New Cases; New Places.
I truly wish I could talk about more I do at work. It would be so exciting to sit here and write about every little thing I am doing at work. What I can say, however, is that I am working on a case that deals with the ICTR. Even though I am an intern for the ICTY, I am learning much more about the history of the Rwandan genocide.
It is an interesting time to be working at the UN ICTY because the tribunal closes in December of this year. Because of that, the ICTY is slowly transferring its cases to the MICT (Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals), which is a permanent tribunal rather than an ad-hoc tribunal (as is the ICTY). Because of this transition, the MICT is utilizing ICTY interns as well as their own interns because as the ICTY caseload decreases, theirs increases. The MICT also took over the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda) caseload when it closed in 2015, so the MICT now handles the ICTR cases and appeals, while also being in charge of bringing in the rest of the fugitives in order to face trial. What I am doing involves the last facet of these. I love that I get to work with attorneys who either worked at the ICTR in Arusha, or have extensive international law experience. Every attorney I have met here is exceedingly competent, driven, and helpful in explaining their work and bringing interns on to help with their projects.
On the weekends, I am still trying to travel and see as much as I can while I'm here and because it is more economical for transportation within Europe. This past weekend, my best friend was in town, and we got to go to Amsterdam over night. My favorite activity was going to the Van Gogh museum, as he is my favorite artist. We took a canal tour as well - so we were definitely tourists for the day and a half that we were there (pictures below). Tomorrow, the Stanišić & Simatović re-trial begins, and I will get to go downstairs to watch the opening statement. I am very much looking forward to it, as I have now done enough research to understand the roles they allegedly played in the Yugoslavian genocide.
