In 2019, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled on partial responsibility for the deaths of 350 male victims of genocide. After that, the Potocari Compensation Commission (NCCP) was formed, which has received more than 4.000 requests to date, approved 400, and paid 300 of them.
The Commission passed the execution of the decree on payment of compensation to the relatives of the victims of genocide on June 15th, 2021, and the request can be sent by the relatives of the male refugees who stayed at the base of the Dutch battalion in Potocari in the afternoon of July 13th, 1995, Klix.ba writes.
To date, the NCCP has received more than 4.000 requests relating to more than 1.200 victims. However, estimates are based on the fact that a maximum of 500 men stayed at the mentioned United Nations (UN) base on July 13th, 1995.
This means that many of the requests received do not meet the requirements of the Regulation. As a result, more than 200 applications were rejected. For almost 500 applications, applicants must send additional information to the NCCP.
“We managed to reach many relatives in Bosnia and in the diaspora. But, unfortunately, we also had to disappoint many people by refusing their claims for compensation. For some claims, it did not seem likely that the victim was at the UN base on the afternoon of July 13th, and that is a really necessary condition for recognizing damages under the Regulation, ” emphasized NCCP President Ms. S. Wortmann.
If the NCCP suspects that the application is eligible, the commission will request additional information from the applicant. The information must be convincing. These can be documents or two independent and detailed eyewitness statements. The NCCP on its website (www.nccpotocari.nl) describes in detail the conditions for witness statements in the “requirements” (zahtjevi) section. These statements must provide a sufficient basis to make it appear probable that the victim was at the UN base in Potocari on the afternoon of July 13th, 1995. The NCCP is currently processing more than 150 witness statements.
“We see that the accuracy and corroboration of witness statements are often not enough. For example, witnesses are not independent. Or witness statements do not show in detail where the witnesses were and where the victim was. To avoid disappointment at the denial, I call on all those who want to submit a request to get acquainted in detail with the terms of the decree and with the requirements of witness statements. I understand that it is emotionally very difficult to go back to those terrible days of 1995. But, compensation must go to the people for whom it is intended, “ concluded commission president, Ms. Wortmann.
E.Dz.
