Today, the European Court of Human Rights held that the complaint that the surviving relatives of three Muslim men who were murdered by the Bosnian-Serb army had filed against the Netherlands, was inadmissible.
In the complaint, it was asserted that the Netherlands had not fulfilled its obligations pursuant to Article 2 ECHR by conducting insufficient investigations into the punishability of the actions by Dutchbat soldiers Karremans, Franken and Oosterveen in connection to the death of the Muslim men. Today, the court held that the Netherlands had fulfilled those obligations, and that the soldiers therefore do not need to be prosecuted.
The surviving relatives, who were represented in this procedure by lawyers Liesbeth Zegveld en Tomasz Kodrzycki, are disappointed in the court's judgment.
Lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld: "It is sad for the victims. A lot goes wrong during peacekeeping operations. This should also not have happened, but nobody is being held accountable for it. Following this judgment, no country will even think about prosecuting soldiers for their wrongdoings."
Read the ECHR-judgment here.
Previously
- Surviving relatives of Srebrenica victims file criminal complaint re crimes committed in July 1995
- Complaint against decision not to prosecute Dutchbatters in connection with death of Muslim men at Srebrenica
- Complaint against decision not to prosecute Dutchbatters in connection with death of Muslim men at Srebrenica rejected
- ECHR-complaint against decision not to prosecute Karremans et al