In an interview with Dutch newspaper NRC, lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld responds to the apologies that prime minister Rutte made on behalf of the State of the Netherlands on June 18th to the veterans of Dutchbat III, in connection with the events surrounding the fall of the Srebrenica-enclave on 11 July 1995. Rutte apologized because the Dutchbat soldiers had been sent on an impossible mission, but the responsibility of the Netherlands/Dutchbat for those events are swept under the rug.
'For starters, he should have apologized to the relatives of the murdered Muslims. Moreover, he should have acknowledged that Dutchbat made serious mistakes. The Supreme Court established this in 2013 in a case in which the Netherlands was deemed responsible for the deaths of three Muslims who were expelled from Dutchbat's military base in Srebrenica. According to our highest court, this should never have happened in those circumstances and at that time. And the Netherlands was also co-responsible, albeit to a lesser extent, for the deaths of 236 other men who were sent away from the base.' (unofficial translation)
Read the entire interview with Liesbeth Zegveld here (only available in Dutch).
Related news items, i.a.
- Out-of-court settlement scheme Srebrenica (State of the Netherlands) (in Dutch)
- Supreme Court lowers liability of the State for the death of 350 Muslims in Srebrenica, (NOS, 19 July 2019; in Dutch)
- Zegveld: "Avoid a unilateral decision about compensation for Srebrenica victims"
- Supreme Court: Dutch State is responsible for death of three Muslim men in Srebrenica