The district court in The Hague has ruled that the Netherlands is liable for deaths of over 300 Bosniak men and boys during the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The court ruled that the Dutchbat, the Dutch peacekeeping forces, failed to protect the men who fled to a UN compound in Srebrenica, by handing them to Serb forces, although the forces should have been aware of the potential for genocide to be committed.
"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 said.
Although the court ruled that the Dutch state must accept some responsibility and pay compensation to relatives of the victims, it held that it was not responsible for the deaths of over 7,000 other Bosniaks killed during the massacres.
The court said that the remaining victims did not flee to UN compound but "fled to the woods in the vicinity of Srebrenica", where they were then captured and executed by Serb forces.
The verdict means that the majority of the relatives will not be entitled to compensation from the Netherlands.
Over 8,000 Bosniak Muslims were massacred by Serbian troops, after Dutchbat forces handed the area over to the Serbs. The commander of the troops who did the killing, Ratko Mladic, is now on trial at The Hague, facing charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Families of Srebrenica victims compensated by Dutch government (10 April 2014)