The Hague, 28 October 2013
The Tribunal’s Outreach Programme today welcomed a group of eight journalists from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia and Serbia on an intensive five-day study visit to the ICTY. The visit was organised in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), a longstanding partner of the Outreach Programme in the region of the former Yugoslavia.
The journalists will meet senior officials from Chambers, the Registry and the Office of the Prosecutor, who will present the key functions of the three organs. The visitors will attend trials and will also have an opportunity to speak with ICTY President Theodor Meron and Prosecutor Serge Brammertz.
"Based on the burden of our recent history and the debate in the region of the former Yugoslavia regarding the work of the Tribunal, it is imperative for me, as a journalist, to have an opportunity to receive first-hand information about the work of this institution, as well as about the ways that the international humanitarian law has been applied in particular cases," said visiting BIRN journalist Erna Mačkić.
Central to the study visit is a roundtable discussion on the challenges of reporting on war crimes trials. This event, alongside presentations by the Tribunal’s Communications Service, is intended to offer practical advice and assistance to regional journalists seeking to report on proceedings at the Tribunal.
The journalists will also have a chance to view a selection of ICTY-produced documentaries, and to discuss the potential of using the Tribunal’s archive for filmmaking and investigative journalism.
As the ICTY moves towards the completion of its judicial mandate, the Outreach Programme is intensifying its efforts to provide key stakeholders in the former Yugoslavia, such as journalists, with increased access to the Tribunal’s records, and in doing so, to promote a greater understanding of its work and its contributions to international humanitarian law.