Writ of summons - Van Diepen Van der Kroef

144. A final example of the attempts made to halt the air strikes appears from the telephoneconversation that the Dutch Chief of the Defense Staff, Van den Breemen, conductedfrom The Hague with the military advisor of the Secretary-General of the UN, the DutchGeneral Van Kappen, in which he said that the third air attack should be stopped (seepage 2304 of the NIOD Report).145. The conclusion is that attempts were successfully undertaken from The Hague to call ahalt to the deployment of the Close Air Support although that involved cutting across theUN chain of command and by breaching Command and Control that resided with theUN (see page 2241 of the NIOD Report). The NIOD concluded (see page 2245 of theNIOD Report): ‘the consequences of the air support for Dutchbat were that it had towithdraw from Srebrenica Town’. In no way does Plaintiff subscribe to that conclusion.Dutchbat had to withdraw as a result of surrendering the OPs without opposition and dueto the failure to press home the Close Air Support, and specifically therefore not onaccount of the Close Air Support.146. The position of the civilian population of the Safe Area played no role in the decisionmakingin The Hague. That population was meanwhile fleeing and was instructed byDutchbat soldiers to proceed to the compound at Potocari, where they would be safe (seefor example page 2609 of the NIOD Report). Plaintiff will return below to an extensiveexamination of those guarantees on safety with the discussion of the witness statements.147. A new blocking position was established on the order of one of the CompanyCommanders of Dutchbat at 16.00 hours on 11 July 1995 to the south of the factorycomplexes by the compound at Potocari. A few hours later the VRS approached andmade clear by their gestures that the Dutchbat soldiers in the blocking position shouldlay down their weapons. That message was clearly understood by Dutchbat and thesoldiers in the blocking position allowed themselves to be unarmed by the VRS. Theyalso handed over their vehicles, fragment vests and helmets without any struggle. A linewas drawn only insofar it concerned the personal belongings (see page 2250 of theNIOD Report). The Dutchbat equipment was put to good use by the VRS a few dayslater when men and boys who had fled into the woods from the Safe Area were enticed© Van Diepen Van der Kroef Advocaten 2007www.vandiepen.com70