Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal

Vergaderjaar 2013–2014

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Vragen gesteld door de leden der Kamer

2014Z15085
Vragen van het lid Omtzigt (CDA) aan de Ministers van Buitenlandse Zaken en
van Veiligheid en Justitie over de juridische verplichtingen die voorvloeien uit
het mogelijk plegen van genocide en andere misdrijven door de zogenoemde
Islamitische staat (ingezonden 8 september 2014).
Vraag 1
Kunt u de interne juridische adviezen over het kabinetsstandpunt dat
vermoedelijk sprake is van genocide en andere ernstige internationale
misdrijven door de Islamitische Staat in Irak en Syrië, alsmede de mogelijke
internationaalrechtelijke verplichtingen die daaruit voortvloeien, aan de
Kamer doen toekomen?1
Vraag 2
Wanneer heeft u om een extern volkenrechtelijk advies gevraagd, wat was de
vraag en wanneer is/wordt dat uitgebracht?
Vraag 3
Kunt u het volkenrechtelijke advies per ommegaande aan de Kamer doen
toekomen?

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kv-tk-2014Z15085
’s-Gravenhage 2014

Antwoorden van de Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken d.d. 3 september 2014 op schriftelijke
vragen van het lid Omtzigt (2014Z14233).

Tweede Kamer, vergaderjaar 2013–2014, Vragen

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Vraag 4
Welke verplichtingen volgen er voor Nederland concreet uit de Srebrenicazaak (Bosnië-Herzegovina tegen Servië-Montenegro) en dan met name de
door u in uw antwoorden op de schriftelijke vragen2 aangehaalde paragraaf
430 van de uitspraak van het Internationaal Gerechtshof?3
Vraag 5
Kunt u deze vragen voor het plenaire debat over ISIS/Irak van 10 september
a.s. beantwoorden?

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Idem, antwoord op vraag 4.
Paragraaf 430 van de uitspraak van het Hof luidt: «430. Secondly, it is clear that the obligation
in question is one of con- duct and not one of result, in the sense that a State cannot be under
an obligation to succeed, whatever the circumstances, in preventing the commission of
genocide: the obligation of States parties is rather to employ all means reasonably available to
them, so as to prevent genocide so far as possible. A State does not incur responsibility simply
because the desired result is not achieved; responsibility is however incurred if the State
manifestly failed to take all measures to prevent genocide which were within its power, and
which might have contributed to preventing the genocide. In this area the notion of «due
diligence», which calls for an assessment in concreto, is of critical importance. Various
parameters operate when assessing whether a State has duly discharged the obliga- tion
concerned. The first, which varies greatly from one State to another, is clearly the capacity to
influence effectively the action of persons likely to commit, or already committing, genocide.
This capacity itself depends, among other things, on the geographical distance of the State
concerned from the scene of the events, and on the strength of the political links, as well as
links of all other kinds, between the authorities of that State and the main actors in the events.
The State’s capacity to influence must also be assessed by legal criteria, since it is clear that
every State may only act within the limits permitted by international law; seen thus, a State’s
capacity to influence may vary depending on its particular legal position vis-à-vis the situations
and persons facing the danger, or the reality, of genocide. On the other hand, it is irrelevant
whether the State whose responsibility is in issue claims, or even proves, that even if it had
employed all means reasonably at its disposal, they would not have suf- ficed to prevent the
commission of genocide. As well as being generally difficult to prove, this is irrelevant to the
breach of the obligation of con- duct in question, the more so since the possibility remains that
the com- bined efforts of several States, each complying with its obligation to prevent, might
have achieved the result – averting the commission of genocide – which the efforts of only one
State were insufficient to produce.»

Tweede Kamer, vergaderjaar 2013–2014, Vragen

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