Cleveringa Lecture: ‘I’m deeply ashamed of this orchestrated asylum crisis’
The rule of law is crumbling in the Netherlands, lawyer Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You warned in her Cleveringa Lecture. She held up a mirror to those present: at the start of the Second World War and during the military dictatorship in Suriname many people thought things were not as bad as they seemed.
‘We had expected that we might and should be spared this.’ Gonçalves-Ho Kang You repeatedly quoted these words of regret from law dean Rudolph Cleveringa’s protest speech on 26 November 1940. He spoke out against the German measures barring Jewish staff, including Professor Eduard Meijers, from office. Cleveringa’s protest speech took great courage, Gonçalves-Ho Kang You stressed. At that time protest could cost you your life and Cleveringa was imprisoned the day after his speech. Meijers and Cleveringa survived the war, whereas their colleague law professor Ben Telders, who also openly protested, did not.
Military coup in Suriname
Gonçalves-Ho Kang You saw firsthand how war tore through her country of Suriname and how dangerous opposing this can be. She took the audience back to the 1980 military coup when she was still living there with her daughter and her husband Kenneth Gonçalves. Both were critical lawyers. ‘The coup was initially euphemistically termed an intervention’, she said. The constitution and the president were not immediately sidelined.
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Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You studies law in Leiden and is also holds an honorary doctorate from the university. -
The cortège in the Great Auditorium. -
Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl introduces the Cleveringa Professor, see below. -
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There was a large turnout for the lecture, with people listening from three rooms. -
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Beadle Erick van Zuylen, Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You, Rector Hester Bijl and President of the Executive Board Annetje Ottow. -
Alderman Yvonne van Delft, the Surinamese Ambassador and his wife; Antoine de Kom, Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You's husband, and her daughter Valérie Goncalves. -
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Gonçalves-Ho Kang You is congratulated afterwards.
Husband murdered
In hindsight this was a facade, said Gonçalves-Ho Kang You, because the regime became more hostile and protests increasingly risky. Cleveringa’s sigh was painfully apt here too: ‘We had expected that we might and should be spared this.’ As president of the Order of Lawyers her husband Kenneth Gonçalves openly criticised the regime until he was silenced for good: in December 1982 army leader Desi Bouterse’s regime had him and 14 other opposition members killed.
The Big Ter Apel Show
In the fearful months that followed, she fled with her daughter to the Netherlands, where she was granted leave to stay without difficulty. In recent years, Gonçalves-Ho Kang You has begun to wonder whether she would still be welcome in the Netherlands if she were to arrive under similar circumstances today. Would she have to sleep on the grass outside the Ter Apel refugee centre? Would she only be granted a temporary residence permit? ‘I’m lucky not to have to worry about that anymore because I have been a Dutch citizen for a long time now. But in that respect, I am deeply ashamed of the Big Ter Apel show, as Trouw columnist Stevo Akkerman recently called the orchestrated asylum crisis in the Netherlands.’
‘We don’t need to be heroes to speak out.’
Attack on rule of law
She is deeply concerned by the current government’s politics. ‘Why are we aiming for the strictest asylum policy ever but not the strictest anti-discrimination policy?’ She warns of the creeping erosion of the rule of law in the Netherlands. In recent years there have been numerous scandals about discriminatory methods used by government organisations, said Gonçalves-Ho Kang Yo. According to recent research, people who commit comparable crimes do not always receive the same punishment. People with a low level of education and a migrant background are more likely to be given a prison sentence, say the researchers.
Stand up for what’s right
At the end of her lecture Gonçalves-Ho Kang You returned to the Second World War and the coup in Suriname. Cleveringa witnessed an ambush on the rule of law, and it took great courage to speak out. Gonçalves-Ho Kang You witnessed an assault on the rule of law in Suriname and speaking out again took great courage. ‘We are witnessing the erosion of the rule of law. It is gradual, fragmentary and stealthy. We have to speak out but don’t yet need to be heroes to ensure that we too are not sighing in a few years’ time: ‘We had expected that we might and should be spared this.’
Introduction by Rector Hester Bijl
In her introduction, Rector Hester Bijl praised Gonçalves-Ho Kang You’s services to the rule of law. She also spoke of the global conflicts that can also be felt at the university. ‘We grapple with these in academic debate and use reason, even though the debate can be fierce at times. But we also see strong emotions on our campus such as anger and incomprehension, with feelings clearly dominating. With Cleveringa in mind, we try to connect reason and feelings here in Leiden. Because academia is at risk as soon as mutual respect disappears from your community and you no longer wish to debate with people whose opinions differ from your own.’
Text: Linda van Putten
Photos: Monique Shaw