Dutch state 'responsible for three Srebrenica deaths'

A court in the Netherlands has ruled the Dutch state was responsible for the deaths of three Bosnian Muslims in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

The Dutch were in charge of the UN "safe area" when Bosnian Serb forces overran it in 1995 and killed 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys.
The court in The Hague ruled that the Dutch troops should not have handed the three men over to Bosnian Serb forces.
The ruling was unexpected, and may open the way for other compensation claims.
The case centred on three Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) who were working for the Dutch force, Dutchbat, during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war and were among thousands who took shelter in the UN compound as Bosnian Serb forces commanded by Gen Ratko Mladic overran Srebrenica on 11 July 1995.
Two days later, Dutch peacekeepers forced the Bosniaks out of the compound.

Analysis

Lauren Comiteau BBC News, The Hague

The verdict is historic. It is believed to be the first time a state has been held responsible for the actions of its troops working under UN auspices. This could have far-reaching implications for other countries that may be wary of sending their troops on UN peacekeeping missions.
The Dutch government, which the court ruled had "effective control" over their troops on the ground, has been ordered to pay compensation to the plaintiffs.
This could pave the way for compensation claims by other Srebrenica victims, especially those whose relatives were similarly forced off the Dutch compound, a designated UN safe haven, where they had sought protection.
The verdict, which government lawyers say they have to study before deciding whether or not to appeal, will no doubt reopen a painful chapter in Dutch history.
In 2002, the Dutch government collapsed after an investigation by the National War Documentation Institute blamed them and the UN for sending ill-equipped Dutch soldiers on an impossible mission.

"The court ruled that the Dutch state is responsible for the death of these men because Dutchbat should not have handed them over," a spokeswoman for the court said.

The appeals court's judges have ordered the government to pay compensation to the dead men's relatives in a ruling that could have implications for similar cases against the Dutch state, says the BBC's Lauren Comiteau at the court.
The verdict came as a surprise to both the Bosnian Muslim plaintiffs and government lawyers, our correspondent says.
The Dutch government has always said its troops were abandoned by the UN.
But the court said that even though Dutchbat was working under the UN after the fall of Srebrenica, in a situation which they called "extraordinary", the Dutch government became more involved with Dutchbat and the evacuation, and in that sense they were responsible.
A court had previously ruled in 2008 that the Dutch state was not responsible for the deaths of Bosnian Dutchbat employees and their families because the soldiers were operating under a UN mandate.
It also said at the time that the Dutch state was "not liable for wrongful action taken by those in charge of the armed forces or members of the national government".

Dutchbat at Srebrenica

• 600 Dutch military personnel, including 300 soldiers, were rotated to the Srebrenica enclave in January 1995, their HQ in the village of Potocari, just north of the town
• They were lightly armed and ill-equipped to resist the Bosnian Serb attack, backed by heavy weapons, on the enclave on 7 July
• On 11 July, Srebrenica fell and some 20,000 Bosniaks sought refuge at the Dutch HQ in Potocari
• On 12 July, the Dutch allowed the Bosnian Serbs to "evacuate" the refugees after assurances from Gen Mladic; massacres occurred in the days that followed
• On 21 July, Dutchbat left Potocari

• Source: UN report from 1999
• Timeline: Siege of Srebrenica

The Srebrenica massacre remains a sensitive issue in the Netherlands. In 2002, the government fell after an official report was heavily critical of Dutch actions when the killings took place.

The Dutch state, which has faced several cases in recent years over Srebrenica, has always argued that it was let down by the UN, which failed to give its troops sufficient support.
'Effective control' The case was brought by relatives of Rizo Mustafic, who worked as an electrician for Dutchbat, and by Dutchbat interpreter Hasan Nuhanovic, who lost his father and brother in the fall of the Bosniak enclave.
They filed a lawsuit against the Dutch state because Dutchbat handed over their relatives to the Bosnian Serbs, and have been trying to get the Dutch government to take responsibility for their deaths for nine years.
The ruling said even though the Dutch soldiers were operating under a UN mandate, they were under "effective control" of top military and government officials in The Hague when they ordered the hundreds of Bosniak men and boys out of their compound.
The ruling said the three men were among the last to be expelled and by that time the peacekeepers already had seen Bosnian Serb troops abusing Bosniak men and boys and should have known they faced the real threat of being killed.

"The Dutchbat had been witness to multiple incidents in which the Bosnian Serbs mistreated or killed male refugees outside the compound. The Dutch therefore knew that... the men were at great risk if they were to leave the compound," the court said in its ruling.
Mr Mustafic was forced to leave and was separated from his wife just outside the compound fence and taken away, and was never heard of again.
Hasan Nuhanovic was allowed to stay, but his relatives were forced to leave. The remains of his father and brother were recovered in 2007 and 2010.
Gen Mladic is currently on trial in The Hague, charged on 11 counts including genocide of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats in Bosnia-Hercegovina and Srebrenica during the Bosnian war.

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