The ICTY yesterday welcomed 700 visitors as part of the seventh annual ‘International Open Doors Day’ organised by the Municipality of The Hague. On this day, international organisations across The Hague, including the ICTY, opened their doors to the public and offered a behind–the-scenes look into the International City of Peace and Justice.

Judge Christoph Flügge opened the event by stating that: “The Hague International Open Doors Day is a very special event for us. It is not only because we are based here in The Netherlands, in the City of Peace and Justice, enjoying remarkable hospitality from our hosts for the past twenty years. But most of all because this is a unique opportunity for us to meet face to face with you, the public interested in our work, to tell you more about what we do and why we do it, often facing serious challenges.”

The Tribunal organised various activities to provide visitors with an insight into the functioning of the ICTY as a whole. For example, visitors were given a tour of a courtroom, where they were able to sit at the Judges’ bench or take the places of the Prosecution or Defence counsel, while listening to presentations on how the Tribunal’s courtrooms operate.

Furthermore, visitors were able to watch a collage of videos about various aspects of the work of the ICTY. Judge Flügge and Deputy Registrar Kate Mackintosh answered visitors’ questions, which provided information about various challenging aspects of conducting the Tribunal’s trial proceedings. There were also special screenings of the documentaries ‘Through Their Eyes’ and ‘Prijedor’, produced by the Tribunal’s Outreach office.

In addition, an exhibition commemorating the 20 year existence of the ICTY was displayed, as was a collection of drawings made by children from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the Tribunal’s lobby, a photo exhibition by photographer Inge van Mill was also displayed with photos of Tribunal staff members at work.

Throughout the day, ICTY staff members were on hand to meet with the visitors, to answer their questions and to present the work and achievements of the Tribunal.