Mitchell McClenaghan in Dunedin yesterday. Photo by Gregor
Richardson.
A passion for international justice has landed a Dunedin
man a position researching Bosnian war crimes.
Mitchell McClenaghan will leave Dunedin on Sunday for a
six-month post as an intern with the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at The Hague in the
Netherlands.
''I have a personal disgust, but a professional interest.
''It's about accountability. It's something I'm very
passionate about,'' he said yesterday.
''It's an unpaid job. I'll be working with a prosecutor,
probably in the appeals division.
''I'm a bit apprehensive about it, but that is dampened down
by extreme excitement.
''It's going to be a whole new world. I've only travelled to
Australia before. I'll be staying in a flat near The Hague
with three other interns.''
Mr McClenaghan (23) attended Otago Boys' High School before
completing a double degree in history and law at the
University of Otago.
The court was established by the United Nations Security
Council to prosecute serious crimes committed during the wars
in the former Yugoslavia.
The tribunal is investigating grave breaches of the Geneva
Conventions, including violations of the laws or customs of
war, genocide and crimes against humanity.
It has indicted 161 people, including former president of the
Republic of Serbian Krajina Goran Hadzic, former president of
the Republika Srpska Radovan Karadzic and former Bosnian Serb
Army commander Ratko Mladic.
The tribunal will complete its work at the end of this year,
when its responsibilities will be transferred to the
International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.
Mr McClenaghan starts his new job on February 18.
- nigel.benson@odt.co.nz
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