The Hague War Crimes Trial Coverage Project

Program Overview

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Project Information Sheet

The Hague project complements IREX efforts to support those media who have bravely investigated and reported on war crimes, including B92, Nezavisne Novine, Vreme, and others. Coverage of the trial, together with reporting on the crimes of the last 10 years, will help involve citizens of the former Yugoslavia in the process of coming to terms with their countries' recent past. The project is made possible by USAID, The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the law firm of Covington and Burling, and Press Now.

KEY ISSUE
Most journalists from the former Yugoslavia do not have the resources to cover the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), where former political and military leaders are being tried for war crimes committed during the wars of the 1990s. This deprives citizens of the in-depth coverage of trials meant to bring justice and reconciliation to a region that saw hundreds of thousands killed and displaced as Yugoslavia disintegrated into ethnic warfare.

PROJECT RESULTS

Journalists from Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia are able to provide coverage from the trials.
More than 200 articles and reports on the Tribunal have been produced in the last year.

Project Activities

Provide support for media outlets to report from the International Criminal Tribunal. As a multi-country initiative, the project provides centralized coordination and other logistical assistance, enabling journalists to live and work together, cut costs for each individual outlet and encourage the exchange of information and experience as journalists report on trial proceedings.
Provide targeted training to increase media capacity in judicial and war crimes reporting. IREX has helped educate journalists on the International Tribunal process and procedures, which derive from laws different than those in their own countries. In addition, it has provided support on reporting the sensitive issues involved in war crimes, including coverage of victims, protection of witnesses, and the presumption of innocence.
Bridge cultural divides through cooperative reporting. As they live and work together in The Hague, participating journalists have the chance to not only share information, but experiences and stories that will help heal the wounds caused by war.

IREX MEDIA

Since the early 1990s, IREX has designed and implemented projects and activities in support of independent media in more than 50 countries.

Since 2001 IREX has supported journalists, allowing them to report from The Hague tribunal. Journalists from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Macedonia have had this opportunity, often collaborating with each other on reporting.

This has allowed journalists to provide firsthand coverage on war crimes trials, has encouraged accountability for the crimes committed in the breakup of Yugoslavia, and has helped address the issue of reconciliation. At the same time, these journalists are bridging their own cultural divides as they live and work together in The Hague.

Since 2001, The Hague Coverage Project has received funding from USAID, Press Now (Netherlands), and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and has received in-kind support from the law firm of Covington & Burling. The Mott Foundation and USAID are currently supporting the project.

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