Finding the Truth but Ending the Conversation? How Dutch Civil Court Cases on the Srebrenica Genocide Shaped the Space for Reparation

Abstract

Due to the presence of Dutchbat troops in July 1995, when over 8000 Bosniaks were killed, the Srebrenica genocide became a shared Bosnian-Dutch history. This chapter explores how civil court cases (Nuhanović; Mustafić; Mothers of Srebrenica) by survivors and relatives shaped the space for reparation in the Netherlands. Departing from a sociological definition of genocide, this chapter arrives at a similarly broad and transformative conceptualisation of reparation as a spectrum (based on Lisa Laplante (Laplante, Cornell International Law Journal 48:513–578, 2015)). While court cases themselves can only be expected to address the narrow, left side of the reparation spectrum, their contributions to fact-finding and the conversation on responsibility can form the basis for a larger, politics- and society-driven reparation process. The chapter thus starts by studying plaintiffs’ lived experiences of the court procedures vis-à-vis their needs and aims. While recognizing several instances of delay and denial, we acknowledge that the legal narratives and outcomes held significant reparation potential. However, studying the political and societal responses to the court cases, the chapter argues that this potential did not materialize. Most importantly, the political and societal emphasis is still on Dutchbat rather than on the Bosniak stories, thus blocking restorative and civic reparation. Therefore, we present initiatives by the Bosnian-Dutch community as ‘interventions’ in this stalling process. These initiatives re-imagine what reparation can be. We conclude that, through them, Dutch politics and society are given another chance to contribute to inclusive and transformative reparation for the shared history of the Srebrenica genocide.