Families of Srebrenica Victims to Sue Dutch, U.N.

June 1, 2007

Source: The Washington Post

Wire Service: Reuters

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/01/AR2007060100451.html

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Families of the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia will sue the Dutch state and the United Nations, which they blame in part for allowing the killings to happen, lawyers said on Friday.

The law firm representing a group of about 6,000 family members said it would file a civil suit in the Netherlands on Monday.

During the 1992-95 Bosnian war, Srebrenica became a supposed safe area guarded by a Dutch army unit operating under a United Nations mandate.

The lightly armed Dutch soldiers, lacking air support, were forced to abandon the enclave to Bosnian Serb forces, who took away and massacred some 8,000 Muslim men and boys relying on the protection of the Dutch troops.