The Netherlands officially apologizes for role in Srebrenica genocide
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This marks Amsterdam's first apology for its role in the genocide.
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A woman prays at a graveyard, ahead of a mass funeral in Potocari near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina July 11, 2020. (Reuters)
This month, 27 years ago, 8,000 Bosniak Muslims were massacred by Bosnian Serb forces. After 27 years, the Netherlands, for the first time, offered its "deepest condolences" for its role in the Srebrenica genocide, apologizing to the victims.
In July 1995, Bosniak men and boys were singled out from the women in their families and were taken to execution sites where they were massacred, after which they were dumped in mass graves that mourners are still discovering and burying to this day.
Amsterdam claims that its forces in the country were outgunned and outnumbered, and were 'unable' to prevent Bosnian Serb forces from committing violence.
"The international community failed to offer adequate protection to the people of Srebrenica and as part of that community, the Dutch government shares responsibility for the situation in which that failure occurred. And for this we offer our deepest apologies,” said Kajsa Ollongren, the Dutch foreign minister.
“The events of 1995 led to deep human suffering that is palpable here to this day. We cannot relieve you of this suffering. But what we can do is to look history straight in the eye,” she said.
Dutch courts concluded that Amsterdam is partially responsible for the fall of Srebrenica, and compensated survivors of the genocide.
In 2002, the Dutch Prime Minister at the time, Wim Kok, said that the Dutch government accepts responsibility but refuses to take the blame. For years, the relatives of the victims demanded an apology as Amsterdam's simple acceptance of its responsibility in the massacre was not enough.
What was more aggravating to the mourners was that last month, the Netherlands issued an apology to Dutch UN soldiers who were present during the time of the massacre, apologizing for the conditions under which they had to serve.
The Srebrenica genocide is the worst atrocity in the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, according to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, which saw the killing of around 100,000 people.
