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Suriname na de binnenlandse oorlog. ELLEN DE VRIES. Amsterdam: KIT Publishers, 2005.200 pp. (Paper euro 17.50)
In 1986, inhabitants of the Ndyuka Maroon village of Moiwana were brutally slaughtered by the Surinamese army. This action was part of the civil war between the military forces of commander Desi Bouterse and the "Jungle Commando" led by his former bodyguard Ronnie Brunswijk. Hundreds of citizens and fighters were killed. The conflict, which lasted until 1992, destroyed large parts of the interior, including roads, water and electricity supplies, state buildings, medical clinics, and schools. Thousands of Maroons fled to save their lives. Some retreated deeper into the ulterior. Others emigrated to the Netherlands or the United States. Many took refuge in neighboring French Guiana or moved to Suriname's capital, Paramaribo. Refugee camps in French Guiana offered them a place to stay, but the conditions, in terms of housing, education, medical care, and employment, were very poor.
Five years after Suriname had become independent in 1975, the young republic was taken over by the military in a coup led by commander Desi Bouterse, who then ruled the country with his followers for several years. Then, one night in December 1982, they summoned sixteen prominent citizens and executed them as a group. The killing of these dissidents, among them union leaders, lawyers, journalists, and intellectuals, was a dramatic turning point in Suriname's history. Even today, the perpetrators have not been sentenced, despite many efforts by surviving relatives to see justice served.
The massacre of...