Amerikaanse congresleden kloppen aan bij EU over Demmink

Drie leden van het Amerikaanse congres - Joe Pitts, Frank Wolf en Chris Smith hebben zich gewend tot Christian Ehler, voorzitter van de Delegatie voor de betrekkingen met de Verenigde Staten van het Europees Parlement. In een brief dringen ze erop aan het probleem met secretaris-generaal van Justitie Joris Demmink, die wordt beschuldigd van kinderverkrachting maar nog altijd aan onderzoek en vervolging weet te ontkomen, serieus te nemen en recht te doen aan zijn slachtoffers. Hun brief liegt er niet om:

"We write to you out of concern for the integrity of the European Union's ongoing efforts to combat the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. As combating these crimes remains a top EU priority, we are alarmed by recent assertions of the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice relating to the prosecution of the group 'Martijn' and allegations of child sex abuse against the ministry's secretary-general, Mr. Joris Demmink.

As you may be aware, Mr. Joris Demmink has been accused of child rape. It is asserted that Mr. Demmink traveled to Turkey in the late 1990's to carry out the abuse and rape of numerous victims, and furthermore, it has been asserted that Mr. Demmink used the power of his position to obstruct efforts to file complaints against him, and used investigations as a way to deter his accusers.

Mr. Demmink is accused of what could be considered child sex tourism, a form of human trafficking. Given the nature of the allegations against Mr. Demmink and his influence within the Ministry of Security and Justice, we are concerned that the Ministry may not be able to properly execute The Netherlands' responsibilities under the EU Decision 2004/68/JHA, the Framework Decision on combating the sexual exploitation of children… "

Shared Hope International and The Rebecca Project are working to bring awareness to the global need to take seriously the threat presented to the world's children by perpetrators of child sex trafficking, and bring justice to the victims of Joris Demmink. Mr. Demmink has eluded investigation, raising grave questions about the seriousness with which governments are combating human trafficking and protecting child victims of sexual exploitation in their country and those where their citizens may travel as child sex tourists."

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