Posted: 30 Mar 2010 02:58 AM PDT
by Kevin Jon Heller
AP reports that a Dutch court of appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling that held the UN could not be sued for its failure to protect Bosnian civilians in Srebrenica:
Appeals judges have ruled that relatives of victims of Europe’s worst massacre since World War II cannot sue the United Nations for compensation in a Dutch court.
Lawyers for the family members have vowed to take the case to the Dutch Supreme Court and the European Court of Justice if necessary.
Tuesday’s ruling says that the U.N. has immunity from prosecution enshrined in international conventions that established the world body.
The appeals decision upholds a 2008 ruling by the Hague District Court.
Some 8,000 Muslim men were murdered in July 1995 by Serb forces who overran the Srebrenica enclave in Bosnia despite the presence of Dutch U.N. peacekeepers.
A group called the Mothers of Srebrenica wants to sue the U.N. and the Netherlands.
The UN’s actions in Srebrenica were shameful, but this decision makes sense. Forcing the UN to pay damages for failed peacekeeping missions, now matter how egregious its errors, will only encourage the UN to allocate its resources elsewhere. And flawed peacekeeping is better than no peacekeeping at all.
