Writ of summons - Van Diepen Van der Kroef

These orders were not carried out. Dutchbat did not fire even a single shot aimed directlyat the attacking Bosnian Serbs (see, UN Report, number 474). Just before the fall of theSafe Area the order was also given in enforcement of the mandate to:‘provide medical assistance and assist local medical authorities’Instead of providing medical relief injured refugees were sent away even though thoserefugees had no prospect of any alternative possibility of obtaining medical relief.385. The supervision of the refugees on the compound at Potocari, under the guise of settingup a mini Safe Area, the refusal to permit refugees on the compound despite promises tothe contrary, and co-operating in the separation of the men from the women, as well asco-operating in deportations and the non-reporting of war crimes, do not fall within theterms of the mandate but rather constitute a breach thereof.Breach of international humanitarian law386. International humanitarian law is a collection of rules on the rights of people in wartime. It protects persons who do not or no longer engage in hostilities and it restricts themeans and methods of conducting war. International humanitarian law is also termed thelaw of war or the law of armed conflicts (see, inter alia, the Hague Conventionrespecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land of 1907 and the Geneva Conventionsetc.). The Standing Operating Procedure 208 noted above also contained rules for UNtroops on the protection of the rights of people in war time and as such also formed partof the international humanitarian law in force. Plaintiff and Foundation hold the UN andthe State of the Netherlands liable for having acted contrary to internationalhumanitarian law by not reporting war crimes.387. The question can be posed whether the UN is bound by international humanitarian law.Indeed, the UN has signed neither the Hague Convention respecting the Laws andCustoms of War on Land of 1907 nor the Geneva Conventions. There is no directapplicability on that ground. As already stated above, it is indisputable that the UNpossesses legal personality. The UN is in that capacity of legal person bound by© Van Diepen Van der Kroef Advocaten 2007www.vandiepen.com162