Legacy website of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

Since the ICTY’s closure on 31 December 2017, the Mechanism maintains this website as part of its mission to preserve and promote the legacy of the UN International Criminal Tribunals.

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2009

 

Date Activity/Event Stakeholders
12 Dec 2009, The Hague – Zagreb, Croatia Video-link conference with students from Zagreb
Nerma Jelacić, the Chambers and Registry Spokesperson, met with 17 students of political sciences and journalism through a video–link between The Hague and Zagreb. The issues covered included the problems related to the reporting of war crime trials in the region, media situation in the region from the perspective of the ICTY, the imperative of professionalism, etc. Students asked questions, among others on how to retain objectivity when a journalist personally experienced consequences of war and comes from a certain group that had suffered greatly during the war, etc.

Before the discussion with Jelacić, the students watched the ICTY broadcast of a session in the Stanisić and Simatović trial and discussed various aspects of the work of the ICTY with the Head of the ICTY Zagreb office.

The event was organised by NGO Documenta, as a part of their education programme on the reporting on war crime trials, called "Public Dialogue on Fairness of War Crime Trials".

17 students of political science and journalism

7 – 11 Dec 2009, The Hague

Visit of group of journalists from Serbia

Outreach facilitated a study trip to the Tribunal of six media representatives from Serbia. The visit was aimed at improving the reporting on the trials for war crimes before international courts and at bringing the institutions of international criminal justice closer to the public in Serbia. During their visit, the guests were introduced to a wide range of topics ranging from the basics of court reporting, via step-by step guide to an ICTY trial and crimes and working with witnesses to the contempt of court.

This event was organised by OSCE Mission to Serbia

Four journalists and editors and two representatives of media associations
30 Nov – 02 Dec 2009, The Hague Visit of Judicial Representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina

ICTY hosted a group of ten judicial officials from BiH. The group included mostly judges and prosecutors from the state level. This consultative visit’s general goal was to benefit the visitors mainly from the aspect of exchange of experiences related to the access to the ICTY archives, and mechanisms available to local courts following the completion of the ICTY mandate. The guests were introduced to the ICTY archives and judicial database, had an opportunity to discuss the ICTY legacy issues and the residual mechanisms, and related the experience from their practice with their peers from the ICTY.

This event was sponsored by the UNDP BiH

10 judicial representatives, including the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH (5), the Court of BiH (4), the Director of Centre for Education of Judges and Prosecutors in BiH (CEST) on behalf of entity centres.
24–26 November, The Hague Visit of judges from Novi Pazar to the Tribunal

Judges from Novi Pazar and Belgrade visited the ICTY as a part of the OSCE Mission to Serbia project to introduce victims and witnesses support services throughout Serbian courts of general jurisdiction. First-time visitors to the Tribunal, the judges were introduced to the functioning of all the ICTY organs. Two full days were dedicated to the functioning of the Victims and Witnesses Unit, where the judges became familiar with the set up and practices of the section in the view of introducing similar structures in their own courts.

This visit was organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia

> three judges of the Novi Pazar District Court and one judge from the Belgrade District Court
21-22 November, Zagreb, Croatia Conference on human rights and European integration

Outreach representative attended a regional conference on “Human Rights in the Process of European Integration”. Discussion focused on the fight against impunity, confronting the past, the importance of victim and witness protection, the need for better public information about some government activities regarding cooperation wit the Tribunal (such as the search for artillery logs for the Gotovina et al. case) etc. Outreach provided the participants with ICTY materials and met with the Head of the YIHR Zagreb branch to discuss future cooperation.

The conference was organised by Youth Initiative for Human Rights  and Impunity Watch

> young politicians, representatives of the NGOs and activists from the region, representatives of some international organizations, embassies, legal associations and Croatian government bodies
18-21 November, Belgrade, Serbia Roundtable on the domestic impact of international courts

Judge Howard Morrison with representatives from the Chambers and the Office of the Prosecutor participated in DOMAC round table “Impact of International Criminal Courts on Domestic Proceedings”. The DOMAC project examines the impact of international criminal Courts on domestic Criminal Procedures in mass atrocity situations. Participants in the project are Reykjavik University, the University of Amsterdam, the Hebrew University and University College London. The project is aimed to issue recommendations to the EU and other national and international actors on how to strengthen the co-operation between national and international courts that address the aftermath of mass-atrocity situations. The meeting included judges, prosecutors, and other high-level experts from the Western Balkans, DOMAC researchers and a number of international judicial officials.

This event was organised by DOMAC

> representatives of civil society, legal professionals, representatives of national authorities and other relevant stakeholders in the region
13 November, The Hague Video Link with Iowa University
Outreach and OTP representatives in The Hague talked via a video link with American students participating in a course on human rights advocacy at the Iowa University. The students learnt about the ICTY's establishment, mandate and structure, and the efforts of the Outreach to communicate the work of the ICTY to constituencies in the former Yugoslavia. They were also given the outline of the Tribunal’s contribution towards the development of international law. Many questions concerned working with witnesses, attitudes towards the ICTY in the region, prosecution of sexual crimes and the planned closure of the ICTY. > some 20 students of the Iowa University, USA

26 October, Zagreb, Croatia

NGO Forum on Witness Support

Outreach Information Assistant attended the NGO Forum focusing on witness and victim support in trials in Croatia. In the last 18 months, more than two thousand people were provided with assistance through the witness and victim support project, implemented by the Justice Ministry and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). During the last two years, the project has helped establish offices for witness and victim support at the county courts in Zagreb, Osijek, Vukovar and Zadar, and the Zagreb Municipal Criminal Court. NGOs want their representatives to sit on the advisory commission that will supervise the victims support system in the country. The project initially covered victims of war crimes, and was later expanded to include victims of other serious crimes. After the meeting, Information Assistant distributed Bridging the Gap and the ICTY Manual on Developed Practices publications to participants.

This meeting was organised by NGOs Documenta from Zagreb, Centre for Peace from Osijek and Human Rights Centre from Zagreb

> About 30 NGO representatives from the former Yugoslavia

19-22 October, The Hague

Visit by Bosnian judges

Tribunal hosted a visit of 12 judges from BiH, representing four judicial institutions: the Court of BiH, Supreme Court of RS, Supreme Court of Federation and Sarajevo Cantonal Court. During the visit the BiH judges had a series of meetings, mostly with ICTY judges and attended presentations, including elements of complex cases management, Joint Criminal Enterprise, sentencing, the value of dissenting opinions, working with the witnesses, public information and on the Appeals Chamber Case-Law Research Tool (ACCLRT).

This visit was organised by OPDAT based in the US Embassy in Sarajevo

>Six judges from Court of BiH, three from Supreme Court of Republika Srpska, two from Supreme Court of Federation of BiH, one from Sarajevo Cantonal Court

16 October, Zagreb, Croatia

Consultations on Setting up Regional Fact-finding Commission on War Crimes

Outreach Information Assistant attended consultations with religious communities on the proposed regional commission for establishing facts about war crimes and other serious violations of human rights in the area of the former Yugoslavia. The consultations are a continuation of local civil society organisations’ endeavours to contribute actively to the processes of dealing with the past while searching for those mechanisms of transitional justice that can satisfy the need for justice and truth for the victims and for the society as a whole.

This meeting was organised by NGO Documenta from Zagreb and Centre for Peace from Osijek

> NGO representatives and civil society activists

13 October, The Hague

Visit of Students from Kosovo, Serbia and the Netherlands

The group visited the ICTY in the framework of Our Future Network, initiative by the Dutch NGO IKV-Pax Christi. This year the main theme, in addition to the European integration process, is dealing with the past/history education regarding war. The visit to the Tribunal gave them a solid introduction to the institution and its goals, with special regard to the Kosovo-related cases.

This visit was organized by the Dutch NGO IKV-Pax Christi

> Group of 20 students from Kosovo, Serbia and the Netherlands, including four coordinators

6 October, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Meeting with NGO Women of Srebrenica

Registry Liaison Officer met with one of the leaders of the Women of Srebrenica victims’ group (mostly mothers and female relatives) of victims of the Srebrenica genocide. This organisation based in Tuzla has the largest membership among the victim groups from Srebrenica. The meeting was to discuss the start of the Karadžić trial and the group’s intention to travel to The Hague to attend the proceedings. The association expressed the group’s support for the work of the Tribunal and insisted that their group, together with Mothers of Srebrenica, based in Srebrenica, should be invited to future meetings with ICTY representatives. The meeting illustrated the need for the Tribunal to engage with various victim groups on regular basis.

The event was prepared by ICTY Outreach

> Representatives of Women of Srebrenica

1-2 October, The Hague

Regional coordination meeting of Outreach

Regional Outreach Assistants came to the Hague as part of the efforts of Outreach programme to increase the awareness of the challenges and changes of the Tribunal in the upcoming period. The aim was to create awareness of the changing Outreach goals and activities resulting from the increasing focus on legacy issues, to create understanding of the changing structures of Outreach Programme and wider Communication Services and to build cohesion and better communication of Outreach team in the region and in The Hague. The Outreach Assistants met with staff from the Communications Service, Registrar, Political Advisor to the Prosecutor, Head of VWS, Head of OLAD and were briefed on the latest developments in the Tribunal.

The visit was organised by ICTY Outreach

> Four Outreach assistants from Belgrade, Sarajevo, Zagreb and Pristina Field Offices

 

30 September - 1 October, The Hague

Visit of Serbian investigators

The visit to the ICTY was part of a programme to help the police and investigators make contacts at the ICTY and to familiarise them with the staff, technical and analytical tools and management of investigation, as well as detention facilities and procedures. The guests talked to staff in charge of issuing requests to the Serbian police and judiciary. The group keenly followed the practical demonstrations of the Zy Lab software, the Analyst Notebook, the Case Map and the organization of case files.

The visit was coordinated by the OSCE Mission to Serbia

> four senior police investigators from the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia, War Crimes Investigation Service

29, 30 September, Brussels, Belgium

Workshop on EU Support for ICC

The RLO in BiH took part in consultations on the future EC support of the International Criminal Court. The event gathered a group of international experts in the field of international justice to discuss possible mechanisms of support for the ICC. The RLO presented on the development of the ICTY and its impact in the former Yugoslavia.

The event was organised by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation

>international justice experts

23 September, Kosovo

Launch of presentations in Kosovo high-schools

A presentation in a Pristina gymnasium marked the launch of a new round of ICTY Outreach meetings in fifteen high schools across Kosovo, which has the backing of the Kosovo authorities and is part of the civic education syllabus. The multi-media presentations are to introduce the students to the work of the Tribunal and its efforts to promote accountability for crimes committed in the conflicts in Kosovo and throughout the former Yugoslavia. A previous programme of high school presentations was held during the 2006 – 2007 school year, when 850 students from over 20 high schools participated in the project.

The project is implemented with the backing of the Kosovo Ministry of Education, Science and Technology

> more than 400 Kosovo high-school students aged 15-18

22 September, The Hague

Visit of Kosovo civil servants

Outreach welcomed a visit of mid-ranking and senior officials dealing with international cooperation, working for the Government of Kosovo. The visit was part of a wider programme in which the participants got acquainted with a number of European political and judicial institutions in Brussels and The Hague. The group discussed the issues associated with criminal and transitional justice and the Tribunal’s presence in Kosovo, and was offered an overview of completed Kosovo cases and facts established in them.

The visit was organised by The Clingendael Institute

> 15 officials, including representatives from the Government of Kosovo’s Prime Minister’s office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Justice Ministry

16 September, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Meetings with dissatisfied victims’ groups

BiH RLO addressed the concerns of victims associations dissatisfied with the decision on the early release of Biljana Plavšić and a possible reduction of the indictment in the case against Radovan Karadžić. A protest was held outside the Tribunal’s Sarajevo office by about 200 Bosniaks from three victim groups. The BiH RLO addressed the victims and the media and engaged in the discussion with the demonstrators on various issues related to Tribunal’s cases and functioning.  Together with the Head of Sarajevo Field Office, the BiH RLO also met officials from the three represented associations (BiH Association of Camp Detainees, Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves and Women Victims of War) explaining the background to the decisions and faciliting the meeting of the organisations with the Tribunal Principals, that took place shortly afterwards in The Hague.

> representatives from three BiH victim groups

9-12 September, York, United Kingdom

Conference on Victim Testimony at York University

The BiH RLO took part in an international conference titled Responsibility to the Story. The RLO spoke about the challenges of using victim testimony in documentary film making in post-conflict societies during the conference which brought together academics, practitioners and artists to explore ethical concerns and practical challenges surrounding the use of testimony.

The conference was organised by the Centre for Applied Human Rights, University of York, and Oxford University Press, in collaboration with Amnesty International, the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, and Panos London

> academics, human rights representatives

4 September, Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Round table with victim groups from Central Bosnia

The BiH RLO chaired a roundtable as part of a series of events promoting outreach by local judiciary in war crimes cases. The event for the first time gathered representatives of Bosniak and Croat victim groups from Travnik, Vitez, Bugojno, Novi Travnik, Busovača, Jajce and other municipalities. The Cantonal Prosecutor dealing with war crimes investigations and reporter of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network also took part.

The group discussed the crimes committed during the conflict in Central Bosnia, the related Tribunal cases, problems facing the victim groups and how they can more actively participate in war crimes cases at the local level. The event was a highly successful forum for the different victim groups who could thus hear about the ICTY’s completion strategy, the work of local institutions and discuss relevant issues. The most important outcome was a shared understanding of the role of local communities in supporting processing of war crimes and outreach efforts conducted by the ICTY and the local judiciary.

The round table was organised by the OSCE Mission to BiH

> more than 30 representatives from victim groups, the local judiciary and the media

1-2 September, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

BIRN Conference on Judicial Transparency and Media Responsibility in War Crimes Cases

A regional conference titled Judicial Transparency and Media Responsibility was held in Sarajevo to examine outreach and public information efforts conducted by different institutions. The ICTY was represented by the Registrar John Hocking, the ICTY Spokesperson and the Office of the Prosecutor’s (OTP) Spokesperson. BiH RLO moderated the session on the political responsibility of state institutions to ensure judicial independence and transparency and took part in a panel discussion on institutional responsibility to provide public access to war crimes trials. The conference highlighted numerous problems caused by the political context and atmosphere in which the trials are held, and also the limited capacity to conduct comprehensive outreach and public information to ensure wider social impact of the trials.

The conference was organised by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN)

> representative of war crimes courts, the media, media experts, government officials, NGO’s and international officials

9-22 August, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

International school on transitional justice

The school addressed various transitional justice mechanisms implemented in South-East Europe. The lecturers included representatives of various transitional justice organisations academics. The BiH Outreach head was invited to give three lectures: “Impact of the ICTY on international justice and national reconciliation processes – from Nuremberg to The Hague and Sarajevo”, “Outreach in transitional justice - getting society to own the process” and “Visual ethics – documentary filmmaking in post-conflict societies”. The students were highly interested in the work of the ICTY and discussions were held on various aspects of its mission, primarily its impact on the process of reconciliation in the region, contributions to the establishment of rule of law and the capacity of local institutions to hold fair war crimes trials, but also the rights of the accused before the Tribunal, its prosecutions strategy and completion strategy.

The school was organised by the Konrad Adenauer Stifftung and Association Pravnik (Lawyer)
> 30 PhD candidates from ex-Yugoslavia, the USA, the UK, Germany, Spain, Finland, Greece and other countries
30 July, Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina Radio programme about creating public awareness on war crimes issues

The ICTY Outreach representative took part in a radio programme on outreach in war crimes cases. It was broadcast on the Cantonal Radio-Television in Bihać, which covers the area of north-western Bosnia and Herzegovina. Other participants in the programme were the Cantonal Prosecutor and an OSCE Legal Officer, in a discussion on the relationship between the institutions prosecuting war crimes cases and the general public, and outreach as an integral element of war crimes trials. Various forms of outreach conducted by the ICTY were described and the interlocutors debated how they can be replicated by the local institutions. The Outreach representative outlined the development of the ICTY’s Outreach Programme, its most successful projects and the efforts to transfer the knowledge accumulated by the ICTY’s Outreach to the local counterparts. In addition, he spoke about the differences in outreach approaches of international and local institutions.

The programme was organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina
> general public in north-western Bosnia and Herzegovina
15-17 July, Belgrade, Serbia ICTY President visits Belgrade

On the invitation by the Serbian Supreme Court, ICTY President Patrick Robinson paid his first visit to Serbia and met with the highest judicial and government officials in Serbia, discussing issues of cooperation. President Robinson held two press conferences which attracted considerable media attention. President said his impressions from the visit were positive and he deemed the level of cooperation to have improved. The President also praised the work of the Serbian judiciary in the processing of war crimes cases. However, he added that this positive picture was disturbed by the fact that the two remaining indictees, Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić, were still at large. He urged the Serbian authorities to arrest and place them in the Tribunal’s custody as soon as possible.

> highest judicial and government officials, including: the President and judges of the Supreme Court and the War Crimes Chamber, the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor, Speaker of the Parliament, Ministers of Justice and Labour, the President of the Council for the Cooperation with the ICTY; also the head of the  OSCE Mission in Serbia
13 July, The Hague Visit of students from the former Yugoslavia

The students visited the Tribunal for the first time, and they came to the ICTY in the framework of a project called the European Rails of Peace - a youth exchange with a focus on promoting intercultural dialogue and European awareness among the youth and their peers from various ethnic communities. The visit to the ICTY was designed to challenge the views of the students, and particularly their prejudice about the international prosecution of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. Main issues that are usually perceived as contentious were addressed during the meetings.

The visit was coordinated by The Hague University and Cultural Bureau known as the ACKU
> 45 students aged 18-25 years old from all ex-Yugoslav countries, as well as from Italy and The Netherlands
7-9 July, The Hague Visit of judicial representatives from the Serbian War Crimes Chamber

The focus of the visit was to give the Serbian officials a solid insight into the activities at the ICTY to enhance cooperation in criminal matters in Serbia as an essential step towards rebuilding trust and justice in the region. The first day provided a general introduction to the ICTY and introduced functions and responsibilities of each of the ICTY’s organs. The next two days judges, police analysts and the witness protection officer followed their own individual programmes, with Outreach taking the lead in organising the judges’ programme, OTP Investigations Unit provided training for the police analysts, and the Victims and Witness Section worked with the Serbian witness protection officer.

The visit was sponsored by the OSCE Mission to Serbia
> two judges, four police analysts/investigators and a witness and victims coordinator

29 June, Ključ, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Radio discussion on the Tribunal

The BiH Outreach representative appeared in a program at a local radio station in Ključ to talk about the Tribunal's achievements, completion strategy and answer questions from callers. The program was organised by the Court Support Network (group of NGOs supporting war crimes trials) and funded by the OSCE Mission to BiH.

>The event was prepared by Court Support Network

> local community in Ključ

25 June, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Conference on the Search for the Missing

BiH Outreach was present at a conference entitled: “The Challenges of Identifications and Burials of Mortal Remains of Missing Persons in BiH”. The conference attracted a great number of participants from victim groups, and dealt with various challenges facing those searching for their missing relatives, including recovery and identification of mingled and incomplete bodily remains recovered from multiple mass graves, and highlighted the impact of this difficult process on the families of the missing. Discussions were held on how best to confront the technical, legal and emotional challenges of recovery and identification of body remains from mass graves.

>The conference was organised by the NGO Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves and the International Commission on Missing Persons

> Family Associations of Missing Persons from across BiH, representatives of state and local authorities and international organisations

19-20 June, Belgrade, Serbia

Conference on Transitional Justice

The BiH Outreach representative attended an international conference and a roundtable on the role of civil society in transitional justice. The conference compared experiences from different countries, including Cambodia, Peru, Turkey, South Africa and the countries of the former Yugoslavia to examine the role of civil society in various transitional justice mechanisms. It provided an opportunity to take stock of the developments in the field of transitional justice in the former Yugoslavia. It was concluded that while civil society contributed greatly to the process of dealing with the past, it was the governments that were most responsible, and that the EU and other international bodies should take this into account in their policy development.

>The event was organised by the London School of Economics and Humanitarian Law Centre from Belgrade, Serbia

> representatives of civil society, judiciary, academics from the former Yugoslavia, and a number of other countries worldwide

15 June, Pristina, Kosovo

Outreach Kosovo Re-starts Work with Local Populations   

New Information and Administration Assistant began working in the ICTY Field Office in Pristina. His duties will also include outreach activities in Kosovo and Macedonia, as well as provision of regular local media monitoring. It is hoped that after a break, a robust Outreach presence will again fill information gaps in the area and the Tribunal voice will be heard more strongly.

 

12-16 June, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina

ICTY President Visits Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

President Patrick Robinson visited Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina for the first time in his tenure. During the visit in Zagreb, President Robinson met Deputy Prime Minister, Jadranka Kosor, to discuss the Tribunal’s completion strategy, planned residual mechanism and Croatia’s efforts to cooperate with the Tribunal and reform its judiciary. The President also visited Croatia’s Supreme Court and addressed a conference in Dubrovnik on the impact of ICTY in the former Yugoslavia where he met Croatian Minister of Justice Ivan Šimonović and the President of Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Meddžida Kreso. The President then traveled to Sarajevo where he met with victims’ representatives from all three ethnic groups and spoke at a conference organised by UNICRI which recently launched ICTY Manual on Developed Practices. President met with the BiH Minister of Justice Bariša Čolak, members of BiH Presidency, High Representative Valentin Inzko and his deputy Raffi Gregorian, and with the Mayor of Sarajevo Alija Behmen to discuss Sarajevo’s initiative to house the ICTY’s archive upon the Tribunal’s closure.

> political and judicial officials, victim associations and civil society representatives in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

11-12 June, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

UNDP Expert Collaboration for Prosecutors

Tribunal’s experts participated in the first Expert Collaboration for Prosecutors meeting at the BiH Prosecution Office (PO). The meeting aimed to contribute to professional development and intra-institutional cooperation of PO’s staff. The conference, organized in the framework of UNDP’s Support to Processing of War Crimes Cases in BiH Project, gave the opportunity to discuss legal challenges faced on the issue of war crimes and organized crime. The Tribunal’s OTP experts - Head of Trial Division, Head of the Transition Team and Spokesperson – shared their experience with the participants.

>The meeting was organized by UNDP Bosnia and Herzegovina

> prosecutors and legal associates from the BiH Prosecution Office

4 June, The Hague

Visit of the Srebrenica mothers and former DutchBat Soldiers

A group of women who lost their loved ones during the Srebrenica genocide in 1995 and former DutchBat soldiers visited the Tribunal. They were met by representatives of Outreach and Office of the Prosecutor to talk about the Tribunal’s investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the Srebrenica crime, and the future of the Tribunal, especially in the context of the necessity to bring the remaining fugitives to justice. The visit was a continuation of long-running efforts of the Dutch NGO IKV-Pax Christi to facilitate the dialogue between the Srebrenica survivors and Dutchbat soldiers.

>The visit was sponsored by the Dutch NGO IKV-Pax Christi

> 20 women-relatives of the Srebrenica genocide victims, ten ex-DutchBat soldeirs

20 May, The Hague
Visit from the Croatian Ministry of Justice
A group of 14 representatives from the Croatian Ministry of Justice visited the Tribunal. The group included mid- and high level civil servants. The group received a general introduction, which put the establishment and work of the Tribunal in the wider context of the development of international criminal justice. They were also informed about current cases and cases relating to Croatia, and learnt about the functioning of the ICTY Detention Unit. They also discussed the cooperation between the Office of the Prosecutor and Croatia.

>This visit was organised by the Croatian Ministry of Justice and sponsored by European Commission.

14 representatives from the Croatian Ministry of Justice, including the Head of the Department for Human Rights and Head of Department for Negotiations with EU.
18-22 May, The Hague
Visit of Serbian journalists
Journalists from Serbia’s mainstream printed media spent four days at the Tribunal on a visit organised by the OSCE, with the aim to make the reporting of ICTY-related issues more informed and in-depth. The visit allowed eleven journalists to receive basic legal and procedural background to follow trials easily, and offered them an in-depth look into various activities and sections (investigations, work with witnesses, Detention Unit). This was coupled with practical information of use in daily journalistic work, and the opportunity to talk to the spokeswomen and to journalists who cover the ICTY. The group also met informally with the Prosecutor.

>This visit was organised by the OSCE Mission to Serbia

11 journalists from Serbian printed media: Press, Blic, Politika, Kurir, Glas Javnosti and Večernje novosti dailies and NIN, weekly, accompanied by four OSCE representatives
14-16 May, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Conference on ICTY Best Practices and Lessons Learnt in Capacity Building
As part of the Tribunal legacy efforts, ICTY representatives attended a conference in Sarajevo on “Best Practices and Lessons Learned in Knowledge-Transfer Methodology on Processing War Crimes”. The workshop was part of a multi-agency and trans-regional initiative under the auspices of the OSCE, with the aim to identify priorities and support the needs of judiciaries handling war crimes cases in the former Yugoslavia, using the ICTY experience. ICTY Registrar spoke about the Tribunal’s contribution to capacity building of national judiciaries. The Tribunal was strongly present, with representatives from all three organs of the ICTY: Legacy Officer and Senior Legal Officer (Chambers), Acting Chief of Court Management Services Section (Registry), and Head of the Office of the Prosecutor’s Transition Team. The event presented a number of recommendations for capacity building and other aspects of preservation of Tribunal’s legacy.

>This conference was organised by OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and ODIHR

Approximately 60 participants including judges, prosecutors and other judicial and legal professionals, OSCE representatives and NGOs from the region
7 May, The Hague
Visit of students of security from Belgrade
Outreached welcomed 30 security students from Belgrade, who visited the Tribunal in the framework of a longer study visit to European security institutions (NATO, OSCE, EU). The students were given an overview of the ICTY and milestones of its jurisprudence, they learnt about the work of military analysts and functioning of the Detention Unit, and discussed how the evidence from ICTY trials can be used by the post-conflict societies to face the past.

>This visit was organised by the Faculty of Security studies of Belgrade University and sponsored by the Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade.

30 students from the Faculty of Security Studies of Belgrade University
4-6 May, The Hague
Visit of law students from Zagreb

Nine law students from Zagreb visited the Tribunal on a three-day study visit. The programme allowed the students a comprehensive overview of the Tribunal’s departments and procedures, with special regard to the ICTY jurisprudence, procedural law, rights of the accused and work of defence counsel, investigations and cooperation with the region and the role the Tribunal may play in facing the past in Croatia. The students appreciated the opportunity to attend the passing of the final judgment in the Mrkšić et al. case.

>The visit was organised by the European Law Students' Association (ELSA) Zagreb

Nine law students from the University of Zagreb

30 April, London, UK

Lecture on Tribunal’s impact on post-conflict societies in ex-Yugoslavia

Goldsmiths college hosted a lecture on “ICTY’s impact on regional reconciliation processes and post-conflict social recovery in the former Yugoslavia” given by the head of BiH Outreach. The event was hosted by the Unit for Global Justice, Department of Sociology. The Unit studies legal and ethical implications of contemporary global social change. It brings together researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners seeking to understand justice, ethics, and law in the new global world.

>Organised by Goldsmiths, one of the University of London leading colleges

> international policy makers, journalists, academics

29 April, London, UK

Oxford lecture on the ICTY completion strategy

The head of Outreach in BiH gave a lecture at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies of the University of Oxford, talking about “ICTY’s completion strategy, capacity building efforts and contribution to reconciliation in the Balkans”. The lecture was part of the University’s Transitional Justice Research (OTJR), a network of more than a hundred Oxford staff and graduate students working on issues concerning transitional societies. Additionally, the audience included academics and policymakers from other universities and institutions. 

>Organised by Centre for Socio-Legal Studies of the University of Oxford

> international academia, policy-makers, representatives of the judiciary and media

27-29 April, The Hague

Visit of top journalism students from Belgrade

The Tribunal hosted a three-day visit of five best journalism students from the Belgrade University. The students were given practical tools to help them cover the Tribunal – types of information available to the media at the ICTY and advice on professional and balanced court reporting. Additionally, the students also heard a number of lectures on legal issues, learnt about investigations and got acquainted with the ICTY milestone cases. They also wrote reports on the hearings in the Đorđević case, assessed by the Tribunal’s media experts.

>Organised by the OSCE Mission to Serbia

> five top students of journalism from the University of Belgrade, Serbia

23 April, Mostar, BiH

ICTY presentation at international human rights school

The head of Outreach in BiH gave a presentation on the work of Tribunal and the importance of addressing war crimes for the process of establishing democratic and stable societies in the countries of the former Yugoslavia at the International Human Rights School held in Mostar. The School was held as part of the festival “Build Bridges Not Walls” and gathered youth representatives from the region and wider. The presentation was followed by a lengthy Q&A session in which the young participants showed a great deal of interest and insight into the topic.

>Organised by Helsinki Committee branches from participating countries

> 70 youth representatives from BiH, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Norway and the USA

6 April, The Hague

Visit of law students from Ljubljana

A large group of law students from Ljubljana paid a half-day visit to the Tribunal. The group attended briefings given by Outreach, where they learnt about the establishment, structure and achievements the Tribunal. The students were keen to hear more about the OTP prosecutorial strategy, tasks undertaken by Outreach in the field, and the role that the ICTY can play to foster reconciliation in the region. The visit was part of an academic excursion to visit European institutions in Brussels and Strasbourg.

>Organised by the European Law Students Association (ELSA) from Ljubljana, Slovenia

> 55 law students from Ljubljana, Slovenia

2 April, Brussels, Belgium

International conference on the legacy of ICTY and ICTR

The Head of Outreach in Bosnia and Herzegovina took part in the international conference “The unfinished business of the UN international criminal tribunals of the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda: the future role of the EU and its Member States”, which was held in Brussels. ICTY President and other current and former Tribunal staff also attended. The conference centered on the issues of residual mechanisms planned in view of the planned closure of the ICTY and ICTR, local capacities to conduct fair criminal proceedings for war crimes and other issues relating to the legacy of international courts.

>Organised by three human rights organizations: REDRESS, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and International Criminal Law Services (ICLS), with the support of the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Party of European Socialists

> representatives of the EU institutions and some governments, judiciary from ex-Yugoslavia and international tribunals, European NGOs

24 March, Zagreb, Croatia

Roundtable on war crimes trials in Croatia

The outreach representative attended a round-table debate on local war crimes trials in Croatia, organised by local NGOs monitoring such trials. The Croatian President Stjepan Mesić addressed the gathering, stressing the importance of trials in the context of facing the past. He also praised the role of ICTY. While representatives of the judiciary accepted some of the criticism, in their presentations they mainly focused on the achievements over the past few years.

>Organised by local NGOs monitoring war crimes trials in Croatia

>senior Croatian state and judicial officials, representatives from the international community and NGOs

5 March, Sarajevo, BiH

Seminar on International Humanitarian Law

The Tribunals Outreach representative in BiH gave a presentation on the ICTY’s establishment and development with particular emphasis on transfer of cases and assistance provided to local jurisdictions at another in the series of seminars on international humanitarian law for defence lawyers. In the presentation, participants were informed about the procedures governing requests for assistance and the ways of approaching ICTY to this effect.

>The conference was organised by the Criminal Defence Section of Court of BiH’s Registry

>defence lawyers involved in war crimes cases or those who plan to apply for accreditation before the Court of BiH

March

National Public Radio on International Justice

Outreach’s representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina gave an extensive interview to a radio journalist of America Abroad, a program distributed in the United States by Public Radio International (PRI) and internationally by National Public Radio (NPR) Worldwide. The April edition of the program is focusing on international justice, with one portion of the show dealing with the ICTY-related issues. The Outreach representative spoke about the impact of the Tribunal in the region of the former Yugoslavia, prevailing perceptions of it in various communities and factors shaping those perceptions, the Tribunals contribution to overcoming the legacy of atrocities committed during the 90’s and its assistance to local institutions dealing with war crimes.

>The interview was conducted by Public Radio International

> a world audience, the programme is broadcast on more than 225 public radio stations in more than 145 countries

12 February, The Hague

Serbian judicial institutions learn from Outreach experience

Outreach hosted a visit of judicial representatives, organised by UNDP Serbia as part of their “Notions of Justice” programme, whose aim is to impart Outreach expertise from the international into the national level. The roundtable discussions focused on the outreach and media work, methodologies and lessons learnt, ways to forge synergy between the domestic and ICTY efforts, and judicial collaboration with national judiciaries in the context for the completion strategy.

>The visit was organized by UNDP Serbia

> 13 representatives of the National Council for Cooperation with the ICTY, Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, District Court of Belgrade, and the Judicial Training Centre

10 February, The Hague

Visit of military officers from ex-Yugoslavia and Albania

Army officers from the Balkans came to the Tribunal for an intensive half day visit which was integrated into a six-week officer’s programme run by the Netherlands Defence College. They received a brief introduction, followed by a long session with the Office of the Prosecutor on general questions, focusing on aspects of the cooperation between the Tribunal and the states. Two expert briefings followed:  on the investigation process with the focus on military matters, and an introduction to the doctrine of command responsibility. Both presentations generated many questions, especially regarding the role and responsibility of senior military commanders in war time.

>The visit was organized by the Netherlands Defence College

> 15 officers from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania

5, 26 February, Prijedor and Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Targeting public opinion – TV debates

BiH Outreach representative was involved in targeted efforts to engage in large-scale media events to reach broad public in BiH. On 5 February, he appeared in a live debate-style program on TV Prijedor. The program gave an opportunity to dispel some negative perceptions of the Tribunal among the Serbs in Republika Srpska (e.g. on the number of Serbs indicted by the Tribunal, conditions of detention of Biljana Plavšić, etc.). The audience posed questions during live phone-ins. On 26 February the second of five war crimes-related debate programs, initiated by BiH Outreach Office, was broadcast in a prime-time slot on the Federal Television (FTV). The BiH Outreach representative took part in the debate, which involved legal experts, NGO activists, and victim representatives. The program focused on the expectations of justice present among Bosniaks in BiH.

>The events were facilitated by the ICTY Outreach

> general public in BiH – Republika Srpska and BiH Federaton

29 January, Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Targeting the media in BiH – Una-Sana Canton

BiH Outreach Officer continued his engagement with the general public through media events, with an appearance in prime-time news program on Cantonal Television of Una-Sana Canton in Bihać. As part of the discussion on efforts to deal with the legacy of war crimes committed during the 1990s., the Outreach representative emphasised the importance of facts established before the ICTY, gave an overview of the ongoing cases and answered various questions related to specific trials and broader transitional justice issues.

>The events were facilitated by the ICTY Outreach

> general public in Una-Sana Canton in BiH

20 January, The Hague-Zagreb, Croatia

Video-conference with Zagreb law students

Outreach The Hague and Zagreb representatives together with the representative of the OTP Appeals Section participated in a video-conference with students of law of the University of Zagreb. The conference was held in the main courtroom of the Zagreb County Court and lasted for two hours. The three presentations dealt with the following issues – establishment, structure, and achievements of ICTY, witness protection, guilty pleas, completion strategy, overview of cases related to Croatia, and the ICTY contribution to procedural and substantial issues in international criminal law. Presentations were followed by the Q&A session. It was the first time Outreach used the video-link technology to hold a meeting with any group in the former Yugoslavia.

>The event was organised in cooperation between the ICTY Outreach and Zagreb University’s Law Faculty

> about 80 third-year students of law of the University of Zagreb

9 January, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

ICTY involvement in the conference on war crimes in Prijedor

ICTY Outreach in Sarajevo met and agreed to support the organisation of a conference focused on the guilty pleas of persons tried by the ICTY for crimes committed in the area of Prijedor. The organiser of the event is a Prijedor NGO ‘Izvor’. The conference will present the contents of the statements of guilt by the ICTY accused, with the aim of promoting the facts about the crimes and exploring possibilities of reconciliation based on the admittance of guilt and forgiveness. The conference is tentatively scheduled for March and would gather civil society representatives, politicians, journalists and community figures from Prijedor and surrounding areas.

> representatives of Prijedor NGO ‘Izvor’

8 January, Zagreb, Croatia

Regional NGOs meet on the Commission to Establish Facts about War Crimes

Outreach attended this meeting to monitor the process where regional NGOs, victims’ and veterans’ organisations made a step forward to form the coalition for the establishment of the Regional Commission for Establishing Facts about War Crimes and other serious violations of human rights in the recent past (REKOM). The plan of three leading NGOs from the region (including Documenta from Zagreb, the Documentation and Research Centre from Sarajevo, and the Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Fund) is to collect signatures of a million of citizens from the former Yugoslavia and request the parliaments to form such a regional commission.

>The meeting was organised by the Zagreb-based Human Rights Centre and NGO Documenta

> NGOs from the region of the former Yugoslavia, victims’ and veterans’ organisations