Europe

Dutch found responsible for three deaths at Srebrenica

Supreme court ruling could have impact on future UN peacekeeping missions

A Bosnian woman cries beside the coffin of a relative, one of the 409 newly identified victims from the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, who were buried at the Potocari Memorial Center, near Srebrenica in July. Photograph: Dado Ruvic/Reuters
A Bosnian woman cries beside the coffin of a relative, one of the 409 newly identified victims from the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, who were buried at the Potocari Memorial Center, near Srebrenica in July. Photograph: Dado Ruvic/Reuters
Fri Sept 06 2013 - 10:29

The Dutch supreme court ruled today the state can be held responsible for the deaths of three Bosnian Muslim men who were ordered to leave a UN compound in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

The court upheld an earlier decision by an appeals court.

The ruling could have an impact on future UN peacekeeping missions, as states could be reluctant to participate in foreign military operations if their troops can be held responsible when things go wrong.

Dutch peacekeeping forces were in charge of a UN "safe area" when Bosnian Serb forces overran it in 1995 and killed 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in the Srebrenica genocide, Europe's worst massacre since the second World War.

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Reuters