Court: Dutch state partly responsible for deaths of 350 Muslims in Bosnia war

A Dutch appeals court has largely upheld a 2014 ruling finding the Netherlands responsible for the deaths of 350 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men in the Srebrenica massacre. 

A Dutch appeals court has largely upheld a 2014 ruling finding the Netherlands responsible for the deaths of 350 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men in the Srebrenica massacre. 

The Dutch state acted unlawfully in July 1995 as peacekeepers handed the men over knowing the dangers they faced, Judge Gepke Dulek said. 

But she ruled it was not 100% liable as many would have been died regardless. A campaign group for the families has called the ruling “a great injustice”. 

The July 1995 massacre of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys was considered Europe’s worst since World War Two and the case against the Netherlands was brought by 6,000 relatives of those who died. 

But after the base was overrun, the Muslim men and boys were told by the peacekeepers they would be safe and handed over to the Bosnian Serb army. In 2014, a Dutch court found the Netherlands liable for the deaths of 350 who had been inside the base, but not those outside.