Court in the Hagen Rules that Dutch Troops Are to Blame for Srebrenica Deaths

Dutch Peacekeepers in Bosnia, 1995

The Appeal Court in Hague, the Netherlands, ruled on Tuesday that the Dutch U.N. peacekeepers were to blame for the massacre of Srebrenica, in 1995.

On July 1, 1995, Bosnian Serbs conquered Srebrenica, which was considered a U.N. safe haven. On July 13, the Dutch peacekeepers surrendered the city to Ratko Mladic, the supreme commander of the Bosnian Serb armies, who’s also on trial now at the international court in the Hague.

The women were separated from men and the men were taken out and killed by the Bosnian Serb troops.

Dutch Peacekeepers in Bosnia, 1995

8,000 Muslims man and boys were killed that day, 200 of them taken from the Dutch base.

In 2008, a Dutch lower court ruled that the Dutchbat did not have any implication in the death of the people killed in Srebrenica.

Now, the appeal court ruled in favor of the Nuhanovic family, who filed a complaint against the Dutch troops, because the mother of Hasan Nuhanovic and his brother were surrendered by the Dutch to the Bosnian Serbs.

Ibro and Hasan Nuhanovic, father and son, were allowed to remain in the Dutch base because they were working for the United Nations peacekeepers. Ibro Nuhanovic went along with his wife and son, refusing the protection of the U.N. peacekeepers, and Hasan has never seen them again.

Before this crucial decision, that acknowledges that the Nuhanovic family and the other Bosnian Muslims left the Dutch base against their free will (except for Ibro Nuhanovic, who wanted to join his family), the Dutch authorities argued that since their troops were fighting under the United Nations, the Netherlands could not be held responsible for what happened in Srebrenica.

Furthermore, the Dutch state warned, and even threatened, along the years of trial, that if the Netherlands were to be held responsible for what happened in Srebrenica, it would no longer participate with troops in U.N. peacekeeping missions.

The implications of the ruling of the court in the Hague are very serious. On one hand, this could send a very discouraging message to other countries that contribute with soldiers to the U.N. peacekeepers, especially since the Netherlands were ordered to pay compensation.

On the other hand, the decision made on Tuesday could determine other families in Srebrenica to follow suit and file complaints against the Netherlands.

The Dutch lawmakers are taking into account the possibility to appeal the verdict.