It is beyond comprehension that so many americans can jump to attack this small nation of Aruba for what? Failure to properly investigate a crime. How many thousands of criminals in the US have either not been prosecuted or released for the that same reason. Not in a thousand years will the crimes in Aruba amount to those committed in Florida every year. There are many things about European style justice, which Aruba maintains as a remnant of Dutch Rule, that I think should be changed but it is the people of Aruba that should make that decision, not the US, the UN nor the world court. The hypocrisy of all this. When foreign visitors are victimized in this country as they often are, particularly on the East Coast more particularly, South Florida, americans would be up in arms if their home countries maintained that they should have jurisdiction over the process and blast every effort, effective or ineffective, made to bring someone to justice. What these domestic nutcases are proposing if applied to the US would actually lead to total loss of our sovereignty and freedom to choose our own form of justice as ineffective as it often is. If you want to boycott Aruba, fine. Just don't give me that holier than thou complaints about their legal system.
Another voice of reason. Well said.
I jave seen people on FR talk about boycotting Florida over various reasons. lol
What's most frustrating about the Aruban justice system is the lack of information available not only to the press, but the victim's family, as well. And when the victim is missing, with an active slave/prostitution trade 25 miles away, a short hop by boat, there are fears she might not be in the island at all now. Every passing day diminishes the chances she'll be found. Every passing day, if she's dead, her body decays. Her family deserves better than leaked innuendoes from here and there that Natalee was a slut and got what was coming to her. This is the old blame the victim game, and it won't fly. Aruba's tourist industry is at risk, too. Many innocent, hardworking people, whose livelihood depends on the tourist dollar will suffer if the impression remains that young, pretty vistors to the island aren't safe.
I seesaw on this subject.
Aruba is a little island, anyone who has traveled alot in the islands knows these are not places with law enforcement like we have. And they do things slow. And they are inefficient. Especially the Dutch. So the island is taking a rap, maybe unfairly.
But Aruba is also a center of transnational crime, big crime. I don't know about right now, but in the last few years it has been a center of Casa Nostra activity, drug running, money laundering, etc. So that makes one suspicious of their entire island system of justice.
So until we know more, we won't know the truth. But I am not surprised they don't investigate like we do with forensics and all.
There are a great many wrongs in the US judicial system, and with Florida in particular, but just put yourself in Natalee's mother's shoes. How would you feel if your daughter disappeared in similar circumstances and you couldn't get a straight answer out of the police/judiciary?
I completely agree with you. We need only look within our own communities to see botched investigations, if in fact that is what this has been in Aruba. Some are alluding to cover-up because of the affluence of the boys involved, do they really believe that coverups don't take place every day all over the US? Do people really think that Aruba and other countries don't hear about the violence in American culture, especially against young children and women who are raped and murdered, not by Aruban people but by our own citizens basically because our own failed judicial system.