Editorial: Natalee, boycott and stupidity!
DIARIO Aruba
11/12/2005

by Jossy Mansur

Every day I grow more surprised when I see and hear the stupidities which are being said and done by some bad characters in Aruba, supposedly in the name of ‘patriotism’ which seems ill-conceived to me! You are not a true patriot when you change a cause for its result, [...], taking to the streets or the plaza to shout slogans, harming your own island instead of coming to its defense.

The cause? The disappearance of an American citizen on our island! The result? An investigation characterized by a good dose of error and negligence. If we feel the compulsion to protest, first go do so against what is causing the negative atmosphere, not against the ones who are doing their best to discover what is being hidden in the mysterious disappearance of Natalee, and in this way eliminate the possibility of a boycott!

The case of Natalee and the fight that the mother is carrying on to find out what happened with her child, and where she is, are the causes and effects of the negative atmosphere we are all feeling, that have arisen at the root of imprudent protests, absurd accusations against the mother, and calling certain American media terrorists.

Has common sense come to an end? Those who caused the harm now want to shift the guilt to the few Arubans who have the courage to show their face and put the correct name to the correct facts. Are we, by any chance, not aware that Natalee went missing when she was in the company of Joran and the Kalpoe brothers?

How then, are all three suspects free? They have no evidence to detain them? Of course they have! It is in black and white in the police reports, by their own admissions and on a videotape brought recently by Jamie Skeeters, a professional investigator who was able to get the suspect Deepak to talk and tell things that weren’t surprising, but which did confirm what a few of us suspected and even knew beforehand!

One of the most compelling pieces of evidence is that all three admitted they had forced sexual relations with Natalee, given that this took place when they girl was constantly losing consciousness. How can a person who is not conscious be in a condition to consent? Around the civilized world, under the empire of the law that mandates over anarchy or cronyism, such a situation is categorized as ‘sexual assault’, which is the same or a worse case of what is otherwise known as rape.

Being aware of this and all other severe accusations that the three suspects threw out against each other, how can there be a handful of people in Aruba who can’t comprehend what is happening outside of the island, and that it is negatively affecting a place that does not deserve it? Until what extreme of stupidity have they arrived?

The Americans feel that, at least in this case, Justice has not been well served. And the effects are being felt far, reaching even in the direction of the Dutch justice system, which in this particular case leaves much to be desired!

What can an insensitive person, combined with some social parasite, who believes that because they can go to the street to hold a demonstration, the American television media will run and hide from them? In a democratic country such as the U.S., no medium will let itself be threatened by the government in charge, because of a handful of shouters outside!

This manner of confronting this crisis is not placating Beth (Natalee’s mother) or the American media who want to discover the truth of what has happened.

The negative reception which welcomed Beth by the little group protesting during her last trip to Aruba ended up adding fuel to the fire. Is this the way to treat a mother who is a fighter, who hasn’t thrown in the towel about finding out what happened to her daughter? She is not demanding anything else than to uncover the mystery of the disappearance of Natalee, locate what remains of her, if she is dead and go back to her native city for the posthumous honour she deserves. And in case she is alive, sold to the world of sexual slavery or whatever other group of thugs, she wants to find where she is so authorities from her country proceed to her rescue.

What people in Aruba have to protest is the slowness in which the case has proceeded from the very beginning, the destruction of the declarations and admissions by the suspects, according to evidence presented to those who saw them; the complete negligence with the belt discovered behind the lighthouse; the human bone given to the police station which was not submitted for a rigorous examination; the sworn declarations of eye witnesses; the latest recording of Deepak; Joran’s previous accusations that he believed that Deepak raped and killed Natalee on the beach; the contrary accusations of Deepak and Satish against Joran; at last, a multitude of concrete things that deserve the protest of an honest people such as Arubans.

Let the mother continue with her investigation; one must give her all the support necessary for her to get the answers she is looking for; let her know she has the support of a people who understand her suffering about the disappearance of her daughter.

In such a way we can prevent any negative action against Aruba, but putting all this aside to speak imprudently and unjustly against the mother and the American media is counterproductive and harmful for Aruba.

You want to show patriotism? First use reason instead of protesting, and show the world that we are concerned about a person who has disappeared on our island while she was in the company of three suspects who were inexplicably set free by a judge who is not from Aruba and who does not have the well-being of our island in mind.

These are the things that have to provoke our protests, not the visit of a persistent mother, a lady who lives with the distress of what happened to her daughter and although she loses patience every so often, our tolerance has to be greater than her desperation.

How can I be in favour of any type of boycott against Aruba? Everyone who knows me knows that this isn’t possible; additionally, I went on an interview last week on NBC on this topic, and I explained that a boycott against Aruba is unfair and unproductive.

Finally, what the Dutch Ambassador has to do is go to the State Department and explain to them that the justice system in Aruba is the Dutch one, that the judges are appointed in Holland and are also Dutch, that the prosecutor in charge of the case is Dutch, that the investigator in charge when the case began is Dutch, that the five judges who dealt with the case are Dutch and that the principal suspect is Dutch.

Because of this, it is logical to conclude that Holland can help to clear up many things, given that Aruba’s hands are tied, especially when you consider the nationality of the most important authorities related to the case.

[translated by Getagrip]