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(Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document)
VE/CS/PR1498e
Outreach Programme launches series of lectures in universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Today, the Tribunal’s Outreach Programme launched a series of university lectures in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of its region-wide project to reach out to students across the former Yugoslavia.
A total of five lectures will be held this week at the Faculty of Philosophy, the Law Faculty, Political Science Faculty and Faculty of Criminology and Security Studies of Sarajevo and the Law Faculty of Travnik University in Kiseljak. The lectures will be given by Svetlana Martynova, Legal Officer in ICTY Chambers. She will introduce students to the work of the Tribunal, its jurisprudence and achievements in the development of international criminal law.
Commenting on the value of the lectures, Zijad Šehić, Professor at the History Department of the Sarajevo Faculty of Philosophy, said: “I greatly appreciate the opportunity given to our students to learn more and expand their horizons as many will be carrying out future research on topics related to the work of the Tribunal. In my frequent discussions with them, the students have expressed an interest in learning more about the Tribunal first hand as to date they have only had an opportunity to follow its work through TV reports from The Hague."
Professor Jasmin Džindo, Vice Dean for Scientific Research and International Academic Cooperation with the Faculty of Philosophy, also underlined the importance of such presentations in demystifying the work of the Tribunal and demonstrating its relevance, thus shrinking the space for the speculation and politicisation of war crimes prosecutions.
This follows similar lecture series which are underway in Serbia and have been completed in Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. A series of university lectures is scheduled to be held in Kosovo in May 2012.
The university lectures series form part of the Outreach Programme’s efforts to contribute to the process of dealing with the past by encouraging young people to take an active interest in the Tribunal’s work and achievements as well as wider issues of justice, transitional justice mechanisms and post-conflict social recovery.
As the ICTY moves towards the completion of its mandate, the Outreach Programme is intensifying its efforts to increase the access of local communities to information on the Tribunal’s work. In doing so, the Outreach Programme seeks to cement the Tribunal’s legacy throughout the region of the former Yugoslavia.
The Outreach Programme benefits from the continuous support of the European Union and its work with the youth of the former Yugoslavia is generously supported by the Finnish government.
More information about the Outreach Programme can be found on the Tribunal’s website.
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If you would like to support or get involved in the Tribunal’s Outreach Programme please contact Nerma Jelačić, Head of Outreach, at jelacic [at] un.org or +31 70 512 5066
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International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
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