Thom Karremans commanded the Dutch UN peacekeepers, ‘Dutchbat’, who were guarding the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica when it fell to Ratko Mladic’s Bosnian Serb forces in 1995. He thinks he may well face prosecution in connection with the massacre of over 7,000 Muslim men and boys by Mladic’s troops.
Sixteen years after the event, the former Bosnian Serb general is being tried by the Yugoslavia tribunal in The Hague, but the Dutchbat military command may also be taken to court.
The Court of Justice in The Hague recently ruled that the Dutch state is liable for the deaths of at least three Muslims around the time of the fall of Srebrenica. The case was brought by relatives of Rizo Mustafic who worked as an electrician for Dutchbat.
He was expelled from the Dutch soldiers’ compound and was later killed by the Bosnian Serb troops. His relatives think he could have been saved and so now does Colonel Karremans. He was interviewed on Dutch television on Wednesday evening:
“If it’s true that so much time separated the departure of the Mustafic family and that of the last Muslim, which is what I understand from the judge’s ruling, then I should really be ashamed. Then, there would have been enough time and space to take another course of action: to keep all the people in the compound - and save them.”
Murder
Military historian Christ Klep is following the case as it develops. He thinks it’s all about whether Mr Karremans could have foreseen the murder of the electrician and the two other men:
“The question now being asked, and which will have to be dealt with if a case comes to court, is whether he could have known what was happening. He now says: ‘Those under my command did it. They sent those people away from the compound.’ Should Mr Karremans have done something about it if he knew what was going on?”
In the interview, Mr Karremans describes Mladic as a terrible man. Both are identified with the fall of Srebrenica and video footage of them together has been on shown on television all over the world. In it, Mladic can be seen humiliating the Dutchbat commander, but later gives him a present. Mr Karremans then asks whether it is for his wife. The scene does not improve the image of Mr Karremans and his Dutchbat men.
Threatened
After coming back to the Netherlands, Mr Karremans was often recognised by people:
“If you’re in Amsterdam in a pub and a bloke sitting there shouts: ‘Well! Look at that bastard! They should’ve killed him as well’ - or something similar. I’ve had to put up with that sort of thing often, although it’s quite a bit better now. I did feel threatened for a while. It’s not a coincidence that we’ve lived away from the Netherlands for the last 16 years.”
The Public Prosecutor’s office will decide in the autumn whether to prosecute Mr Karremans and other members of the Dutchbat command.
(mw/rk)
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It appears that the Dutch troops were put in an impossible position by the UN command. It is not at all clear to me what the rules of engagement were and whether or not they could have effectively protected the muslims. The Serbs seem to have held all the cards,but one tends to think that the Dutch,particularly their commander,did not cover themselves with glory!!!!
Karremans is a coward and a disgrace to the Dutch army.
50 years earlier, he would have been hung as a collaborator.
He had a moral & legal obligation to defend the civilians; regardless of the consequences to himself.
Article 7(3) liability is differentiated in the caselaw of the ICTY. Compare Perisic (Trial Chamber) outcome re: Command Responsibility with Galic and Stakic. Look at acquittals in Halilovic and Oric.
Note carefully the technique of combined charging and cumulative conviction re Art. 7(3) and Art. 7(1).
I assert that CR doctrine has been expanded in the caselaw of the ICTY and that the 'liability by omission' (Vukovar cases) extensive reading of culpability might become an issue if Karremans is indicted. There is also an increased emphasis on both 'failure to act' and 'failure to prevent/punish' which would be likely factors in any potential indictment.
I strongly recommend reading the dissenting opinions of the ICTY caselaw in CR cases in both Trial Chamber and Appeal Chamber in order to design a defense if the indictment goes forward. Note in particular, as well, the reports of numerous military experts on CR doctrine in the transcripts.
End of comments.
Exactly why were these three men expelled from the compound in a dangerous htgh-risk time? Karremans could have easily given trival duties to these men in order to keep them under direct Dutch protection. As for receiving a gift from the Serb commander after his position was militarily over-run, and placing the lives of Dutch troops in more than harm, this is completely unacceptable. Karremans should have held his ground and in no uncertain terms claimed that the Dutch compound was still under UN mandate and command regardless of the military situation and status of the facility. He and one or two junior officers should have insisted, even at gunpoint, that they accompany the Muslims in order to document and bear first-hand witness as to where these men were sent and what was to happen to them, in the name of the UN and the International Red Cross Committee. A courts martial should have been prefered against Karremans, along with a complete review of the rules of engagement given him before being deployed to Serbia.
You can’t send a toothless tiger in a pretty blue suit into this age old bitter conflict. Karremans is just a whipping boy for the UN’s inneffectual policies. He should not have been hired, as he was obviously no match for the seasoned, cunning Serbian commander.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIxrCOM01lM
If the UN cannot come in with the will and the mandate to lay down the law in this and other killing zones, they should stay home. In this case, their presence may have just given the surrendering Muslims the false sense of security that led to their deaths.
Thom Karremans and those under his command were "peace keepers". He did not perform his duties and defend those on his compound. If you are not going to be a "peace keeper" and defend those under your protection, then you should not have taken on the responsibility and obligations that go with the job. Karremans knows he failed to do his obligations and in failing to do so, he sent men and women to their deaths. He is not a murderer but a coward for not putting himself and his force of "peace keepers" in jeopardy. Don't be a "peace keeper" if you are not willing to protect those under your protection!
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