The retired commander of Dutch peacekeepers in Srebrenica cannot be prosecuted for his alleged involvement in the killings, ruled authorities on Thursday.
Former commander General Thom Karremans was alleged to have been responsible for the deaths of Muslim men by turning them over to Serbian forces who executed them, according the relatives of three victims. The public prosecution department said that Karremans,
“cannot be held liable under criminal law for having been involved in the crimes committed by the Bosnian Serbian Army in July 1995 in Srebrenica”.
A separate court ruling, which is under appeal at the Dutch Supreme Court, ruled that the Dutch state must pay compensation to the relatives after finding it liable for their deaths.
A group called The Mothers of Srebrenica attempted to bring a case against the United Nations, but the Dutch Supreme Court stated that the organisation had legal immunity, essential for peacekeeping projects across the world.
Liesbeth Zegveld, the human rights lawyer who represents the victims’ families, criticised the decision on Karremans case, saying prosecutors had “failed to do their job” by not conducting proper investigations into the case.
Zegveld went on to say that one of the victims’ relatives stated,
“Can we ever close this file? Will at some point anyone acknowledge what went wrong?”
