdam on Sept. 28, assistant secretary
of Justice mr. Aad Kosto has asked for understanding of the
difficult position in which original inhabitants of poor
neighbourhoods find themselves. The Social Democrat
politician, responsible for immigration and refugee affairs,
feels the term "racism" is too easily used and serves as a
bromide that stops all discussion. Its frequent use threatens
to isolate the poorer whites and leaves them as easy prey for
political extremists that do have explicitly racist goals.
However, mr. Kosto emphasized his concern over the fact that
47% of the Dutch population feels that there are to many
migrants in Holland. Integration, combined with mutual
tolerance and respect, and maintaining the rule of law is the
way towards a future of milk and honey for all inhabitants.

----

Yearly EC-fraud in Holland estimated at dfl 500 million

After a hearing held in parliament on September 23, Christian
Democrat MP mr. Th. Vreugdenhil estimated that Dutch corporate
businesses evaded EC taxes and illegally obtained EC subsidies
for a yearly amount of some dfl 500 million (wBP 170 mln). Mr.
A.G.M. Peters of the Uclaf (the European Commission's anti
fraud organisation) told MPs of indications of involvement of
organised crime, and drs. R. Tjalkens of the Dutch fiscal
intelligence and investigations service FIOD suggested major
companies successfully intervened in the law-making process in
Brussels. "My feeling says the degree of organisation is very
high indeed. The top level of corporations is involved here. I
think that we cannot remotely get to that." New legislation is
being prepared to control EC fraud, and an international
documentation centre for fraud cases is being established.
According to mr. H.A. Kamphuis of the Algemene Inspectie
Dienst (AID - general inspection service), corporations
operate "with daggers drawn" in acquiring EC subsidies. They
continuously explore "how far they can go and organise
constructions".

----

Use of force allowed in guarding army terrains

The Dutch cabinet recently agreed on a bill that will allow
military personnel the use of force on guard duties. Up till
now, military personnel who used force could only claim self-
defence. Although seemingly the threat of foreign spies trying
to steal military secrets has diminished, the new legislation
is apparently thought necessary to scare off criminals from
trying to obtain weapons by robbing military guards or
penetrating army compounds. However, as a "side effect", peace
activists that have in the past entered military installations
on protest or sabotage missions should in the future consider
the risk of being beaten up shot at. Military commanders have
repeatedly warned demonstrators in the past that "permission
to shoot" had been given to personnel on guard.


Peter Klerks October 1992