Courts rules Mothers of Srebrenica cannot sue UN

31/03/2010

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands -- The Appeals Court in The Hague turned down on Tuesday (March 30th) a lawsuit against the UN filed by the Mothers of Srebrenica organisation. The association, representing survivors of those massacred in Srebrenica in July 1995, accused the UN of failing to prevent the genocide committed against an estimated 8,000 Bosniak men and boys. But the court concluded that the UN cannot be sued in Dutch courts because of its immunity under international conventions, upholding a 2008 ruling by a lower court. Dutch soldiers serving within the UN peacekeeping mission failed to prevent the killings by Bosnian Serb forces. The enclave was a declared UN safe haven at the time.

In other news, the last witness in the proceedings against Serb Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj will appear at The Hague war crimes tribunal in early May, presiding Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti announced on Tuesday. Three witnesses remain, however, the poor health of two of them will interfere with their ability to testify. Seselj has been in custody since February 2003 for war crimes committed against non-Serbs in Croatia, Vojvodina and Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1991 and 1993. (Politika, Beta, Fena, Dnevni Avaz, B92, AP - 30/03/10)