Writ of summons - Van Diepen Van der Kroef

(…)My father arrived in Potočari on 12th July 1995. The Dutchbat soldiers had – contraryto what was promised to him and to me – left him behind in Srebrenica. He haddragged himself the whole way from Srebrenica to Potočari.’The refugees were frequently shot at with bullets and fired upon with shells during thejourney. This did not restrain the State of the Netherlands from issuing a briefing text on12 July 1995 in which were mentioned ‘the professional and courageous action by theDutch blue helmets’ and ‘the crucial assistance they offered the population in thetransfer from Srebrenica to Potočari’ (see page 289 of the Summary of the NIODReport).191. The judgment of Dutch historiography is, on this point, strikingly charitable: themajority of the soldiers had enough to cope with themselves under the circumstancesand it was apparently necessary to that end to run people over (see page 2614 of theNIOD Report).Arrival of the refugees at the UN compound192. Only a small part of the enormous flood of refugees from Srebrenica was allowed on thecompound. Final counts made when the refugees were leaving the compound producednumbers between 5,100 and 5,200 refugees. About 30,000 refugees had collected aroundthe compound (see page 2620 of the NIOD Report). Dutchbat soldiers appeared readyvirtually for the first time in one and a half years to use their weapons to threaten, butagainst the refugees, however, who tried to enter the compound. Those refugees wentthere on the promises made earlier that day by Dutchbat soldiers but were not admitted.Large groups of them were directed by Duchtbat to the bus depot and factories near thecompound (see page 2617 of the NIOD Report). The bus depot and factories werelocated some tens of metres from the compound (Exhibit 19 - map page 2605 of theNIOD Report). The refugees there received the assurance yet again that they would beprotected by Dutchbat, which prejudicially prompted these refugees to surrender theirlast remaining weapons (page 2617 of the NIOD Report).© Van Diepen Van der Kroef Advocaten 2007www.vandiepen.com84