Gjilan/Gnjilane, 7 October 2013
The Youth Initiative for Human Rights Kosovo (YIHR KS) in partnership with the ICTY’s Outreach Programme today gave a presentation on the work and achievements of the Tribunal to around 35 final year high school students in the town of Gjilan.
During the first part of the presentation, YIHR KS staff presented a short history of the ICTY and briefly covered cases related to Kosovo. This was followed by the screening on a number of clips of witnesses testifying before the Tribunal.
In the open discussion that ensued, the students had a wide range of questions for the presenters. There was a focus on cases specifically involving Kosovo, like those of Ramush Haradinaj and Slobodan Milošević, but the young people were also interested in hearing about the ongoing trials of Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić. They wanted to know whether accused persons found not guilty by the Tribunal are entitled to compensation, and also wondered why the Milošević trial was discontinued after his death. The presenters explained that the Tribunal did not offer compensation to those set free, and also that it is a basic principle of justice that the dead cannot be put on trial.
The presentation was warmly received by the students, and the school’s vice-principal invited YIHR KS back to stage similar events at the school in future.