The Dutch Supreme Court on Friday slashed the state's liability for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian War, saying peacekeepers had only a "slim" chance of preventing the deaths of hundreds of Muslim men. Judges reduced to 10 percent from 30 percent the Dutch state's responsibility for compensation to the families of 350 victims killed by Bosnian Serb forces who overran the safe haven.
Lightly-armed Dutch UN peacekeepers were overrun by the Bosnian Serbs during the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, triggering the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II. Almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed in the genocide at Srebrenica.
"The Dutch State bears very limited liability in the 'Mothers of Srebrenica' case," the Supreme Court said. "That liability is limited to 10 percent of the damages suffered by the surviving relatives of approximately 350 victims." The relatives are represented by the Mothers of Srebrenica victims' organisation which sued for compensation, sparking a years-long legal battle. Munira Subasic, the stalwart president of the Mothers afterwards said she was disappointed with the judgement.
"Today we experienced humiliation upon humiliation. We could not even hear the judgement in our own language because we were not given a translator," she told AFP.
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