‘Netherlands would pay part of the ransom' - MSF stands firm in the ransom affair of Arjan Erkel

More than a year ago, Arjan Erkel, who had been kidnapped, was released. Today, the Netherlands and MSF are still arguing about the 1 million Euros ransom payment that was paid for his release.

Geneva, 30.11.2005, "MSF was able to pay up to 250,000 Euros for the release of Arjan Erkel. If the kidnappers were to demand more, the Dutch government would have jumped in. I have discussed this regularly with the Dutch ambassador in Moscow during the kidnap. It was never put in writing. But it was referred to regularly. This was a working hypothesis."

Steve Cornish was the head of the Swiss mission of MSF in Moscow during the kidnap of Arjan Erkel (from August 2002 to April 2004). He was very clear yesterday in the majestic Palais de Justice in Geneva: the Netherlands and MSF were consistently prepared to pay a ransom. Hence rendering void the statements of both sides according to which they would not pay ransom for kidnapping.

Cornish, a small and delicate Canadian, with half long black hair, was an important witness in the court case initiated by the Dutch government against MSF. The Netherlands paid 1 million Euros for Arjan's release, but is now requiring MSF to repay this amount according to the argument that it was a ‘down payment'. MSF denies this. The release operation was, according to MSF, a Dutch initiative barely involving the humanitarian organization. An MSF proposal to pay half of the amount was refused by the Dutch government. The Swiss judge has to decide who played the most crucial and important role during the release of Erkel and what kind of financial commitments were made. Humanitarian organizations and donor countries are closely following the case: the judge's verdict could set a precedent. Apart from Cornish, who is now working for the Canadian Red Cross, another MSF witness and two Dutch diplomats who were flown in to provide testimony.

Cornish' hearing, which was supposed to last only 20 minutes, stretched into a long hour and a half. Just as in the previous cases, the judge lambasted the French-English interpreter, the lawyers and the typist; he was highly displeased with the unexpected length of the hearings. "Your scheduled time stretches like an accordion! I will send the other witnesses home if you go on like this and I don't care whether they had to travel from far." He was also interrupting the witnesses with remarks like: "I did not ask for an organigram, I asked who was responsible in your organization" or "Please give me an answer to my question".

However, the judge was captivated when Cornish explained how he, as chief of the MSF crisis cell, had kept intense contacts for 20 long months with the former Dutch ambassador in Moscow. The ambassador, who had set up contacts with the veterans of the Russian KGB (who often assist in solving kidnaps), allowed Cornish to sit in during meetings - up until the moment when the veterans got tired of the MSF media campaigns that blamed the Russian government for disinterest. Cornish said that the ambassador called him on April 8th 2004. "He said that through his contacts there was a chance to free Arjan... for 1 million euros. He wanted to know whether MSF could pay such a sum. I was surprised."

"Why?", the judge asked. "Because the Netherlands knew that we only had 250,000 euros in the embassy available for possible ransom payments and that we, as a humanitarian organization, could not pay more. We had often discussed what would happen if ransom was asked. My superiors in Geneva discussed this as well with the ministry in The Hague."

"I am catching a fish here", the judge said.

"It could be 250,000 or 300,000", Cornish clarified, "but the agreement was that if a larger ransom was being asked, the government would jump in. That was the impression they gave us."

"Who?" asked the judge, "The ambassador?" Cornish nodded, "He told me that they would cover the difference".

"Did he say that only once?", the judge asked. While during the hearing in October, the ambassador Tiddo Hofstee had never mentioned anything about this. "No, he said it several times".

Later on, the judge also heard Onno Elderenbosch, the current ambassador in Georgia who was at that time working at the Dutch embassy in Moscow. Via a former FSB colonel, nicknamed ‘Volodja', he understood in early April 2004 that there was a chance that Erkel could be released for 1 million euros. He passed the information on to Hofstee immediately. A week later, on April 8th, Hofstee informed Cornish, at the very moment that the release operation started.

"Why did you wait a week to inform MSF?" the MSF lawyer asked, seeing an opportunity to undermine the Dutch government's argument as if they were purely acting as the organization's bank. "Because only on April 8th did we get the final confirmation" Elderenbosch replied formally. "Before that, Volodja only said 'maybe'".

At the end of the hearing both parties stated that the hearing supported their respective claims. The last hearing will be in January.

By Caroline de Gruyter - NRC Handelsblad correspondent
Article published in NRC Handelsblad - 30.11.2005