| Press Release |
TRIBUNAL
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| (Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document) |
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The Hague, 21 January 2011
AL/MOW/1386e
ICTY Delivers New Set of Transcripts to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia
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The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today delivered approximately 2,000 pages of transcripts produced in local languages to the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia and Serbia.
The transcripts were delivered as part of the War Crimes Justice Project (WCJP), which aims to enhance the capacity of regional judiciaries to handle complex war crimes cases and assist the transfer of knowledge and materials from the ICTY to the former Yugoslavia. The provision of transcripts in the local languages is expected to improve the ability of legal practitioners in the region to access and utilise testimony given before the ICTY.
The transcripts are being produced in the local languages from the audio recordings of the ICTY court hearings. Until October 2010, the trial transcripts were available only in English and French, the official languages of the ICTY.
“These transcripts are of precious assistance and will speed up the process of determining the full individual responsibility for war crimes committed during the 1990s. We are aware that transcribing court proceedings is a lengthy task, and therefore the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office is actively engaged in prioritising these documents. The continuation and expansion of this project will be one of the key elements of the gradual transfer of responsibility for the adjudication of war crimes from international to national level,” said the office of the War Crimes Prosecutor in Serbia.
Since the launch of the WCJP in September 2010, the ICTY has delivered 4,500 pages of public trial transcripts to the authorities in Croatia, Serbia and BiH. The Tribunal aims to produce a minimum of 60,000 transcript pages in local languages as part of the Project.
The War Crimes Justice Project is a 4-million euro regional project funded by the European Union and carried out by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in partnership with the ICTY, the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, and OSCE field operations.
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For more information on the project please contact Ms. Sanela Tunović,
the Outreach Officer for the War Crimes Justice Project at +387 61 539 535 or wcjp [at] odihr.pl
For more information on the War Crimes Justice Project please visit http://www.icty.org/sid/240
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War Crimes Justice Project Partners |
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 This project is funded by the European Union |
Implemented by: |    |