The “deepest apologies” that the Dutch government offered on Monday to relatives and survivors of the massacre in Srebrenica by Bosnian Serbs have been received positively in the Bosnian community in the Netherlands. Experts such as lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld do not see any legal consequences of the apology for the time being.
On Monday, Minister Kajsa Ollongren (Defence, D66) apologized in the Bosnian town of Potocari for the fact that Dutch soldiers who were supposed to protect the Muslims in 1995 were safe haven Srebrenica, were unable to do so. After Bosnian Serbs took over the enclave, some 8,000 men were murdered, the largest war crime in post-war European history.
Minister Ollongren said on Monday: „As part of this [internationale] community shares the Dutch government’s responsibility for the situation in which this could happen. For that, we offer our deepest apologies.”
The minister attended the 27th anniversary of the massacre. Since 1995, a Dutch minister has been present at the commemoration every five years, but the ceremony was canceled in the past two years because of corona.
‘Minister named nothing’
Alma Mustafic, daughter of a murdered Muslim man, responded positively to the speech. She tweeted about the apology: „Accepted, we had to wait a long time, but this is the 1st step in the right direction. On to concrete agreements on how to give Srebrenica a place in Dutch society.”
Mustafic referred to the joint efforts of veterans and relatives for a national monument in The Hague in memory of the victims.
Lawyer and professor Liesbeth Zegveld, who previously represented Bosnian relatives, is less enthusiastic. “In fact, Minister Ollongren did not name anything in Potocari.” According to Zegveld, the minister’s words suggest “a great deal of involvement in what happened, but that involvement is not apparent at all. The question then remains for what exactly are you offering an apology for”, says Zegveld.
As part of this [internationale] community shares the Dutch government’s responsibility for the situation in which this could happen. For that we offer our deepest apologies
Kajsa Ollongren Minister of Defense
Ollongren emphasized that the Netherlands had operated as part of a larger, international peacekeeping force. The international community and the Netherlands made “the promise that they would protect you”, according to the minister, “with the best intentions. Despite that, Srebrenica has been ruthlessly overrun. After which our soldiers continued to do what they could, to perform their task as best as possible and to protect defenseless people.”
Read an interview with Liesbeth Zegveld here: Rutte should have apologized to the relatives first
In her speech, the minister ignored previous rulings by the Supreme Court about the liability of the Netherlands, Zegveld noted. In 2013, the highest court ruled that the Netherlands was liable for the deaths of three Muslim men who had been expelled from the compound by Dutchbat and subsequently murdered by Bosnian Serbs. Six years later, in 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that the Netherlands was liable for 10 percent for the deaths of another 350 Muslims. After both verdicts, compensation from Defense for relatives followed.
Medals for Dutchbat
In June, Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) apologized on behalf of the government to hundreds of Dutchbat veterans for the government’s actions regarding the drama in Srebrenica. The 325 Dutchbat soldiers present there received the Decoration of Honor for Merit from Ollongren. The cabinet considered the Dutch state responsible for “the lack of support when Dutchbat III wrongly ended up in the dock”, Rutte said.
As early as 2020, a committee led by Hans Borstlap of the Council of State had advised the cabinet to make such a gesture towards veterans. The cabinet decision to also apologize to the relatives was linked to the decision regarding the veterans, said Ollongren’s spokesman.
Monday’s apologies in Potocari are therefore not a response to the fuss that arose after the apologies to Dutchbat, the spokesman said. Bosniak relatives, such as Mustafic, had become angry in June about the lack of attention for the Bosnians, because they had not been invited to the military ceremony. After Mustafic complained about this to Ollongren, the minister invited her to the Defense Department.
On July 8, last Friday, tweeted Mustafic: „Had a good conversation with @DefensieMin today. Called for more involvement of the Dutch government towards Bosnia and the Bosnian community in NL.”
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of 12 July 2022