UK Edition
Dutch troops '10 per cent liable' for Srebenica deaths, Supreme Court rules
The Netherlands is "10 percent liable" for 350 deaths in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, the Dutch Supreme Court has ruled. The deaths - 350 among around 8,000 Muslim men and boys who were killed at Srebenica in the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II - were at least partially the result of the actions of Dutch peacekeeping troops, the court found.
After the 350 men sought refuge in the UN base during the Bosnian War, outgunned and overrun Dutch troops handed them over to Bosnian Serb forces.
Judges upheld the previous ruling against the Dutch government that found it was liable for the ensuing massacre. But the court cut the state’s liability from 30 percent to 10 percent of an overall compensation claim, saying peacekeepers had only a "slim" chance of preventing the deaths.
"The Dutch State bears very limited liability in the 'Mothers of Srebrenica' case," the Supreme Court said.
That means claimants are only likely to receive around a few thousand euros in compensation.
Munira Subasic, the president of the Mothers of Srebenica organisation that sued the Dutch government for compensation, sparking the years-long legal battle, said: "Today we experienced humiliation upon humiliation. We could not even hear the judgement in our own language because we were not given a translator.
"I only have two bones. I have found less than 10 percent of his body."
The case could still set an international legal precedent for a state's liability when it contributes troops to peacekeeping operations.
“The government accepts the verdict of the Supreme Court,” the defense ministry said in a statement.
“The state thereby accepts liability for the damages as determined by the Supreme Court.”
A Dutch court originally held the state liable for compensation in 2014. In 2017 the appeals court upheld that decision before it was referred to the Supreme Court. The lower court said in 2017 that the Muslims were "denied a 30 percent chance of avoiding abuse and execution", and thus the Dutch state was liable for 30 percent of damages.
The Supreme Court agreed that "the state did act wrongfully in relation to the evacuation of the 5,000 refugees" in the compound, including 350 Muslim men the Bosnian Serbs were unaware of. It said the Dutch peacekeepers "failed to offer these 350 male refugees the choice to stay where they were, even though that would have been possible."
“The chance that the male refugees would have escaped the Bosnian Serbs had they been given the choice to stay was slim, but not negligible," said the Supreme Court, leading it to the 10 percent verdict.
Srebrenica has cast a long shadow over The Netherlands, forcing the government to resign in 2002 after a scathing report over the role of politicians in the failure of the peacekeepers.