Writ of summons - Van Diepen Van der Kroef

OP-N161. The capture of OP-N is described on pages 2256 and 2257 of the NIOD Report. In theafternoon of 12 July 1995 the crew of OP-N saw the VRS plunder the village of Čizmićiand set the houses alight. Then the OP crew saw about twenty VRS soldiers,accompanied by two cows and three horses, climb the hill on which the OP stood. Theyheld their weapons aloft as a sign that they intended no harm. One VRS soldierbeckoned the crew to come outside to open the gate. The OP Commander set out withhis weapon aloft, together with a soldier who opened the gate. The VRS asked about thepresence of ABiH soldiers and whether there were mines. When both questions wereanswered in the negative, the VRS entered the OP area whereupon the crew went outsideand laid their weapons on the ground. The student who acted as an interpreter for theBosnian Serbs told them that they would be well treated but had to have patience.During this VRS operation the crew was in constant communication with its ownCompany Commander. There was no question of any actual threatening of Dutchbatsoldiers (see page 2257 of the NIOD Report):‘The VRS military did not appear to be malicious but they did take everything theywanted, both military as well as personal things.The OP crew felt as if they were madeprisoners of war, and they were evacuated in the APC accompanied by two VRS soldiers.(...) The Dutchbat soldiers were not treated badly’.OP-M162. OP-M was fired upon, primarily with mortars, by the VRS on 6 and 8 July 1995. TheCommander of the OP was given permission after his repeated request to ‘leave’ the OP.The crew later returned. The crew received the order above all not to fight back. Insteadof devoting itself to the defence of the OP the crew was ‘troubled over the question ofhow to get away from there’. The crew finally abandoned the OP on 11 July 1995 to theanger of the refugees in the vicinity and the ABiH. The population of the nearby villageof Jaglići saw that the OPs were abandoned and fled with the Dutchbat soldiers in thedirection of the UN compound in Potočari. The crew arrived there with some 3,000 to4,000 refugees. The flight proceeded very chaotically. Possibly there were some refugees© Van Diepen Van der Kroef Advocaten 2007www.vandiepen.com75