Dutch state liable over killings of 300 Bosnian Muslims in 1995

A Dutch court has ruled that the Netherlands is liable over the killings of more than 300 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys at Srebrenica in Bosnia-Hercegovina in July 1995. The men and boys were among 5,000 Bosniaks, mostly women and children, sheltering with Dutch UN peacekeepers, according to a news agency. But the Dutch state was cleared over the deaths of more than 7,000 other men killed in and around Srebrenica. The Srebrenica massacre is considered Europe's worst since World War Two. The case was launched by relatives of the victims under the name "Mothers of Srebrenica". The Hague district court said that the Dutch peacekeeping forces, Dutchbat, did not do enough to protect more than 300 of the Bosniaks and should have been aware of the potential for genocide to be committed. It said the state should have known they would be killed by Bosnian Serbs when they handed them over from the UN compound of Potocari. "It can be said with sufficient certainty that, had Dutchbat allowed them to stay at the compound, these men would have remained alive. By co-operating in the deportation of these men, Dutchbat acted unlawfully," the court added.