Quote From: judyblue22There are cases like this in Canada and the United States. "Thinking" someone is guilty is a far cry from having sufficent evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That is the standard we have all decided is appropriate before incarceration is justified (except in the US "war on terror"). In this case, I doubt the prosecutors have sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Natalee is dead, let alone who killed her.
I agree that it is very frustrating when a crime is unsolved. I know it must be horrible for Natalee's family not to know about her. There are lots of unsolved missing person cases in the US, Mexico, Canada and Europe too. Boycotting Aruba is a pointless action unless you are also willing to promote a tourism boycott of every territory in which people are missing and the crime is unsolved. That might bite the US harder than Aruba.
Watched the program on 1/19/06. The ambassador seemed to be putting up a "smoke screen" with his words. They did not appear or sound sincere. He seemed to be more interested in the "tourism" side of this situation than what had happened to this young girl or bringing the young men responsible to justice. I am not familiar with the Aruban laws or how they would treat murderers, sex offenders, or drug traffickers. How would they treat an American boy who they believed killed or sold as a sex slave one of their women while he was in Aruba? Would he be allowed to leave Aruba? The families of these young men seem to have monetary influence or have some "wealth" (in their standards). Are they buying their children's way out of being questioned, detained, or even downplaying their rolls in this disappearance? Are they paying the Aruban government and judicial officials to drag this out and then have it disappear from the headlines? What example are they setting for their children in "buying" their way out of a serious situation that may involve murder? I do believe that individuals are "innocent" until proven guilty. I would think that information would be easy to accumulate and lead to solving this case. I would think that they would want to prove their innocence rather than leaving doubt. How difficult would it be to to spot a beautiful, blond white girl (woman) in Aruba? Evidently these young men didn't miss her. Whatever would have prompted this young woman to leave the safety and security of being in a "group" of friends and go - alone - with these young men? What was she thinking? Did someone spike her drink with a "date rape" drug? So many unasked and unanswered questions. How would this situation affect tourism? It's hard to say. Unless this situation has affected someone personally, I don't see a boycott hurting the tourism in Aruba.
