PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC—On Friday, the United States imposed sanctions on former Surinamese President Desiré Delano Bouterse and six former Surinamese military officials for alleged “gross violations of human rights.”
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, who made the announcement, said the decision of the US government follows the conviction of Bouterse and the six other ex-military officers for their part in the so-called ‘December murders’, a crime in which soldiers led by Bouterse executed 15 political opponents in Fort Zeelandia on December 8, 1982.
Bouterse was then commander of the army and de facto head of government of Suriname after coming to power through a military coup on February 25, 1980.
Four family members of the seven convicted ex-military officers are also banned from entering the US. However, their names were not mentioned in the statement.
“The United States is today announcing the designations of former Surinamese President Bouterse and six former Surinamese military officials: Benny Brondenstein, Stephanus Marinus Dendoe, Iwan Dijksteel, Ernst Gefferie, Kenneth Kempes, and Lucien Lewis under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, due to their involvement in extrajudicial killings of political opponents during the “December Murders” of 1982. These individuals and four family members are generally ineligible for entry into the United States,” the statement said.
It further stated that the United States commends Suriname for its commitment to the rule of law, including its effort to maintain judicial independence and combat official impunity.
Bouterse and the seven ex-soldiers were sentenced to long prison terms by the Court Martial on November 19, 2019.
The ex-army leader received an unconditional 20-year prison sentence, while Brondenstein, Gefferie, Dijksteel, Lewis, and Kempes received sentences ranging from 10 to 15 years.
Dijksteel, Bouterse, Dendoe, Gefferie, and Bronstein appealed against the verdict, but in December last year, the Court of Justice confirmed the convictions.
Brondenstein and Dendoe checked themselves into a penal institution in January and are serving their sentences.
However, Bouterse and Dijksteel did not show up and are still on the run.
After the Public Prosecution Service issued an arrest warrant against them nationally, Bouterse and Dijksteel were placed on Interpol’s international wanted list.
Earlier this week, several civil society organizations and relatives of the victims of the December murders sent an open letter to President Santokhi and the Attorney General urging that the authorities make more efforts to track down and arrest Bouterse and Dijksteel so that their imprisonment may be imposed.
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