The appeal court ruling that the Dutch state is responsible for the deaths of three Muslims at Srebrenica is today’s major news, but we’re also asked why more girls are turning to crime. A fatal fire hits the front pages, as does a lift in the housing market. It’s all in the Dutch dailies.

Dutch state ‘responsible for Muslim deaths’
Today’s big news is the surprise ruling of the Court of Appeal in The Hague that the Dutch state was responsible for the deaths of three Bosnian Muslims who were killed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica in July 1995.

Nrc.next explains that the three were expelled from the Dutch UN forces’ base in Potocari on 13 July because they did not hold UN passes. By that time, the judges said, the Dutch commanders must have known the three Muslims would be in mortal danger if handed over to the Serbs.

Ratko Mladic’s troops had taken Srebrenica two days earlier and, since then, had been rounding up Muslim men and boys and taking them away to be killed.

De Volkskrant points out that, up to now, the UN had been regarded as being in command of the Dutch UN forces and therefore responsible. Now, the appeal court has said the Netherlands was in “effective control” of what went on at the Dutch base.

The paper says the idea that individual states can be held responsible for what happens when their forces take part in UN missions could have far-reaching consequences. It argues the idea will make governments think twice before joining such missions in the future.

Trouw highlights the continuing human tragedy of the Srebrenica massacre: a front-page photograph shows the continuing work to identify the corpses of victims found in mass graves near the former UN ‘safe haven’.

It reminds us the latest ruling does not mean the Dutch state will be found responsible for the deaths of the thousands of other Muslims who were put to death by the Bosnian Serbs.

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More girl criminals – why?
“Girls are becoming more criminal. Why?” asks today’s nrc.next. The number of crimes committed by girls has more than doubled in the years from 1996 to 2007, researchers from Amsterdam’s Free University (VU) have found. Girls these days are much more often guilty of vandalism, violent offences and theft, we are told.

There are still more than four times as many boys in trouble with the law than girls though, and the researchers point out that boys are generally more violent, with girls committing less serious offences. General female emancipation is one of the reasons given for the increase in girl criminals.

Thessa Wong sees a possible relationship between the increase and greater police interest in domestic violence, “where girls are often seen to be the perpetrators”. “Also, in the past, the police wouldn’t have been as quick to suspect a girl as now… ,” she suggests.

And, “How do girls get off the straight and narrow”? The usual suspects are wheeled out: mixing with the wrong friends, lack of intelligence, truancy, problems at school, being impulsive and smoking, drinking, and hanging around the street. It’s also pointed out that more girls than boys suffer sexual and physical abuse.

Family fire tragedy
Both AD and De Telegraaf devote large swathes of their front pages to yesterday’s fire in a house in Hoofddorp near Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. De Telegraaf says the family of asylum seekers who lived there had only bought their home in April after years of moving around the Netherlands.

The father, an Iraqi, the mother, from Russia, and their three young children were all killed in the blaze, which was suspected arson. “They were peaceful, happy and sociable” reads an inside-page headline in De Telegraaf.

AD, however, doesn’t beat around the bush. Right from the start, it says the father is suspected of having started the blaze. He was seen carrying a jerrycan into the house and this was later found in the burnt-out wreckage.

The couple had relationship problems, explains the paper. Last month, the father had gone to the police and Youth Care Agency for help. Eventually, the family decided they could sort the problems out for themselves and the authorities closed the file.

AD says the neighbourhood is in shock following the tragedy. “Are they really all dead?” asks one woman passer-by. “I can’t believe it. My daughter was playing here just yesterday.”

Housing market in the lift
As if to provide us with a bit of good news, AD squeezes a report onto its front page on the blossoming housing market. Well, at least it’s coming out of the doldrums, says the paper. The recent reduction in conveyance tax from 6 to 2 percent appears to be having the desired effect.

“It looks like the negative spiral has at last been broken,” says a spokesperson for the Dutch Real Estate Association (NVM). “Our members are telling us the same: more people are viewing properties and deals are finally being clinched.” Another estate agent is effusive on the effect of the tax break, describing it as “spectacular”.