Week Six: Mamma Mia! We're in Croatia!
Hello from beautiful Split, Croatia!
Yes, that’s right, I’m writing this blog post not from Geneva as I normally do, but instead from the Balkans. My fellow William & Mary Law IBJ intern, Laura, decided that this summer was the perfect opportunity to visit Croatia, and she convinced nine more of us from IBJ to join her for a weekend in the Adriatic! I’ll get more into this later in the blog post, but needless to say, it’s been an amazing week.
Before we hopped on a plane towards the end of the week, things back in Switzerland were as busy as always. This week, I wrapped up the Armenia grant proposal and legal research project. It’s nice to be done with those projects, but I had some very exciting new assignments to dive into right away. The most prominent of my assignments right now is to take over IBJ’s LGBTQIA+ thematic area. In essence, I am researching the criminal codes of the countries where IBJ operates, studying the laws specifically relating to the criminalization of queer identities, speaking with IBJ’s Justice Makers who have defended LGBTQIA+ clients around the world, and creating eLearning modules that synthesize the relevant legal codes for defenders around the world to best represent clients in this marginalized community when they are arrested or detained. I’m specifically focusing on Uganda’s criminal code this week, but I will be looking into more states beginning next week so that I can do a comprehensive comparative analysis of these legal codes. In Uganda, the situation is truly dire. Just this April, Uganda’s Supreme Court upheld the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act. The Act prescribes a life sentence for any homosexuality, and in cases of “aggravated” homosexuality, a court may issue a death sentence for a queer person. The Act also greatly limits freedom of speech related to LGBTQIA+ advocacy. This makes it very difficult for human rights defenders in Uganda to advocate against the killings or life-long imprisonments of queer people.
In addition to the work I am doing within IBJ’s LGBTQIA+ thematic area, I am also working on the India Defenders Manual. IBJ’s Defender Manuals are incredible tools that synthesize the criminal codes of the country they are designed for into a very digestible and practical format for defense lawyers in developing nations. These manuals promote best practices within defense work, and IBJ has launched dozens over the course of its operations. The India Defender Manual was primarily written by other years of William & Mary legal interns, and Laura and I are excited to continue this work and hopefully complete the manual by the end of the summer.
Now, on to the big news of the week: Croatia! We left Geneva first thing in the morning on Thursday – our train left the station at 4:30AM and we were in Croatia by 7:30AM. We decided to spend the majority of our weekend on the island of Vis – where Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again was filmed. To get to Vis, we had to take a two hour long ferry from the town of Split, and the ferry wasn’t until 3:00PM. Because of this, we had the opportunity to explore Split for hours and it was truly one of the most incredible cities I’ve ever had the opportunity to visit. The city traces its history back to a Greek colony in the third century BCE, and it was the seat of the Roman emperor Diocletian. His palace still stands today, and it was incredible to see how much history the city held. Laura and I paid three euros to climb the Saint Domnius Bell Tower in 95 degree heat, and it was incredibly worth it. The panoramic views of the city were beautiful, and I would go back in a heartbeat.
When we finally made it to Vis, my excitement only grew. The town of Vis itself is very small, and there are only around 3,000 full time residents on the island. It really is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited, and even though our time on the island was short, we packed in a lot during that time. On our first day, we explored a private beach next to our Airbnb. To our surprise, the Adriatic Sea is well-populated with sea urchins! Luckily, the water in Vis is crystal clear, and we were able to fully see every inch of the sea floor. We got dinner at an adorable restaurant on the main street in Vis, and it was a lovely first night on the island.
The second day, we primarily stayed on the beach in Vis. We went to the Priovo Beach right next to the Church of St. Jerome, and it was stunning. Fun fact: Split and Vis are in the Dalmatia region of Croatia – the home of the Dalmatian dog breed! We saw so many Dalmatians running along the beaches in Vis, and I was overjoyed because my first childhood dog was a Dalmatian. I would absolutely love to have another Dalmatian in the future, and it was so fun to see the dogs in their historical environment.
The third day in Vis was perhaps my favorite. Early in the day, we rented a car and drove to the other side of the island (thank you, Laura, for chauffeuring us around all day)! On the other side of the island is the famous Stiniva Cove. The only downside? To get to the beach you have to hike straight down a cliff for around half an hour in 95 degree weather. While it was a difficult hike, I would do it a thousand times over because Stiniva was so beautiful and worth it. Along the cliffside were amazing caves, and the cove was quiet and so much fun. We were even able to do a little bit of cliff jumping into the ocean! After we hiked back up the cliff, we drove to the other town on the island – Komiža. It was another adorable seaside town, and the drive to and from the town was amazing.
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We left Vis today and are spending another few hours in Split before catching our flight back to Geneva late tonight. It’s been so much fun getting to explore a new country with the friends I’ve made through my internship this summer, and I know these relationships are going to last a lifetime.
Kristen