The Tribunal’s Outreach Programme today welcomed a group of eight journalists from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia and Serbia who are on an intensive five-day study visit to the ICTY. This visit was organised in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), a longstanding partner of the Outreach Programme working in the region of the former Yugoslavia.

The visiting journalists will meet senior officials drawn from Chambers, the Registry and the Office of the Prosecutor who will present the key functions of the three respective organs and provide the visitors with details about the workings and achievements of the Tribunal. The journalists 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. I am confident that this study visit will assist me in future to have a better understanding of the work of the MICT, as well as to enable me to better understand judicial decisions and judgements rendered by the Tribunal," said visiting BIRN journalist Erna Mačkić.

Central to the study visit is a roundtable discussion on the challenges of reporting on war crimes trials, which will be attended by a number of journalists who cover the work of the Tribunal on a daily basis. This event, alongside presentations by the Tribunal’s Communications Services, aims to offer practical advice and assistance to regional journalists seeking to report on proceedings at the Tribunal. ICTY Communications staff will share practical information on services offered to journalists to facilitate their reporting, including how to navigate the ICTY’s website and Court Records Database to access key documents and transcripts. 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.

The Outreach Programme benefits from the continuous support of the European Union.