Mothers of Srebrenica fr en

Country of proceedings: The Netherlands
Context of crimes: former Yugoslavia
Date: 2007
Keywords: genocide, compensation

Court documents
04-06-2007 - writ of summons (Dutch)
10-07-2008 - District Court Judgement on jurisdiction (English version / Original in Dutch)

Press releases
10-07-2008 - District Court declares it lacks jurisdiction to hear actions against the UN / Dutch version 

HJP News Items
11-07-2008 - District Court: no jurisdiction in case against UN

Presentation of the case

On 4 June 2007, solicitors representing 10 women from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the ‘Mothers of Srebrenica’ issued a writ of summons at the District Court of The Hague commencing a civil procedure against the United Nations and the Government of The Netherlands. The Mothers of Srebrenica represent 6000 women who lost family members during the Srebrenica genocide in 1995. They filed this civil suit to receive compensation and acknowledgement of the Government of The Netherlands and the United Nations.

On 10 July 2008, the District Court of The Hague ruled that it had no jurisdiction to hear the case brought against the United Nations by the 'Mothers of Srebrenica' citing the immunity of the UN enshrined in Article 105 of the UN Charter.

The Bosnian town of Srebrenica was a UN safe haven under the protection of Dutch peacekeepers at the time. Approximately 8,000 Muslims men and boys were killed after Bosnian-Serb forces overran the town. The Bosnian-Serb troops were under the command of General Ratko Mladić and the former leader Radovan Karadžić, the most wanted fugitives of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

The Dutch cabinet resigned in 2002 after a report blamed politicians for sending the Dutch UN troops on an impossible mission.