22 b) Erwin Willemdam, former Moiwana Village resident The witness was present at Moiwana Village during the events of November 29, 1986; his wife was killed during the massacre. The attack itself had the characteristics of a planned military operation, according to the witness, who had served in the army himself. He judged this by the way the attackers approached the village and surrounded it. He also heard an order given to burn down the village huts. Immediately after the attack, the witness fled to French Guiana. After spending a year there, he decided to return to Suriname so that his children could have an education. About this time, he started collaborating with groups of survivors to seek justice. In the N’djuka culture it is an obligation to pursue justice; if it is not obtained, “then your life is disturbed; it’s disrupted, and you can’t continue to live in a proper way.” The two children the witness had with his deceased wife also participate in these activities to seek justice, since it is a cultural responsibility that continues through the generations. Since the attack, the witness has driven past Moiwana Village, but has never stopped. He does not know of other community members who have returned to Moiwana to live. “As long as justice is not served, […] then they cannot go back to that place to stay.” Since there has been no investigation, the witness has the feeling that the Moiwana survivors are not treated in the same way as other Surinamese citizens. The community members believe that while those who died at Moiwana are not vindicated, their souls will not be at peace. Furthermore, as long as their bodies do not receive a proper burial, this will bring negative consequences upon the living. The witness is fearful of these angry spirits. However, “if everything is done in a proper way – justice is served and compensation is granted – then the people can go back and live again in that area.” At this moment, since “nothing” has been done, the witness would not return. One of the witness’ greatest sources of suffering is that he does not know what has happened to his wife’s body. He heard that some corpses from Moiwana were burned at a particular place in Moengo, the town where he now lives. Every time he passes by that location he feels very bad about what happened. “That is one of the worst things that could occur to us, if you burn the body of someone who died.” The Moiwana survivors have a committee, which coordinates with Moiwana ’86 on the legal matters associated with the investigation. The witness is not a member of this committee. The committee wrote letters to the State and tried to work with the government to advance the investigation. But the State “never reacted.” For example, the Moiwana survivors were not informed about the State’s excavation of the human remains in 1993. In this way, now “there is no interest in cooperation with the government at this [stage of the proceedings].” On a personal level, the witness is fearful of taking the case to a judge and distrusts the State police. One day, a military officer and three police asked