Relatives of the victims of the Srebrenica massacre have previously sought justice for the actions of Dutch peacekeeping forces, which they say led to the massacre. In March, the Hague Appeals Court [official website, in Dutch] upheld [judgment, in Dutch; press release] the UN's immunity from prosecution by rejecting claims [JURIST report] brought by relatives of victims of the massacre. The relatives, known as the Mothers of Srebrenica, alleged that the Netherlands should be liable for the deaths because Dutch soldiers operating under the UN flag negligently failed to protect civilians by forcing the victims out of "safe area" and turning them over to Bosnian Serbs. The court found that immunity is essential to the UN's ability to carry out its duties and that the Dutch acting as UN peacekeepers could not be held responsible [RNW report]. The decision upheld the district court's 2008 decision to dismiss the claims [JURIST report]. The Mothers of Srebrenica have vowed to appeal the case to the Netherlands Supreme Court and the European Court of Justice if necessary.