Dutch taxpayers’ money to jihadists killing Syrian Kurdish children

This 3 April 2018 video says about itself:

Turkey and Islamist Rebels Carve Up Northern Syria

Marking a new phase in the Syrian War, Turkey is taking over cities in northern Syria, and children in occupied Afrin are being brainwashed with pro-Erdogan propaganda. We talk to Turkish-Kurdish journalist Ali Örnek.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

The Dutch government-supported paramilitary groups in Syria have committed human rights violations. This is shown by research by Nieuwsuur TV show and by Trouw daily.

Moreover, the groups worked closely with extremists. This means that important criteria used by the government have been violated. The government repeatedly promised Parliament that it would only support groups that would comply with the law of war and that did not cooperate with extremist groups.

In the context of the so-called NLA program (which stands for non-lethal assistance), the Netherlands sent logistics equipment to armed opposition groups in Syria until the beginning of this year. It was supposed to be ‘non-lethal goods’, intended exclusively for ‘moderate’ paramilitary groups. …

War crimes

Research by Nieuwsuur and Trouw, which in recent months spoke with about 100 rebel leaders and those involved in the NLA program, shows that the promised criteria have been violated. For example, from 2016 to the beginning of 2018 the Netherlands supported the Sultan Murad Brigade with pick-up trucks and uniforms, while this brigade was guilty of war crimes in the same period, according to human rights organizations.

The brigade deployed child soldiers in the battle and was actively involved in attacks on the Sheikh Maqsoud Kurdish district, killing 83 civilians, including 30 children. The Dutch Division of Defense Division 13 also participated in these attacks on Kurdish civilians.

The Netherlands promised to carefully select the groups and stop the support if there were signs of human rights violations or other ‘undesirable behavior’. But support to groups such as the Sultan Murad Brigade continued – despite public warnings from, among others, the UN Human Rights Council – until the beginning of 2018.

Al-Qaeda

The criterion that groups supported by the Netherlands would not cooperate with extremists was also violated. For example, in 2015 the Sultan Murad Brigade, backed by the Netherlands, signed a military alliance with Al-Qaeda. This alliance was publicly known before the Netherlands started supporting the Sultan Murad Brigade.

Finally, the Netherlands supplied logistical equipment to at least three groups that at the same time cooperated with the controversial Ahrar al-Sham battle group. This movement, which has carried out suicide attacks, is considered terrorist by the Dutch Public Prosecution Service.

Dutch government by-passed its international law adviser on helping terrorists in Syria: here.

See also here.

This 11 September 2018 Dutch TV video is called The Netherlands supported terrorists in Syria – (NLA program).

Translated from Dutch NOS TV, 10 September 2011:

The Netherlands supported ‘terrorist movement’ in Syria

The Dutch government has supported an armed group in Syria that has been labeled as terrorist by the Public Prosecution Service. This is shown by research by Nieuwsuur and Trouw.

It concerns the paramilitary group Jabhat al-Shamiya. In 2017 the Netherlands secretly provided the Islamist movement with, eg, uniforms and pick-up trucks. Next month, a Dutchman who went to Syria will be on trial for participation in Jabhat al-Shamiya.

The Netherlands sent the logistics equipment to Jabhat al-Shamiya in the context of the state secret ‘NLA’ program, which stands for ‘non lethal assistance’. Through this program, the Netherlands supplied ‘non-lethal goods’ to 22 combat groups in Syria from 2015 to the beginning of this year. One of those groups, according to the research by Nieuwsuur and Trouw, is Jabhat al-Shamiya (‘Levant Front’).

‘Salafist and jihadist’

The Public Prosecutor is currently prosecuting a Dutch man because in 2015 he is said to have participated in Jabhat al-Shamiya. The indictment states that the group is “salafist and jihadist”, “strives for the establishment of a caliphate” and “otherwise qualifies” as a “criminal organization with terrorist intent”. …

The ministry also sent an evaluation to the House on Friday stating that there was insufficient supervision of the NLA program and that the program has now been stopped. A few months ago, the ministry wrote that the NLA program made sure that ‘moderate combatants‘ could better protect themselves against extremists, and that’ stopping such programs’ entailed the risk that ‘extremist groups would gain further strength’. . …

MPs have been asking for access to information about the NLA program for years, but until now the Netherlands has kept the names of the supported groups secret. The specific type of vehicles that the Netherlands sent to Syria was also declared a state secret. …

On video images that the rebel groups supported by the Netherlands put on their YouTube channels, you can see how they use the type of pick-up truck that the Netherlands supplied by affixing machine guns and shooting at their targets from the trucks. …

The Public Prosecuting Service confirms that they are currently prosecuting a Dutch man for participation in Jabhat al-Shamiya in 2015. The service also confirms that they have labeled Jabhat al-Shamiya as terrorist in this case. The Public Prosecution Service maintains its position and continues the prosecution.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV, 10 September 2018:

Parliament is shocked by Dutch support for jihadists

The House of Representatives is shocked to hear the news that the Netherlands has provided logistical support for a group in Syria that has been labeled as terrorist by the Public Prosecution Service.

“Shocking”, says member of parliament Sjoerdsma of government coalition party D66. He wonders how it has come this far. According to him, the House has warned several times about this danger. …

Much information about the deliveries to armed groups in Syria has been declared secret. The CDA [another government coalition group] wants clarification about that. “I want to be able to check what the government has done”, says MP Omtzigt. …

The Socialist Party [opposition] believes that the Minister of Foreign Affairs has something to explain again. The government has said so far that support was only given to moderate opposition groups in Syria. “But the moderate rebels turn out to be not that moderate“, says MP Karabulut.

Behind the backs of the German people, the grand coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats is preparing a massive combat mission against the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad. According to a report in the Bild newspaper published on Monday, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen (Christian Democratic Union—CDU) is examining possible reprisals by the Luftwaffe (Air Force) against Syrian government troops should chemical weapons be used against “rebel”-held areas in Idlib province: here.