European court dismisses case brought by Srebrenica families

FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2008 file photo, Hasan Nuhanovic, whose father and brother were killed in Srebrenica, talks to the media after a judgment at the District Court in The Hague, Netherlands. A top European court on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016, dismissed a case brought by relatives of three Bosnian men, two of them relatives of Hasan Nuhanovic, who were murdered during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The relatives had appealed a decision by Dutch prosecutors not to file criminal charges against three Dutch officers for alleged complicity in the deaths. (AP Photo/ Fred Ernst, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2008 file photo, Mehida Mustafic-Majic, left, her daughter Alma, center, and her son Damir, right, listen during the verdict at the District Court in The Hague, Netherlands. Mehida Mustafic-Majic is the widow of Srebrenica victim Rizo Mustafic, while Alma and Damir are his children. A top European court on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016, dismissed a case brought by relatives of three Bosnian men, including Rizo Mustafic, who were murdered during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The relatives had appealed a decision by Dutch prosecutors not to file criminal charges against three Dutch officers for alleged complicity in the deaths. (AP Photo/ Fred Ernst, File) (The Associated Press)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – A top European court has dismissed a case brought by relatives of three Bosnian men murdered during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre who had appealed a decision by Dutch prosecutors not to file criminal charges against three Dutch officers for alleged complicity in the deaths.

The European Court of Human Rights rejected the case Thursday, saying that Dutch authorities "had sufficiently investigated the incident and given proper consideration to the applicants' request for prosecutions."

The relatives have long been trying to hold Dutch troops who served as U.N. peacekeepers during the fall of Srebrenica criminally responsible.

Bosnian Serb forces led by Gen. Ratko Mladic overran the U.N. enclave in Srebrenica in July 1995 and killed some 8,000 Muslim men and boys. It was Europe's worst massacre since World War II.