Dutch sorry for brutal role in colonial war

Making amends: Cars displaying the Indonesian flag driving through an off-road track in Sleman, Indonesia, during an Independence Day celebration. A study has concluded that Dutch troops used ‘extreme violence’ during Indonesia’s war for independence. — AP

THE Netherlands’ prime minister apologised to Indonesia after a study found that the Dutch army used “systematic and extreme violence” during Indonesia’s independence war.

Dutch forces burned villages and carried out mass detentions, torture and executions during the 1945-49 conflict, often with tacit government support, said the four-year study by Dutch and Indonesian researchers.