As part of their study trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), a group of students in International Crimes and Criminology from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) Master’s programme visited the ICTY Field Office in Sarajevo to obtain an insight into the work of the Tribunal.
During the presentation, ICTY Registry Liaison Officer Almir Alić introduced the students to the Tribunal’s most significant achievements. Following the presentation, the participants asked questions related to the cases against military and political leaders charged with serious violations of international humanitarian law during the armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. The students were curious about the reactions of different ethnic communities to certain judgments and asked if any of the convicted persons have supported the ICTY Outreach activities in the region after they had served their sentences.
Adina, a 31-year old student, said after the presentation: “We have studied quite a lot about the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, but we still learned many new things today. I knew nothing about the sexual abuses directed towards men or about the current work of the ICTY here in BiH, the work done in schools, with children and local communities. I hope the Outreach programme will be continued after the closing of the ICTY, since this type of work is very significant and impressive.”