NETHERLANDS/FILE: The Hague is asked by Srebrenica massacre families to waive UN immunity

Record ID: 725784

  • Title: NETHERLANDS/FILE: The Hague is asked by Srebrenica massacre families to waive UN immunity
  • Date: 19th June 2008
  • Summary: (EU) POTOCARI, NEAR SREBRENICA, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA (FILE - JULY 12, 1995) (AGENCY POOL) VARIOUS DUTCH U.N. TROOPS LOOK THROUGH CAMP FENCE VARIOUS THOUSANDS OF BOSNIAN REFUGEES ARE CRAMMED INTO DUTCH U.N. BASE AT POTOCARI, JUST NORTH OF SREBRENICA BOSNIAN SERB MILITARY LEADER GENERAL RATKO MLADIC IN DISCUSSION WITH U.N. TROOPS AND TALKING ABOUT THE EVACUATION OF WOMEN, CHILDREN AND THE ELDERLY
  • Embargoed: 4th July 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVAEVHODVSNK9HPL962SN0OHWI7W
  • Story Text: Relatives of the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre ask a Dutch court to waive the immunity of the United Nations and allow them to seek damages for their losses.
    Relatives of the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre during the Balkans war asked a Dutch court on Wednesday (June 18) to waive the immunity of the United Nations and allow them to seek damages for their loss.
    Lawyers representing about 6,000 relatives of Srebrenica victims filed the civil case against the Dutch state and the United Nations last year.

    "We are convinced that in a case of genocide, the immunity has to be abandoned, and the Dutch state and the United Nations have to appear in court, together," said lawyer Axel Hagedorn.
    In November, the Hague court dismissed Dutch pleas that the case should be dropped after the United Nations invoked its legal immunity and said it would not take part.
    Victims' families turned to the Dutch court for redress as Mladic and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, both wanted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague on genocide charges over Srebrenica, are still on the run.
    Munira Subasic, the president of an association of mothers of Srebrenica victims who attended the hearing, told Reuters before travelling that the genocide happened under the protection of the United Nations.
    Hagerdorn said the victims' families would seek compensation.

    "It's mainly recognition of what happened in Srebrenica and later on we have to talk about compensation. You have to understand that these mothers are living from 150 euros a month, they lost their (inaudible), their families, their houses, everything, so it's very important for them to get some recognition and maybe later on some compensation for what has happened there."
    Dutch government lawyer Bert-Jan Houtzagers said that U.N. immunity was important to allow it to exercise its duties without the interference of courts in member states.
    He said the Netherlands was helping pay for the rebuilding of Srebrenica, but not because it felt it was to blame for the massacre.
    The court said it will rule on July 10 on the bid by the Dutch state to uphold the U.N.'s immunity.
    The hearing on Wednesday comes after survivors of the massacre launched a separate case against the Dutch state on Monday, accusing it of negligence.
    Bosnian Serb forces commanded by Ratko Mladic massacred 8,000 Muslim men and boys from Srebrenica after a lightly armed Dutch army unit serving as part of a larger U.N. force was forced to abandon the town that had been declared a U.N. safe area.
  • Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register