On June 4, 2007, thousands of survivors of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre filed a class action lawsuit against the UN and the Netherlands, alleging that both are liable for their failure to protect civilians, many of whom were refugees that relocated to the Srebrenica enclave declared to to be a "safe area" by the UN Security Council in 1993. The lawsuit was filed at the Dutch Supreme Court and was heard by the Hague District Court. Marco Gerritsen, who represents approximately 6,000 family members of victims in the lawsuit, faulted the UN and the Netherlands for not being willing to take responsibility for the 450 Dutch peacekeepers that did not intervene and reportedly even assisted as Bosnian-Serb forces rounded up Bosnian Muslims, many of whom were bused away and later massacred. The UN claimed immunity in the suit, and the claims against the Netherlands were later dismissed.



Learn more about the legal repercussions of the Srebrenica massacre from the JURIST news archive.

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