Srebrenica Massacre Victims Win Case Against Dutch Government

Jul 6, 2011, 12:56 by R.E. Christian

A court in The Hague Tuesday held the Dutch government responsible for the deaths of three victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and awarded damages.

Hasan Nuhanovic, an interpreter for the Dutch U.N. peacekeepers who failed to protect the Muslim "safe zone" in Bosnia, and the family of Rizo Mustafic, an electrician for the force, charged it knowingly handed their relatives over to the Bosnian Serbs who killed them -� along with 8,000 others.

The two men had sought sanctuary at the Dutch post with their families, Radio Netherlands Worldwide reported. Mustafic was forced to leave and separated from his wife. She was taken away and never seen again; he was killed. Nuhanovic was allowed to stay, but his relatives were made to leave. The remains of his father and brother were found in 2007 and 2010.

The three were among 5,000 men who had sought refuge in the Dutch compound.

A lower court ruled earlier the Netherlands was not responsible because the soldiers were serving under the U.N. flag, DutchNews.nl reported.

Ratko Mladic, leader of the Bosnian Serb forces, is being tried at the U.N. tribunal in The Hague.

Source: UPI