Curacao

NOSProtest at this year’s Pride in Curaçao

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 21:36

Dick Drayer

corresponding Curaçao

Dick Drayer

corresponding Curaçao

“Curaçao only allows me to marry a man, but I am in love with a woman.” Danika Marquez made this emotional statement today at the end of an oral cassation hearing at the Supreme Court in The Hague. Direct stakeholders were also allowed to give testimony.

The legal battle by human rights organizations on Aruba and Curaçao and by same-sex couples on both islands to be allowed to marry has entered its final phase. The Supreme Court will now assess whether the appeal judges in Willemstad ruled correctly at the end of last year.

Human rights organizations critical

The Netherlands opened civil marriage to partners of the same sex on April 1, 2001. Since October 10, 2012, this also applies to the islands of Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius, which together form the Caribbean Netherlands and fall directly under The Hague authority. The three other islands in the kingdom – Sint Maarten, Aruba and Curaçao – are autonomous and in principle have their own legislation and jurisdiction.

Curaçao and Aruba have a provision in the Civil Code that states that marriage can only be entered into between a man and a woman. According to human rights organizations, this is contrary to provisions in the state regulations, i.e. the constitution of the islands. The judges in Willemstad agreed twice. First at first instance and later also on appeal.

Moreover, the court in Willemstad stated that new legislation was not necessary: ​​the prohibition of discrimination in the constitution means that the registrar of Aruba and Curaçao must cooperate in the conclusion of a marriage by two people of the same sex by drawing up a deed. of marriage registration and of a marriage certificate.

NOSMelinda Angel (l) and Danika Marquez at the hearing

The resistance from politics and the church on both islands erupted again in full force after this verdict. With almost the same Biblical and cultural arguments as before. But the judges no longer allow religious beliefs to play a role. Freedom of religion in a democratic constitutional state does not go so far that one can impose one’s own religious norms and values ​​on another, according to the court.

Politicians and church leaders on the islands countered that the European Court of Human Rights had also said that same-sex marriage was not necessary and that it did not constitute discrimination. But in the same ruling, the European Court also ruled that if countries do not open marriage to same-sex partners, they are obliged to offer an alternative, such as a legally anchored registered partnership.

‘Court in the seat of the legislator’

Aruba started working on this and now has a partnership arrangement, although it does not give the same rights as marriage. During today’s hearing it became clear that Aruba has fewer objections than Curaçao when it comes to opening up marriage between people of the same sex. It’s the road to it where the pain is.

Both countries believe that on appeal the court has replaced the legislator by determining that a change in the law is not necessary to force a civil registrar to cooperate in the conclusion of a marriage by two persons of equal value. sex. It is this legal view that the Supreme Court must provide an answer to.

On January 19, the written advice of the Advocate General of the Supreme Court will be issued and it will become more or less clear what path the Supreme Court is taking in this case. The verdict will be announced at the end of February or early March.

2023-11-10 20:36:27


#Curaçao #marry #man #love #woman

ANPDmissionary State Secretary Van Huffelen at the ceremony for Tula

NOS News•today, 00:12•Changed today, 02:07

In Willemstad on Curaçao, the ceremony for the rehabilitation of the Curaçao slave leader and hero Tula was held with a day’s delay. In 1795 he started a revolt of enslaved people against Dutch colonial rule.

Outgoing State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Van Huffelen, among others, spoke during the ceremony. She apologized on behalf of the Netherlands and asked forgiveness for the fact that the rehabilitation took so long. She praised Tula as a man who had the courage to stand up for his freedom “and that of many others here on Curaçao”. Tula is a hero, she emphasized, “a historical hero,” whose struggle was “just.”

Van Huffelen told those present that the Netherlands “has deliberately and efficiently tried to erase the history of your ancestors. I say that with shame and regret.” She added that she had come to Curaçao to “face history” on behalf of the Dutch government.

In her speech, the State Secretary also mentioned the gruesome way in which Tula was tortured. “All the bones in his body were broken with an iron bar. His face was burned and finally he was beheaded.” That torture and execution was “a cruel crime committed by representatives of the Dutch state”.

The ceremony was actually supposed to take place a day earlier, exactly 228 years after Tula’s death, but due to bad weather it could not take place.

A great man who refused to bow down and remain silent.

King Willem-Alexander in his letter about Tula

King Willem-Alexander wrote a letter to the people of Curaçao, which was read by Governor Lucille George-Wout during the ceremony. “In the history of your country and our Kingdom, the figure of Tula stands proud. He arouses admiration and respect. Because of his courage and his leadership, because of his resistance to degrading exploitation. And because of the ideals with which he was ahead of his time.” , she quoted the king.

In his letter, Willem-Alexander mentions a visit he made this year with Queen Máxima and Princess Amalia to the former plantation where the slave revolt began. There he became “impressed again” by Tula’s personality. About his rehabilitation, the king writes that this represents reparation “of a great man who refused to bow down and remain silent. His voice resonates and reminds us that freedom ultimately has the last word.”

Rebellion against colonial rule

At the end of the 18th century, Tula worked as a slave on the Kenepa plantation, in the west of Curaçao. Discontent among the enslaved grew: they received little to eat and worked long hours in the heat. Inspired by the French Revolution, Tula and fifty fellow sufferers revolted for their right to freedom on August 17, 1795.

They moved to Willemstad and along the way more and more enslaved people joined them. The colonial government tried to suppress the uprising, but this failed. An army attacked the rebels, after which a bloody battle began that lasted almost a month. Ultimately, the rebels lost that battle and Tula was convicted, tortured and gruesomely executed.

Tula was long depicted as a criminal by Dutch authorities. It was only in the 1980s that more and more people in Curaçao began to advocate for Tula to be recognized as a freedom fighter and hero. In 2010, the then island government also officially recognized Tula as such.

Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas of Curaçao said in response to Van Huffelen’s speech that rehabilitation is a “condition for the healing process and the material and immaterial repair that must take place”. Because Tula has been portrayed as a villain for centuries, he believes the population has never had the opportunity to properly reflect on the struggle Tula fought for freedom and equality.

This video explains how the Dutch slavery past still has an impact:

How the Dutch slavery past still has an impact

2023-10-04 22:12:05


#Curaçaoan #freedom #fighter #Tula #receives #rehabilitation #Netherlands #apologizes