The Hague Exhibition on Children During Wars in BiH and Rwanda Opened

The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, the legal successor to the Hague Tribunal, has launched an online exhibition providing insight into the suffering of children during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and the genocide in Rwanda, BIRN reported, as conveyed by NAP.

The exhibition, titled “Children in Conflict – Evidence from the International Criminal Tribunals”, illustrates how children were deliberately targeted for torture, sexual violence, persecution, forced displacement, murder, and extermination during the conflicts in the Balkans and Rwanda.

The exhibition features a selection of testimonies, photographs, and audiovisual materials that were used as evidence before the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

At a time when a quarter of all children are affected by conflicts, this exhibition, according to the statement, serves as a reminder of the impact of wars on the youngest members of society, as well as the importance of international courts and tribunals in prosecuting those responsible for crimes committed against civilians.

“As children and other civilians continue to be targets of systematic violence in conflicts around the world, we are reminded of the importance of ensuring respect for international humanitarian law, which provides protection to those, including children, who do not participate in the conflict. International criminal courts and tribunals have played a crucial role in ensuring respect for international humanitarian law, sending a clear message that violations of these laws must not be ignored,” said Judge Theodor Meron.

The exhibition includes a photo album from Foča, showing the sports hall „Partizan“, as well as excerpts from testimonies related to crimes in this city.

Witness FWS-87 is one of 20 women who testified in The Hague in the case of Kunarac and others, concerning allegations of rape, torture, enslavement, and violations of personal dignity of women committed in Foča during 1992.

Among other things, the witness described how she was held captive and repeatedly raped at various locations in Foča, and that Radomir Kovač sold her to Montenegrin soldiers for 500 German marks. At the outbreak of the war in Foča, she was fifteen and a half years old.

In 2002, Radomir Kovač was found guilty of enslavement, rape, and abuse of women and girls in Foča and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The verdict established that Kovač raped and humiliated three victims, while selling one to another soldier. Along with Kovač, Dragoljub Kunarac was sentenced to 28 years and Zoran Vuković to 12 years in prison for crimes committed in Foča.

Among the selected testimonies is the account of Muhamed Kapetanović, a boy who survived the sledding massacre in the Sarajevo neighborhood of Alipašino polje in January 1994.

“We were sledding and suddenly we heard shells falling. We knew it was close by the sound of the explosion. Then we got scared and started to run. Before we reached our building entrance, a shell fell behind us. Danijel Juranić was killed. I was wounded in the leg, head, and arm, and Admir Hodžić and Elvir were also wounded,” is an excerpt from Kapetanović’s testimony from The Hague.

The exhibition also features video testimonies of survivors from Kotor – Varoš and Srebrenica.

The practice of the Hague courts has contributed to strengthening the protection of children during armed conflicts, the statement said, and in the verdicts, the age of the victims and their vulnerability were considered aggravating factors when determining sentences, reported the Patria agency.