Thread by @airwars

Thread: After revalations that a Dutch F-16 strike in 2015 led to the deaths of 70 civilians in Hawijah, Iraq - which @Defensie and successive NL governments then hid from the public for more than 2,000 days - MPs are tonight debating the issue. And they're not happy.

@Defensie GroenLinks (Green Left) @IsabelleDiks: “Not only her predecessor wrongly informed parliament. This minister knew as well, and she adopted her predecessor’s lie. Minister of Foreign Affairs also said there were no [casualty] numbers, when these numbers were in fact there."

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks Socialist Party's @SadetKarabulut: “The minister cannot hide behind her predecessor. She cannot hide behind the Iraqi government. She definitely cannot hide behind her pilots. She must take responsibility. Since 2015, we have been lied to."

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut M.J.F. van Helvert (CDA): "I don’t think that the Ministry lied to us for four years. We have a rule to not say anything [about casualties] until an operation has ended. So the question is, why has she [the defence minister] been quiet about this for these past eleven months?”

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut Independent MP @FemkeMerel asks Defence Minister @MinBijleveld: “Why has the OM (Public Prosecutors’ Office) only researched cases in Iraq? What about possible civilian casualties in our airstrikes in Syria?”

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld Frank Wassenberg (PvdD,y): “It is cynical to remain the position that 'nothing went wrong', as the minister said last night in Nieuwsuur. That everything went 'according to the book' when 70 people have died and 100 people were wounded."

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld .@SalimaBelhaj of government coalition party @D66: "The obligation to provide information to parliament is laid down in the Constitution. When it comes to civilian lives, we must have all the information. We will continue to push for transparency."

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 .@SadetKarabulut (SP): "Can you be sure there were no more civilian casualties than in these 2 events? Entire cities were destroyed by bombing. Organizations such as Airwars... show time and time again that many more civilian casualties have fallen than is publicly acknowledged."

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 Raymond van Roon (PVV): "What changed in the understanding of this incident between the end of our mission in December 2018 and now? Why did she need 11 months to do research? Why did the minister only share information about this incident after @NOS and @NRC published about it?"

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc While MPs take a short break, a few updates on this major story. @MinBijleveld faced a tough grilling Nov 4th on @NOS Nieuwsuur - appearing to agree with reporter that her predecessor as defence minister 'lied to Parliament' about Hawijah civilian deaths. nos.nl/nieuwsuur/vide…

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc That former Dutch defence minister is @JeanineHennis - now the @UN special representative for Iraq. Ms Hennis-Plasschaert has been focusing on the growing political crisis in Iraq today - and has so far not responded to claims that she misled the Dutch parliament in 2015.

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN "It's a slap in the face. It goes against everything you are there for."

Meanwhile a Dutch pilot, whose strike on Mosul accidentally killed a family of four, has been speaking to investigators for a new book, Missie F-16, about his torment over the case. telegraaf.nl/nieuws/1399298…

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN Defence Minister @MinBijleveld begins her response in the debate on the @Defensie admission of up to 74 civilian fatalities in two 2015 events, by expressing sympathy to the relatives of victims who died in Hawijah and Mosul.

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN .@MinBijleveld: "I only noticed last Friday that the Chamber was incorrectly informed in 2015 by the former Defence Minister [@JeanineHennis]. So to suggest that I already knew that the Chamber had been wrongly informed is by no means the case."

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN .@IsabelleDiks (Groenlinks) "If we were deliberately misinformed, and you object to the word 'lie', what would you call it?"

@MinBijleveld : “That you were wrongly informed.”

@IsabelleDiks: "I would call that a lie."

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN Minister cites "national, operational and personnel security" as reasons these civilian deaths were withheld from the Dutch and Iraqi people, and from Parliament.

[Worth noting US and Australia are among @CJTFOIR allies which have disclosed significant detail about such cases.]

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN @CJTFOIR @MinBijleveld: "Since the ending of our mission [against IS], I have been working on this to see how we could be more transparent. I've talked with @Airwars."

[Airwars held the first talks in Den Hague with @Defensie officials in July 2019, after several years of MoD refusals.]

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN @CJTFOIR Justifying why it's taken 11 months since end of Dutch airstrikes in Iraq and Syria to be more transparent the Minister notes: "We wanted to talk with pilots and the air force. That took me way too long. I agreed that we could be more transparent. It just couldn't be faster."

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN @CJTFOIR .@MinBijleveld also claims "This is about 81 countries. Discussing that with 81 countries is not that easy."

[@CJTFOIR allies have always been free to declare strike activity and civilian harm from their own actions. The Dutch chose not to- hence rated by us 'least transparent']

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN @CJTFOIR The Minister is also claiming there is no 'official count' of 70 civilians killed at Hawijah in 2015.

@NOS has shared with us the following on the record @OIRSpox email to them from December 2018, which contradicts this claim.

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN @CJTFOIR @OIRSpox Karabulut (SP): 70 people are dead. And the minister still tells me to trust in her, while things went horribly wrong.

Minister: You must trust the Public Prosecutors Office & @CENTCOM.

Karabulut: We cannot control power, until we can see Public Prosecutors office [OM] report.

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN @CJTFOIR @OIRSpox @CENTCOM The Defence Minister has also spoken about how in 2015 after Hawijah, "it was decided to send a [@Defensie] staff officer to Qatar, to CENTCOM. He collected information. Based on open sources, an indication was then made of 70 civilian casualties".

This was 4 years ago.

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN @CJTFOIR @OIRSpox @CENTCOM MPs are continuing to debate this crucial issue of civilian harm late into the night. It's been tough for minister @MinBijleveld- with anger that information on 74 civilians killed as a result of Dutch actions was withheld for so long.

Transparency and accountability are key.

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN @CJTFOIR @OIRSpox @CENTCOM With thanks to @LaurieTreffers for live tracking tonight's lengthy debate. We'll post the full transcript of the debate and an English translation once available.

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN @CJTFOIR @OIRSpox @CENTCOM @LaurieTreffers @threadreaderapp unroll

@Defensie @IsabelleDiks @SadetKarabulut @FemkeMerel @MinBijleveld @SalimaBelhaj @D66 @NOS @nrc @JeanineHennis @UN @CJTFOIR @OIRSpox @CENTCOM @LaurieTreffers @threadreaderapp Here's the unrolled Airwars thread on tonight's lengthy Dutch parliamentary debate, in the wake of @NOS @NRC revalations that NL aircraft carried out actions which led to the deaths of 74 civilians back in 2015. threadreaderapp.com/thread/1191762…