Court blames Dutch state for three deaths at Srebrenica

The Dutch state is responsible for the deaths of three Muslim men after the fall of Srebrenica during the Bosnian war, an appeal court ruled today, opening the door to compensation claims.

Dutch troops were in charge of the UN-declared "safe area" in 1995 when Bosnian Serb forces overran it and killed about 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

Relatives of an electrician who assisted the Dutch but was killed and the troops' local interpreter, whose father and brother are also believed to have died, had lodged a legal action seeking damages.

The Dutch court said that although its forces were initially operating under UN orders, the state was responsible as it had intervened in the "exceptional situation" and its troops should not have let the men fall into the hands of the Serbs.

The Dutch government, which has faced several lawsuits over the massacre, has always said its troops were abandoned by the UN, which gave them no air support.