NUI Galway to host lecture by war crimes lawyer Peter McCloskey

The Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway will host a free public lecture on the prosecution of the Bosnian genocide next week.

The lecture will be given by Peter McCloskey, a senior trial attorney in the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) who worked for two decades on cases concerning the massacres which took place in Srenbrenica in July 1995.

Mr McCloskey (pictured) has been closely involved in the prosecution of twenty individuals indicted by the Tribunal for crimes committed in Srebrenica, including most prominently Serbian President Slobodan Milošević, Radovan Karadžić and General Ratko Mladić.

He will speak of his experience in prosecuting genocide in The Hague, in one of the few international courts to ever prosecute the crime of genocide, the other being the tribunal for Rwanda.

Both courts have almost completed their work and this lecture offers a valuable opportunity to reflect on their efforts in addressing genocide.

Mr McCloskey said: “Over the years, we grew to know many of the survivors, witnesses and victims of Srebrenica and learned from them how much they appreciated our effort and how much our work meant to them. From their words and warm affection it appears we have been able to bring a small measure of peace and justice to those Bosnians and the Bosnian Muslim community as a whole.”

Dr Shane Darcy of the Irish Centre for Human Rights added: “We are honoured that Peter McCloskey will travel to Galway to share his vast experience in the prosecution of notorious war criminals.

“The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has been a ground-breaking development in international affairs, demonstrating that perpetrators of serious international crimes can be called to account before a judicial body, despite the various legal, political and practical challenges that this may have presented.”

The lecture takes place at 7.30pm on Thursday 19 October 2017 in the Tyndall Theatre, NUI Galway concourse.