JURIST - Paper Chase: Dutch UN commander claims troops didn't know Serb intent in Srebrenica

[JURIST] The commander of Dutch UN troops in Srebrenica in 1995 told a preliminary hearing at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website] Thursday that he did not know Serbian forces had begun killing Muslim men and boys until it was too late. Ton Karremans said that initally his orders had been to protect refugees but when it later became clear that Dutch troops could not intervene they began "observing" Srebrenica's evacuation. An independent Dutch report [text] later showed that Muslims set to be evacuated were mistakenly advised by Dutch troops to exit the military camp, leading to their deaths at the hands of Bosnian Serb troops. The hearing was held to determine if there is sufficient evidence for family members of those massacred at Srebrenica [Wikipedia entry] to take legal action against the Netherlands. AFP has more.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...