Conscientious objectors refused to take part in military campaign against Indonesian independence in 1940s

Families of 20 men who were jailed for refusing to fight to preserve the former Dutch colony in Indonesia have formally asked for their names to be cleared, arguing that instead of “deserters, traitors and cowards” their relatives deserve to be recognised as having been on the right side of history.

An official investigation into the period when Dutch colonies asserted their independence after the second world war found a failed military campaign in Indonesia had systematically used “excessive violence” and massacred hundreds of innocent villagers, whose families eventually won compensation.