Dutch honor soldiers who stood by at Srebrenica massacre

[Rogue 9]

Guardian

Dutch honour soldiers who stood by at Srebrenica massacre


· Bosnia calls in ambassador to protest at medals award
· Troops were part of UN force meant to protect city

Ian Traynor in Zagreb
Wednesday December 6, 2006
The Guardian

The leadership of Bosnia protested bitterly to the Netherlands yesterday over the awards of medals to Dutch peacekeepers who stood by and did nothing at the infamous 1995 massacre of thousands of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica.

Haris Silajdzic, a former prime minister and a member of the three-man Bosnian presidency, said he had called in the Dutch ambassador in Sarajevo to demand an explanation for the military ceremony that was conducted at a barracks in eastern Holland on Monday.

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Henk Kamp, the Dutch defence minister, unveiled a plaque at the barracks praising the troops who failed to act to prevent the atrocity at Srebrenica when the Bosnian Serb commander, General Ratko Mladic, seized the enclave in eastern Bosnia, separated the males from the women and children, and then organised the mass murder of almost 8,000 men over 10 days in July 1995.

The shocking episode constituted the worst single atrocity of the 1992-95 war in Bosnia and the only event in the 42-month war that the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague has categorised as genocide.

Gen Mladic has been charged with genocide but has been a fugitive for 11 years.

The Dutch were shamed and traumatised by their role in the massacre. An official inquiry in 2002 cleared the troops of complicity but criticised the Dutch authorities, triggering a symbolic resignation of the Dutch government.

Families of the victims have been trying to sue the Dutch state in the courts in the Netherlands because of alleged co-responsibility for the massacre. Mass graves containing the remains of victims are still being discovered and bodies exhumed.

But on Monday in Assen Mr Kamp handed out medals to 500 members of the Dutch battalion stationed at Srebrenica, which was a so-called UN safe haven, ostensibly under UN protection when it was overrun by the Serbs.

"We are doing this to support our people," said Mr Kamp. "These people are in the military ... It is difficult for them and we want to support them," he added.

The medals were to acknowledge that the Dutch troops had "for years wrongly been held responsible for what happened in the enclave," said Mr Kamp.

Tom Karremans, the Dutch commander at Srebrenica present at Monday's ceremony, was photographed socialising and drinking with Gen Mladic. The Dutch were said to have obtained the release of 14 kidnapped peacekeepers in return for not obstructing the Serbian operation.

Protests were staged in Sarajevo and other Bosnian towns denouncing the military decorations as "scandalous". There were also protests in the Netherlands, but Bosnians who sought to travel there to demonstrate were denied visas.

[frigidmagi]

I admit I'm a bit shocked. From what I've heard the Dutch have been and are good solders. At least that's the word form Afghanistan.

Failing to act in this case seems to me rank abadondment of duty, not just as solders but as decent human beings.

Does anyone know anything else about this?

[Rogue 9]

The best case scenario that I've read about says they were outnumbered and had no armor support beyond a few APCs. Close air support was cut off after the Serbs threatened to kill hostages if there was another airstrike.

What you usually hear is that they stood about and did nothing.

[Cpl Kendall]

I admit I'm a bit shocked. From what I've heard the Dutch have been and are good solders. At least that's the word form Afghanistan.

Failing to act in this case seems to me rank abadondment of duty, not just as solders but as decent human beings.

Does anyone know anything else about this?

They were basically ordered from higher to stand by and do nothing from what I understand. The entire Dutch government resigned over the action actually and the military was and has been deeply ashamed of the action ever since. So why they have decided to hand out a medal over it is beyond me.

[Stofsk]

If they were ordered to stand down then you could say they did their duty, no matter how distasteful it would have been. I don't know why they would get a medal for it though.

[frigidmagi]

Orders and Duty ain't always the same. I'm withholding judgement until I get the whole story though. However I feel safe enough to say they don't deserve any medal for this one.

[Mayabird]

It sounds like this is a political scam. The story is convoluted enough that I can't think of what the exact reasoning behind it is and who's doing it (or if there's even a coherent reason and/or group behind it), but it smells of filthy politics somewhere.

[frigidmagi]

What gets me is that their units in Afghan have preforming like fucking heroes and instead of getting honors for that, they chose to honor a unit over standing still and letting thousands die. What the fuck kinda message do they think that sends to their troops for the love of God?

[Batman]

I have tried five times to find a technicality under which this would make a modicum of sense. I failed every time. It appears those soldiers were given medals for, in exchange for getting back 14 kidnapped peacekeepers, letting thousands of civilians be slaughtered. Quite apart from the effect that will have on the Dutch military (I've never exactly been a military man but somehow I doubt that is going to raise their self-esteem) what were they thinking? What kind of message are they sending to the world?
Of course, odds are even the world won't even notice.

[Rogue 9]

The Srebrenica massacre in large part formed my opinion on the UN as a world peacekeeping organization, that is to say, I hold it in absolute contempt in that role. It failed in so many ways during the campaign that it's hard to enumerate them all.

[Cpl Kendall]

The Srebrenica massacre in large part formed my opinion on the UN as a world peacekeeping organization, that is to say, I hold it in absolute contempt in that role. It failed in so many ways during the campaign that it's hard to enumerate them all.

If your looking for inspiration in the UN mission in the former Yugoslavia I suggest you read this.