Monday 11711

this morning we went to visit the Republic of Serbia Office of War Crimes Prosecutor. Very interesting presentation from a very knowledgeable person. The special office was established in 2003 to prosecute warcrimes, in cooperation with the Hague, and similar offices in neighboring countries.

it sounds as though they have been doing well, and their progress towards justice has been accelerating. though there are many impediments, from the regional lack of trust and transparency, and domestic pressures. the office works closely with the other special prosecutor for organized crime, primarily because many old time war criminals were/are heavily connected with organized crime nowadays.

everyone really liked this presentation, while i think it was well done, and relevant, its not really my thing. while i havent said it before on the blog, i break up International Affairs (particularly at NU) into two primary branches, the hug the poor children NGO types and the realist government/security types. and while the former is certainly necessary in todays world, i dont fall into that camp. and this presentation with its focus on reconciliation and justice certainly appealed to the former group.

however i did not walk away empty handed, im just saying i didnt appreciate this presentation nearly as much as many of my peers seemed to have. seeing what is being done, locally (domestically in Serbia, which got the most negative press regarding war crimes) regionally, and internationally to bring justice and closure to the conflict was surely intriguing.

i feel that once we start traveling and see the parallel offices and agencies in the other countries it will be far more interesting and telling as to the overall situation.

we also had a lecture from Mladen on the conflicts of the 90s, which to a certain extent cleared things up, but didnt tell me anything i didnt already know. but again that is no fault of Mladen or the program, i just read alot about stuff early.

not much to report, its still stupidly hot here, pretty draining