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BBC: UN & Dutch disaster in Srebrenica
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SREBRENICA REPORT- Dutch Government Collapses
Saturday, May 18, 2002
The release of a report on April 10th into the Srebrenica horror exploded like a Serb artillery shell in the market place of Dutch politics on April 10th. The Dutch government report blamed Dutch army officers for relinquishing control of the UN declared "safe haven" to the Serb forces in July 1995 despite their own fears of a massacre. The peacekeeping mission that was supposed to protect the town of Srebrenica, swollen by thousands of refugees from outlying villages, ended in a week long orgy of murder by Serb troops led by Ratko Mladic. The government was also blamed for sending its peacekeeping troops into BiH without a clearly defined mission and blamed the UN for failing to give the troops enough support to defend the local population. Some 200 lightly armed Dutch soldiers stood by as Mladic ordered Muslim men and women separated. The women were deported whilst the 8,000 men and boys were executed.
The report itself consists of 7,600 pages. Primary blame of course, goes to Mladic, currently hiding from the ICTY. Survivors of Srebrenica say the report merely confirms what they have been saying all along: Dutch troops did not do enough to prevent the slaughter. "They had a mandate to help us, but no will to do so," said their former translator Sabra Kulenovic, who lost 28 relatives in the worst massacre in Europe since World War II.
On Tuesday, 16th April the Dutch government shocked the world by announcing the resignation of the entire cabinet. Prime Minister Wim Kok said the government would accept responsibility for its failure to protect the town. One of the most serious accusations is that the Dutch Army withheld information about the massacre from the Defence Minister at the time, in an effort to protect its own reputation.
The next day, General Ad van Baal, Dutch Army chief of staff also resigned, accepting responsibility for mistakes made by Dutch military commanders and the army's subsequent actions. A general election subsequently took place on 15th May, amid Holland's first political killing since the Second World War.
Since the tragedy, about 70% of the original "Dutchbat" have left the army and ten have reportedly committed suicide. One of the former Dutch peacekeepers said, "Others were also to blame, but we Dutch should be big enough to offer some financial compensation (to the widows of Srebrenica)."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/20/dutch-coalition-collapse-afghanistan
Excerpt:
He tendered his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix, the Dutch ceremonial head of state, in a telephone call.
"A plan was agreed when our soldiers went to Afghanistan," said the Labour leader, Wouter Bos. "Our partners in the government didn't want to stick to that plan, and on the basis of their refusal we have decided to resign from this government."
In Brussels, Nato spokesman James Appathurai said the military alliance did not comment on the internal political debates of member countries.
"Of course, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen continues to believe that the best way forward would be a new, smaller Dutch mission, including a provincial reconstruction team in Uruzgan."
He added that this would consolidate the success that the Dutch have had and ease the transition of peacekeeping to Afghan forces.
Any Dutch withdrawal would be a worrying sign for the alliance, which has struggled to raise the 10,000 additional troops that its top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has demanded to accompany the 30,000 US reinforcements being deployed there.
The Labour withdrawal leaves the Dutch coalition government with just 47 seats in the 150-member parliament. Elections can be held as early as May under Dutch law – one year ahead of schedule.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutchbat
Excerpt:
DUTCHBAT (military short term for "Dutch battalion") nominally was a Dutch battalion under command of the United Nations in operation UN PROtection FORce United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). It was hastily formed out of the emerging first ever Air Mobile Brigade of the Royal Netherlands Armed Forces between February, 1994 and November, 1995 to participate in the peacekeeping operation in former Yugoslavia. To it fell the role of safekeeping the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica during the Yugoslav wars (1992–1995). In its third replacement, "Dutchbat III," commanded by lieutenant colonel Thomas Karremans, the enclave fell to the Bosnian Serbs under colonel general Mladic Ratko Mladic, His troops included the Scorpions group. Thousands of men and children were transported to places nearby; CIA U-2 spy planes followed the operation and took pictures of mass graves being dug: the end of the road for these people. The pictures were only made public much later. Many other Bosniaks tried to flee alone and in large groups and were killed in the woods.
Colonel Karremans after the Srebrenica massacre of '95DUTCHBAT, in spite of the grandiose name, never was anything approaching a battalion. The four mission consisted of about 450 troops each rotation called Dutchbat I, II, III and IV. Armament was personal weapons and machine guns, in accordance with the UN mandate of UNPROFOR. The headquarters were installed in an old battery factory in Potocari, 5 km from Srebrenica, and used 30 observation posts (OPs) throughout the perimeter of the enclave, mostly consisting of a sandbagged armored car and associated personnel and equipment.
UNPROFOR's mission was the protection of the civilian populace, of this Bosnian enclave (dubbed a "secure area" or "safe haven" by the UN) amongst many other places in former Yugoslavia. and its Rules of Engagement (ROE) allowed only to use force in acts of self-defense, counting on air support from NATO to guarantee the mission. Intervening in the fighting was strictly forbidden to all NATO troops, often to their great frustration. DUTCHBAT's zone fell under siege by the VRS, the Army of the Republika Srpska when NATO air forces started an all-out attack on the Bosnian Serbs besieging Sarajewo
Former Dutchbat area in Srebrenica/PotočariDescribed by some analysts as "a mousehole" because of its geographic location in a valley enclosed by hills and mountains, as befits a winter resort, the enclave underwent an easy blockade by the Bosnian-Serbian forces of Colonel General Ratko Mladić, isolating the Dutch battalion, causing serious deficiencies in provisions. One Dutch soldier died March 9 by mortar fire by VRS. When VRS artillery squashed the resistance of the 28ª Mountain Infantry Division, ARBiH, defending the town, Lieutenant-Colonel (Lt. Col., "Overste") Karremans made an urgent request for air support from the United Nations for two Dutch F-16s to attack heavy armour of the VRS. The attack never took place. It had to be cancelled when Serbian forces threatened the execution of 50 members of Dutchbat III seized as hostages. Mladić's column then took the town July 11, 1995, causing the displacement of many of the city's inhabitants. About 15,000 displaced persons undertook the flight towards Tuzla on foot, but the majority looked for protection from the UN blue helmets in Potocari. During the flight of the column towards Tuzla, Dutch soldier Raviv van Rensen was attacked by the Bosnian Serbs and died.
Mladić met with Lt. Col. Karremans (video of the meeting is available on Youtube), and by serious threats made sure DUTCHBAT did not take part in the outcome. Under pretext of evacuating the Bosniak population to a sheltered city, most of the women and children were transferred bus to a zone under Bosnian-Serb control, assuring that the men would be transferred later. But the Bosnian Serbs perpetrated a genocide on the males, the now well-known massacre of Srebrenica, in which approximately 8,000 Bosniak men of different ages were murdered by the military and paramilitary Bosnian-Serbian forces. On the 21st of July, with the entire zone already under control of the VRS, the Dutch battalion left the enclave. Its leave and Mladić's effusive goodbyes and gifts, filmed by Mladić's own propaganda teams, were picked up by TV stations worldwide.
From July till November 2005 Dutchbat IV served and mainly dealed with refugees at Simin Han, near Tuzla.
Saturday, May 18, 2002
The release of a report on April 10th into the Srebrenica horror exploded like a Serb artillery shell in the market place of Dutch politics on April 10th. The Dutch government report blamed Dutch army officers for relinquishing control of the UN declared "safe haven" to the Serb forces in July 1995 despite their own fears of a massacre. The peacekeeping mission that was supposed to protect the town of Srebrenica, swollen by thousands of refugees from outlying villages, ended in a week long orgy of murder by Serb troops led by Ratko Mladic. The government was also blamed for sending its peacekeeping troops into BiH without a clearly defined mission and blamed the UN for failing to give the troops enough support to defend the local population. Some 200 lightly armed Dutch soldiers stood by as Mladic ordered Muslim men and women separated. The women were deported whilst the 8,000 men and boys were executed.
The report itself consists of 7,600 pages. Primary blame of course, goes to Mladic, currently hiding from the ICTY. Survivors of Srebrenica say the report merely confirms what they have been saying all along: Dutch troops did not do enough to prevent the slaughter. "They had a mandate to help us, but no will to do so," said their former translator Sabra Kulenovic, who lost 28 relatives in the worst massacre in Europe since World War II.
On Tuesday, 16th April the Dutch government shocked the world by announcing the resignation of the entire cabinet. Prime Minister Wim Kok said the government would accept responsibility for its failure to protect the town. One of the most serious accusations is that the Dutch Army withheld information about the massacre from the Defence Minister at the time, in an effort to protect its own reputation.
The next day, General Ad van Baal, Dutch Army chief of staff also resigned, accepting responsibility for mistakes made by Dutch military commanders and the army's subsequent actions. A general election subsequently took place on 15th May, amid Holland's first political killing since the Second World War.
Since the tragedy, about 70% of the original "Dutchbat" have left the army and ten have reportedly committed suicide. One of the former Dutch peacekeepers said, "Others were also to blame, but we Dutch should be big enough to offer some financial compensation (to the widows of Srebrenica)."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/20/dutch-coalition-collapse-afghanistan
Excerpt:
Dutch government collapses after Labour withdrawal from coalition
Row over extension of Dutch troops' tour of duty in Afghanistan forces Labour out of Jan Peter Balkenende's ruling coalition
The Dutch prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, announces the collapse of his ruling coalition Photograph: Valerie Kuypers/AFP/Getty Images
The Dutch government has collapsed over disagreements on whether or not to extend troop deployment in Afghanistan.
The prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, said the Labour party – the second-largest party in his ruling coalition – was quitting.He tendered his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix, the Dutch ceremonial head of state, in a telephone call.
Balkenende has been weighing up a request from Nato for Dutch troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2010.
Just under 2,000 Dutch personnel have been serving in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, where 21 Dutch soldiers have been killed.Balkenende's Christian Democratic Alliance wants to keep a trimmed-down military presence in the region, but the Labour party has demanded the Netherlands sticks to a scheduled withdrawal.
The troops should have returned home in 2008, but their stay was extended to August 2010 because no other Nato country offered replacements."A plan was agreed when our soldiers went to Afghanistan," said the Labour leader, Wouter Bos. "Our partners in the government didn't want to stick to that plan, and on the basis of their refusal we have decided to resign from this government."
In Brussels, Nato spokesman James Appathurai said the military alliance did not comment on the internal political debates of member countries.
"Of course, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen continues to believe that the best way forward would be a new, smaller Dutch mission, including a provincial reconstruction team in Uruzgan."
He added that this would consolidate the success that the Dutch have had and ease the transition of peacekeeping to Afghan forces.
Any Dutch withdrawal would be a worrying sign for the alliance, which has struggled to raise the 10,000 additional troops that its top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has demanded to accompany the 30,000 US reinforcements being deployed there.
The Labour withdrawal leaves the Dutch coalition government with just 47 seats in the 150-member parliament. Elections can be held as early as May under Dutch law – one year ahead of schedule.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutchbat
Excerpt:
DUTCHBAT (military short term for "Dutch battalion") nominally was a Dutch battalion under command of the United Nations in operation UN PROtection FORce United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). It was hastily formed out of the emerging first ever Air Mobile Brigade of the Royal Netherlands Armed Forces between February, 1994 and November, 1995 to participate in the peacekeeping operation in former Yugoslavia. To it fell the role of safekeeping the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica during the Yugoslav wars (1992–1995). In its third replacement, "Dutchbat III," commanded by lieutenant colonel Thomas Karremans, the enclave fell to the Bosnian Serbs under colonel general Mladic Ratko Mladic, His troops included the Scorpions group. Thousands of men and children were transported to places nearby; CIA U-2 spy planes followed the operation and took pictures of mass graves being dug: the end of the road for these people. The pictures were only made public much later. Many other Bosniaks tried to flee alone and in large groups and were killed in the woods.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Operation
UNPROFOR's mission was the protection of the civilian populace, of this Bosnian enclave (dubbed a "secure area" or "safe haven" by the UN) amongst many other places in former Yugoslavia. and its Rules of Engagement (ROE) allowed only to use force in acts of self-defense, counting on air support from NATO to guarantee the mission. Intervening in the fighting was strictly forbidden to all NATO troops, often to their great frustration. DUTCHBAT's zone fell under siege by the VRS, the Army of the Republika Srpska when NATO air forces started an all-out attack on the Bosnian Serbs besieging Sarajewo
[edit] Events
Mladić met with Lt. Col. Karremans (video of the meeting is available on Youtube), and by serious threats made sure DUTCHBAT did not take part in the outcome. Under pretext of evacuating the Bosniak population to a sheltered city, most of the women and children were transferred bus to a zone under Bosnian-Serb control, assuring that the men would be transferred later. But the Bosnian Serbs perpetrated a genocide on the males, the now well-known massacre of Srebrenica, in which approximately 8,000 Bosniak men of different ages were murdered by the military and paramilitary Bosnian-Serbian forces. On the 21st of July, with the entire zone already under control of the VRS, the Dutch battalion left the enclave. Its leave and Mladić's effusive goodbyes and gifts, filmed by Mladić's own propaganda teams, were picked up by TV stations worldwide.
From July till November 2005 Dutchbat IV served and mainly dealed with refugees at Simin Han, near Tuzla.
[edit] Consequences
This incident had great impact on public opinion in the Netherlands. An official investigation of the incident on the part of the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation (Nederlands Instituut voor oorlogsdocumentatie, NIOD] lasting seven years, published April 10, 2002, made the Prime Minister Wim Kok resign within six days. The 3,400-page report criticized the political and military High Commands of the Netherlands as being guilty of criminal negligence, for not preventing the massacre. The conclusions were devastating:- The mission was not suitably prepared.
- There was no coordination between the Ministry of Defence (under Joris Voorhoeve) and of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (under Hans van Mierlo).
- The contingent did not receive sufficient means to accomplish the mission. Adequate firepower and Forward Air Controllers (FACS) to direct air attacks were missing.
- The non-Dutch in charge of air support refused to give aid as requested by Karremans.
- The Netherlands and the UN did not perform their duty.
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