The Hague - The Dutch government cannot be held responsible for the failure of Dutch United Nations troops to protect the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre committed by Bosnian Serb forces, a court ruled in The Hague Wednesday.
The Mothers of Srebrenica, relatives of the 8,000 men and boys killed while the enclave was under the formal control of the Dutch UN battalion Dutchbat after being declared a UN safe haven, were among those seeking compensation in the civil lawsuit, brought formally by two Bosnian families.
'The state cannot be held responsible for Dutchbat actions,' presiding judge Hans Hofhuis said, as the troops were under UN command, not that of the Dutch government.
The plaintiffs' lawyers announced that they would continue the appeal in a higher court, taking it to the highest level if necessary.
They had argued that the Dutch troops had even ordered Bosnian Muslims to leave the safe haven, in effect delivering them into the hands of Bosnian Serb forces under the command of still- fugitive Ratko Mladic.
The plaintiffs said both the UN and the Netherlands failed to take effective action to prevent the massacre, thus violating the UN Convention on genocide.
The case was the first attempt of its kind to hold a state that participated in an international peacekeeping force responsible for failing to protect civilians.
In the hearings that took place on June 16 the Dutch state claimed it did not have the mandate nor the means - Dutchbat was only lightly armed - to protect the civilian population against armed forces such as the Bosnian Serb army.
On July 10, the court ruled that the United Nations will not face trial over the Srebrenica genocide.
The court rejected the claim by the plaintiffs' lawyers that the UN's immunity was limited to specific UN aims, something which did not apply in this case.
The court ruling added that if it were left to national courts to decide what was to be expected of the United Nations, then this could have an adverse effect on future decisions made by the UN Security Council on peace missions.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story