Zagreb, 11 April 2012
Around 30 fourth-year gymnasium students today engaged staff from the Zagreb Liaison Office in a forthright discussion following a presentation on the work and accomplishments of the Tribunal. The gymnasium in question is a boarding school for Croatian Serb returnee children whose parents had fled during the 1991-1995 war that engulfed the country.
There is history of antagonism between these Serb students and Croatian students from the school across the street, and this was reflected in the lively nature of the debate which followed the presentation.
Some students initially suggested that the Tribunal was biased against the Serbs, and did not prosecute cases where Serbs were the victims. The Liaison Officer offered specific examples of ICTY trials that dealt with the crimes committed against Serb civilians during the wars in the former Yugoslavia.
The Liaison Officer also focused on the message that the Tribunal does not put nations on trial but rather individuals believed to bear responsibility for the crimes committed.