Colonialism and Human Rights. Indonesia and the Netherlands in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

In a pioneering article, titled ‘Colonialism and Human Rights, A Contradiction in Terms?’ the American historian Conklin established in 1998 that France not only violated human rights in West Africa about 1900, but also promoted them for a small African elite, both in intended and unintended ways. For colonial Indonesia about 1900 the British historian Ricklefs observed in more general terms a similiar human rights balance. In this article this rough human rights balance is elaborated in more detail and for a longer period in comparative perspective. The case of the Netherlands Indies is compared to British India, French Indochina and independent Thailand during the 19th and 20th centuries. Both the human rights violations during colonial conquest and the limited promotion of political and civil rights and education could be specified in rather exact terms. But for social and economic rights GNP figures had to be chosen as main indicator. In general, British India took the lead in the promotion of political and civil rights and education, and independent Thailand in economic development, while the Netherlands Indies occupied a middle position and French Indochina lagged behind in both respects. In comparative perspective, education proved to be a crucial human right, opening the way to eventual selfdetermination.