MIP participates in the Srebrenica Heroines International Conference

On 10 July 2022, the Coordinator of the Mechanism Information Programme for Affected Communities (MIP) participated in a panel discussion entitled “Judicial Legacies” that was held during the Srebrenica Heroines International Conference. The Conference took place in Potočari, Srebrenica and was organised by the Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC), the Srebrenica Memorial Center, and the Association of the Mothers of Srebrenica. The new President of the Mechanism, Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, closed the Conference by delivering an address after the final panel discussion of the day.

During her remarks, MIP Coordinator Ms. Rada Pejić-Sremac spoke about the significant contribution of women to the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Mechanism. Explaining the different roles of women in the judicial process, Ms. Pejić-Sremac emphasised the particular importance of their contributions as witnesses and presented excerpts of a wide range of women’s testimonies heard before the ICTY and Mechanism. In this context, she noted that women gave evidence before the courts as journalists, experts, eye-witnesses, and survivors of the crimes committed during the 1990s conflicts in the region of the former Yugoslavia.

Ms. Pejić-Sremac expressed special gratitude and admiration for the women survivors of the Srebrenica Genocide who courageously testified about their suffering before the ICTY and the Mechanism. She recalled that the women of Srebrenica not only suffered as direct victims of the Genocide and other crimes committed in July 1995, but also lost their closest male relatives including their sons, husbands, fathers and brothers.

Ms. Laurel Baig, Senior Trial Attorney in the Mechanism’s Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), also took part in the “Judicial Legacies” panel, focusing on the role of the OTP in the prosecution of crimes of sexual violence. The other participants were the President of the Women of Podrinje-Bratunac Association Ms. Šuhra Sinanović, Professor at Columbia University Ms. Tanya Domi, State Prosecutor in the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ms. Diana Kajmaković, and President of the Vive Žene Association from Tuzla Ms. Jasna Zečević.

The MIP’s participation in the Srebrenica Heroines International Conference formed part of the Programme’s efforts to support projects and events organised by civil society organisations that are active in the field of transitional justice in the region of the former Yugoslavia.

The aim of the MIP is to improve the knowledge and understanding of citizens and communities in the countries of the former Yugoslavia about the crimes committed during the conflicts of the 1990s, based on ICTY and Mechanism cases. The MIP is funded by the European Union and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.