The former U.N. interpreter for Dutch peacekeepers who were stationed in Srebrenica in 1995, at the end of the Bosnian war, has been battling the Dutch state in civil court for nine years, trying to force it to take responsibility for the murders of his father and brother by Bosnian Serb forces. When a ruling Tuesday by an appeals court in the Hague placed the blame squarely on the Dutch government's shoulders, Nuhanovic was rendered virtually speechless. "I really don't know what to say," he told journalists outside the courtroom. "I prepared myself for a negative outcome, I didn't prepare myself for a positive outcome." He then added that he felt "relieved."
On July 11, 1995, the Bosnian Serbs overran Srebrenica, which had been designated a UN safe haven. By July 13, outnumbered and poorly equipped, Dutch U.N. peacekeepers — or Dutchbat — bowed to General Ratko Mladic's demands and forced the many Muslim families who had sought refuge on their base out of the compound. The women were separated from the men, who were driven away and murdered by Bosnian Serb troops. In total, some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed over the course of one week that July, more than 200 of whom had been thrown off the Dutch base.. Full Article >>>
Location: Cayman Islands
