A group of 18 Master’s students at the Free University of Amsterdam (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) visited the ICTY Sarajevo Filed Office today. Students of international law and criminology are on their study trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina focusing on the Srebrenica genocide and its aftermath.
Outreach Programme representative, Almir Alić, introduced the students to the work of the Tribunal, and explained that the ICTY initiated the process of establishing accountability for serious crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia.
The Dutch students showed great interest in the victims of the conflict, their status, and the process of reparations. They also wanted to learn more about the cases against political leaders such as Plavšić and Šešelj.
Barbora Hola, assistant professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, assessed the presentation as very good and pointed out that it meant a lot to her to learn more about the work of the Tribunal, but also about the restrictions of the ICTY’s mandate.
The students praised the work of the Outreach programme, expressing their hope that it would keep up the good work in the coming years. Thijs Bouwknegt, researcher and lecturer with the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, said: „I strongly hope the Outreach office will maintain its work into the future, even after the closure of the ICTY“.