Relatives deeply disappointed in Hague court's Srebrenica ruling
The relatives of men killed in the Srebrenica massacre in 1995 made their disappointment in the Hague court's ruling on Tuesday very clear. The court ruled that the Dutch state is responsible for the death of some 350 men, but only accountable for 30 percent of the damages claimed. After the ruling, one of the women started screaming at the judge, RTL Nieuws reports.
The Mothers of Srebrenica, under which the relatives united, called the ruling deeply disappointing. They haven't yet decided whether they will contest the verdict.
Srebrenica fell on July 11th, 1995. Dutchbat soldiers, working for the UN at the time, were ordered to protect the enclave, but could not stand to 2 thousand Bosnian-Serbs. Between 7 thousand and 8 thousand Muslim men were taken and killed. This case revolved around the death of some 350 men who were the last out of the UN compound. They were taken and slain by Bosnian-Serbs two days after Srebrenica fell.
The court ruled that the Dutchbat soldiers acted illegally by continuing to cooperate in these men's evacuation, as they should have known that the Muslim men would face inhuman treatment and execution. At the same time, it can't be said with certainty that the Bosnian-Serbs wouldn't have murdered the men if they'd found them in the enclave at later date, according to the judge. The court therefore ruled that the State is accountable for only part of the damages. In doing so, the Hague court partly upheld a previous ruling in this case in 2014.
About 25 relatives were present at the ruling. The Mothers of Srebrenica want the relatives of all the men murdered in the enclave's fall to be eligible for compensation.
The State will carefully study the ruling before commenting, a spokesperson said to RTL. According to him, "the assumption stays that the Bosnian-Serbs remain responsible for this drama."
