Dutch unveil study into Indonesia colonial conflict

A diorama pictured on Indonesia's Sulawesi island illustrates atrocities from the 1940s war of independence when Indonesia fought to shake off colonial rule.

The Hague (AFP) - The Dutch government on Friday announced a new study into a bloody colonial conflict running up to Indonesia's independence in 1949, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

"We need to dare look into the mirror of our past," Rutte told reporters at his weekly press conference, in what marks a first-ever government-backed probe into events in the former Dutch colony four years after the end of World War II.