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14 New Eng. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 299 (2007-2008)
Lessons for Outreach from the Ad Hoc Tribunals, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and the International Criminal Court

handle is hein.journals/newenjic14 and id is 307 raw text is: LESSONS FOR OUTREACH FROM THE AD Hoc TRIBUNALS, THE SPECIAL COURT FOR SIERRA LEONE, AND THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT SARA DAREHSHORI* INTRODUCTION The International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch has recognized the great importance of outreach and has strongly advocated vigorous outreach efforts in order for the international courts to have a positive impact on the populations directly affected by the crimes investigated and tried. Indeed, there has been increasing recognition by diplomats and court officials that outreach, rather than being auxiliary, is a key component of international criminal justice. I. THE ICTR I joined the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in September 1995 as a young lawyer full of optimism about the potential for the tribunal to end the cycle of violence in Rwanda by revealing what happened during the genocide and by attributing responsibility to the individuals most responsible for the crimes committed. It was my hope that the ICTR would make an important contribution to reconciliation in Rwanda by eradicating collective attribution of guilt to an entire ethnic group. I left the tribunal two years later somewhat more cynical about what reconciliatory impact the ICTR would have in Rwanda. Although I did not have a name for the source of my disillusionment at the time, it essentially came down to one word: outreach-or lack thereof. To be fair, I was at the tribunal in the very beginning of its operations. When I first reported for duty in Kigali, Rwanda, the only persons present * Senior Counsel, International Justice Program, Human Rights Watch. 299