The Netherlands after 11 September
01 January 2002
Holland's reaction to the attacks of 11 September last year was similar to that in other European countries. It offered military backing to the "war on terrorism" and the Dutch Central Bank was one of the few Central Banks to immediately offer its support to the FBI in their search for "terrorist" money. In a joint European police operation, Dutch authorities also arrested suspected "terrorists". However, questions have been raised regarding the evidence that led to the arrests and recent developments have revealed the involvement of the French security services. Holland also introduced a series of anti-terrorist measures. Marking a break with the apparently tolerant Dutch handling of diverse communities, the intelligence information guiding the "war against terrorism" is critical of Muslim organisations and mosques for their alleged failure to "integrate" into Dutch society.
Questions raised over arrests
On 13 September 2001, four people, Rachid Z., Saad I., Jérôme C. and Mohammed B., were arrested in Rotterdam on the grounds of "membership of a strategically important cell of the European al-Qaida terrorist network". The same day, police made arrests in Brussels and Hamburg. The operation was a joint action between the French, Belgian, German and Dutch police. The arrests were made on the testimony of Djamel B., a French national born in Algeria. Djamel B. was arrested in Dubai on 28 July 2001 because he was carrying a false passport. During his two-month-stay in the prisons of the United Arab Emirates, he was interrogated and gave the names of twenty alleged al-Qaida members in Europe.
In October 2001, Djamel B. was extradited to France, where he told a very different story. He claimed that he was tortured during his interrogation and a medical investigation conducted in France proved his claim. During the interrogations, Djamel said that he had planned to bomb the American Embassy in Paris. The driver was supposed to be Nizar T., a Tunisian man living in Belgium, who was arrested in Ukkel, Belgium on 13 September 2001. Djamel B. had already been arrested in 1994 by the French police on suspicion of membership of the GIA (Armed Islamic Group from Algeria).
The Rotterdam arrests raise some serious questions. Of the four men (two French, one Algerian and one Dutch), two, Saad I. and Rachid Z., have been released. At the time of their arrest, the four men were in the house of Saad I., who works as a civil servant in Rotterdam. Saad was imprisoned until 7 February 2002, in a cell measuring three by four metres, without television, mail or newspapers and he was denied family visits. Saad I. claimed that he only gave shelter to the two Frenchmen, a fact which the two had confirmed before the inquiry judge. Saad I. had met them at the mosque, and took them to his house when he found they did not have shelter. Saad I. was held for more than three months in isolation before being released.
Rachid Z., an Algerian, who was also in the house was released quickly, at the beginning of October 2001. The public prosecutor claimed that there was insufficient evidence to imprison him any longer, but that he could be prosecuted under immigration laws, (apparently Rachid Z. had no documents). But because of a misunderstanding between the public prosecutor and the Immigration and Naturalisation Service, the authorities argued, Rachid Z. was released. He received more than 1,000 Euro compensation for the time he was in jail.
The French connection
The case was discussed in Parliament, where Benk Korthals, Minister of Justice, had to answer questions about the release of the Algerian man. The two other suspects, Jérôme C. and Mohammed B., who reject all of the accusations against them, are still in jail. On 17 December 2001, the court decided that the two men could be held for another three months. The suspects' lawyers raised questions about the prosecution's evidence and wanted to interrogate Rachid Z., who, it was later dis