Defence minister Hans Hillen agreed to reveal the whereabouts of a mass grave in Srebrenica during an interview with tv programme Nieuwsuur on Monday evening.

He was reacting to claims by a former Dutchbat soldier that during the Bosnian war in the 1990s seven muslims died in the Dutch enclave and were buried there. The soldier, Dave Maat, told the programme that the defence ministry has photos and a map with the coordinates of the grave, but had refused to release them.
Bosnian muslims sought protection with the Dutch soldiers serving with the UN when the muslim enclave of Srebrenica was overrun in July 1995 by Bosnian-Serb forces under the command of Ratko Mladic. Thousands of people were housed in an abandoned factory in the Dutchbat area where at least seven died.
16 years
When Maat revisited the area recently he discovered that the families of the dead have been looking for the bodies of their loved ones for the past 16 years.
On his return, he approached the defence ministry and asked for information about the location of the grave but was told this information was confidential.
According to Hillen, the ministry misundestood the question. The Dutchbat soldiers were debriefed on their return from Srebenica and what they said is confidential. The ministry thought Maat wanted this information.
Hillen told Nieuwsuur the information about the grave can be released and he will ensure it is made available ‘in a few days’.