Today, the District Court of The Hague ruled that the bombardment that the Dutch State carried out in June 2007 on a quala (walled residential community) in the village of Qal-e-Ragh in Chora (Afghanistan), was unlawful. The case had been initiated by victims and surviving relatives of residents of that quala. Amongst other things, the court held that: 

[Informal translation] The plaintiffs argue that during the bombardment, i.a. the principle of distinction as defined in international humanitarian law (IHL) was violated. This means that the quala - a walled residential community - could only be bombed if it was a military object at the time of the bombardment or could be regarded as such.  

The court concludes that the State has not substantiated concretely enough, that at the time the bombing took place there was sufficient information based upon which a reasonable commander could have designated this quala as a military target. As such, the State has insufficiently contested the plaintiffs' claim that the bombardment was in violation of the principle of distinction as per IHL. As a result, the bombardment of this quala is deemed to be unlawful. (par. 1.1, Judgment)

The plaintiffs in this case are represented by lawyers Liesbeth Zegveld and Brechtje Vossenberg

See further (only available in Dutch):


UPDATE (13 December 2022)
An unofficial English translation of the judgment is now available here.

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Prakken d'Oliveira, formerly known as Böhler, is a law firm with expertise and experience in asylum and immigration law, European law, administrative law, international criminal law and human rights. Our lawyers provide advice and conduct procedures before the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND), the Dutch Review Committee on the Intelligence and Security Services (CTIVD), the District- and Appeals courts, the Administrative Law Division of the Dutch Council of State, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ), the Human Rights Treaty Bodies of the United Nations (UN), the International Criminal Court (ICC), and other international tribunals.