The Hague, 3 March 2015
The ICTY Outreach Programme today welcomed a group of 18 law students from Rijeka, Croatia on a visit organised in cooperation with European Law Student Association of the Rijeka University.
The visitors met with Rada Pejić-Sremac, a representative of the Outreach Programme, who informed them about the structure, mandate and the achievements of the Tribunal as well as the challenges it is facing during the final years of its work.
The students asked numerous questions on topics including the prosecution of sexual violence, the cooperation of states, sentencing policies and perceptions of the Tribunal among the public of the region.
Following the presentation, the students agreed that for the region of the former Yugoslavia to deal with its past, people must first start by accepting what happened and the evidence which proves it and then work together to ensure that such events never happen again. Rada added that the Tribunal has contributed to the establishment of facts about the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, combating denial and helping communities come to terms with their recent history. She concluded by saying that the work of the ICTY has narrowed the space for denial of crimes in the communities of the former Yugoslavia.
The visitors’ schedule also included attending a hearing in the ongoing trial of Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladić.