Press release July 10, 2008: Mothers of Srebrenica shall appeal and deny absolute immunity of the UN

Today, the district court at the Hague in first instance decided in the proceedings of the Mothers of Srebrenica against the Dutch State and the United Nations that the UN is granted absolute immunity. The Genocide Convention and article 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of human rights as well as article 14 International Convention on Civil and Political Rights where access to an independent court is guaranteed have no impact on this absolute immunity, thus the district ocurt. This verdict does not give answers on all legal problems involved. The Mothers of Srebrenica shall appeal against this decision as they find it unacceptable that the UN is the only organisation in the whole world that is uncontrolled and has absolute powers and therefor stands above the law. Although the UN have the international obligation to create an independent legal system as a pendant to the immunity granted, the UN failed to do so since 62 years. The unlimited immunity of the UN – also in cases of genocide – means that the UN in the name of human rights can do or fail to do whatsoever without ever to be (judicially) controlled by anyone. Absolute immunity of the UN implies that human rights have to be obeyed by anyone except the UN itself. The Mothers of Srebrenica shall continue there fight for justice at the appeal court. At a later stage the European Court of Human Rights might be the last to decide about the fundamental rights of the Mothers of Srebrenica.

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