Ruben Rozendaal

Ruben Rozendaal (September 21, 1956 in Paramaribo – December 1, 2017) was a Surinamese soldier who was involved in the military coup of 1980 in Suriname[1][2][3] and suspected in the December murders.[4]

Events

According to the statement of Freddy Derby, union leader and the only survivor of the December murders, Rozendaal is one of the four soldiers who retrieved Derby from his home on the night of 7 to 8 December 1982.[4]

In 2012, Rozendaal said that in the 1980s and early 1990s, Dési Bouterse supplied the FARC of Colombia with weapons in exchange for cocaine. A 2006 document from the American embassy (published by WikiLeaks) reported a possible connection between Bouterse and the FARC.[5][6][7] Rozendaal mentioned that:

"I saw him at half past five in the morning on December 8. (...) He lied to us that a coup would take place, and the people therefore had to be picked up. I believed him then, but in retrospect it turns out not to be true. This was not a military action, just brutal and cowardly murder. The people were taken out of bed and to Fort Zeelandia and were treated like animals."[7]

Rozendaal committed suicide in 2017.[8]

References
  1. http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4f83f45b2.pdf
  2. "the edge of knowledge". Oman Tribune. Retrieved 2014-06-02.
  3. "Suriname amnesty debate stalls". Caribbean News Now. Retrieved 2014-06-02.
  4. "Ruben Rozendaal". Jessicadikmoet.nl. Retrieved 2014-06-02.
  5. John W. Graham. "Suriname in 2012". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2014-06-02.
  6. Britannica Book of the Year 2013. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2013. p. 490.
  7. "Bouterse reageert luchtig op beschuldiging moord". De Volkskrant. 2012-03-23. Archived from the original on 2014-06-05. Retrieved 2014-06-02.
  8. "Ruben Rozendaal is overleden". www.starnieuws.com. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
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