It is a settlement arrangement designed by the Dutch State. The arrangement offers surviving relatives of the victims a convenient way to receive compensation without having to start court proceedings or hire a lawyer. If you make use of this arrangement, you don’t need to embark on long, costly court proceedings to determine the amount of your damages. The settlement arrangement is based on standard compensation amounts as determined by the Dutch State.

You can submit a claim if:

• You were the wife of a victim at the time of his death.
• You had a cohabitation relationship with a victim for at least three years at the time of his death.
• You had a cohabitation relationship with a victim for less than three years at the time of his death and a child was born from the relationship.
• You are a child of a victim.
• You are a parent of a victim.
• You are the brother or sister of a victim.

‘At the time of his death’ is understood to mean ‘on 13 July 1995’. It is generally not possible to determine the exact date of each victim’s death with certainty.

The settlement arrangement provides a compensation payment of € 15,000 if you were married to or cohabited with a victim within the meaning of the settlement arrangement. A child, parent, brother or sister may be eligible for a compensation payment of € 10,000. You cannot claim more than the fixed compensation amount under this arrangement.

The UN compound is defined in the court decision and in the civil law settlement as the factory site in Potočari where a battery factory was located before the war. On this former factory site, located on the right side of the road from Srebrenica to Bratunać, there were an assembly hall, sheds and an office building. As of April 1994, Dutchbat’s headquarters was located here. A characteristic feature of the compound were the very large halls of the battery factory in which Dutchbat’s vehicles were located. In front of these halls there was a large lawn. The terrain of the UN compound was fenced off with a high fence. Dutchbat guard posts were set up on the edges of the fencing.

Today, the former battery factory in Potočari is part of the Memorial Center Srebrenica-Potocari Monument and cemetery for the victims of the 1995 genocide.

The civil settlement concerns the approximately 350 male refugees who were in the UN compound on the afternoon of July 13, 1995. Compared to the total number of victims of the genocide, this is a limited group. The judge ruled that the Dutch State is liable for the fate of the group of male refugees, who on the afternoon of 13 July 1995 were still in the halls of the former battery and accumulator factory. According to the opinion of the Court, Dutchbat acted unlawfully towards this group of men. For Dutchbat should have offered these men the choice to stay behind in the halls. By not offering that choice they have deprived these men of a (small) chance to stay out of the hands of the Bosnian Serbs. After all, in the large halls of the former battery and accumulator factory that now belonged to the UN compound, the male refugees were hidden from the sight of the Bosnian Serbs.

You must submit a claim form, which is fully and correctly filled in. You also need to enclose a number of documents with the claim form. These documents are listed under Claims step 2.

We ask you to provide proof of identity to ensure that nobody other than yourself submits a claim on your behalf. We ask for documents with wich you can demonstrate your family relationship with the victim in order to ensure that only people who are entitled to compensation under the arrangement actually become eligible for it.

Yes, you can submit a claim. In that case we will have the discretion to act as we see fit. Your claim begins with the submission of a claim form. Use the available space in the claim form to explain the circumstances of your case.

You can submit a claim to us under the settlement arrangement from 15 june 2021 until 14 June 2023 at the latest. We will not handle any new claims submitted on or after 15 June 2023.

You can only submit a claim under the Srebrenica civil-law settlement arrangement to the Netherlands Compensation Commission Potočari.

In order to submit a claim, you need a standard claim form. The form can be downloaded from this website. You can also request the claim form by post, fax, e-mail or using the ‘request information’ form on this website.

Yes, you can. Surviving first-degree relatives of more than one victim may submit more than one claim. First-degree relatives are the spouse or partner, parents, or children of a victim. For example, a mother who lost both her spouse and her son may submit a claim for both relatives, as may a parent who lost more than one child. A separate claim must be submitted for each victim.

Yes, you can submit a claim. You will need to provide written documents demonstrating that you actually suffered damages.

After receiving your complete request, the target time for processing is about three months. At the moment, due to the large number of requests, you should expect a period of six months. If additional information is needed, the target period starts when all the information has been received.

The committee has received more than 7,000 requests. It is our job to handle every request with the utmost care. This takes a lot of time. This may result in you not hearing from us for a long time. This does not mean, for example, that information is missing from your request. If anything is missing or unclear in your request, we will notify you. You therefore do not need to contact the NCCP.

It is not possible to file an objection or seek judicial review of the decision to deny your claim. However, you have the option of filing a civil suit against the Dutch state for possible compensation.

Your proven heir(s) will receive the compensation if you die while your claim is being handled. This is subject to 2 conditions: you must have submitted the claim and you must be eligible for compensation.

We will contact you if any questions arise while your claim is being assessed. You can make a change to your claim yourself. If you want to do this, please contact us. Fill in the ‘request information’ form on this website so that we can call you back.

There is no need to resubmit your claim. If your claim is incomplete or if any questions arise while your claim is being assessed, we will contact you.

We arranged for an investigation into which male refugees were present in the Dutchbat compound in Potočari on the date in question. We will check the victim data that you provide to us against the results of the investigation. If we have any questions about whether your family member was present in the compound in the late afternoon of 13 July 1995, we will contact you.

Compensation claims submitted on or after July 15 will not be considered by the Committee. You will not receive written confirmation of receipt of your claim.

You will receive a confirmation of receipt from the committee. Your claim will be processed according to the procedure.

You submitted your claim before 15 June. The normal procedure applies to you. You can submit the additional information after 15 June.

You submitted your claim before 15 June. Then the normal procedure applies. In this case we will contact you. You can also request a call back via the ‘request for information’ form on this website.

If you have any questions about a claim submitted before June 15, you can contact one of our offices. Make an appointment for this by telephone. You can also e-mail, fax or contact us by post.

No, if your claim is submitted before June 15, you will receive a confirmation of receipt within one month. The committee is processing many claims. As a result, it may take several months for you to receive a response from us. You can always contact us by e-mail, fax, mail or telephone to inquire about the status of your claim.

We are the independent administrators of the settlement arrangement established in response to the Supreme Court judgment of 19 June 2019. The surviving relatives of the victims who were in the Dutchbat compound in Potočari in the late afternoon of 13 July 1995 can submit a compensation claim to us.

We are responsible for:

• Receiving and registering your compensation claims.
• Assessing the claims submitted to us.
• Concluding settlement agreements with claimants, denying claims, or requesting additional information from claimants and then taking further decisions about claims on this basis.

We are not responsible for the content of the civil-law settlement arrangement. The Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs designed the civil-law settlement arrangement. Once a settlement agreement has been signed by you and by us, the Ministry of Defence will arrange for payment.

The civil-law settlement arrangement offers surviving relatives of the male victims a convenient way to receive a one-off compensation payment without having to start court proceedings or without hiring a lawyer (unless you want to do so). If you make use of this arrangement, you don’t need to embark on long, costly court proceedings to determine the amount of your damages.

We can provide various forms of assistance with your claim. You can visit our office in Sarajevo (Bosnia) or The Hague (the Netherlands) if you have any questions. You can also contact us by e-mail, fax or post or ask us to call you back. Detailed information about the claim procedure is available on our website, as well as a form that you can use to request information.