The Mechanism joins the Digital Preservation Coalition

The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (“MICT” or “Mechanism”) has joined the Digital Preservation Coalition (“DPC”); a non-profit organization that advocates for, and supports, long-term preservation of digital information.

Joining the DPC is a further reflection of the Mechanism’s commitment to fulfilling its mandate to manage and provide access to the archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (“ICTR”), the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (“ICTY”) and the Mechanism in accordance with the highest international archival standards. The digital archives include a wide range of born-digital and digitized records in a variety of formats, amounting to approximately three petabytes of data. The Mechanism preserves these records in a manner that ensures that they remain trustworthy, accessible and usable in the future.

Membership of the DPC will enable the Mechanism to benefit from, and contribute to, the wider community of expertise on digital preservation. Mechanism staff will have privileged access to the expertise and services of the Coalition and its other members, and priority access to DPC publications, training and initiatives, which will further contribute to their ongoing archival responsibilities. The Mechanism will also have the opportunity to initiate strategically important research and influence future developments in the field of digital preservation.

As part of the transfer of responsibilities from the Tribunals to the Mechanism, the ICTR archives have already been transferred into the custody of the Mechanism. They include approximately one petabyte of digital records. The ICTY archives will include approximately two petabytes of digital records. These will be transferred by the end of 2017 when the ICTY closes.  

To learn more about the archives, please visit the archives page on the MICT website.

For a glimpse into the archives, please visit the MICT’s first online exhibition.