The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Digital Archives provide access to a range of documents and other records associated with the work of the ICTY. The result of an ongoing collaboration between Dodd Impact Programs, the UConn Libraries, the Connecticut Digital Archive, and individual scholars, witnesses, and others involved in the Tribunal, the ICTY Digital Archives seek to make the work of the tribunal accessible to researchers, educators, students, and others. The project continues to work to identify, evaluate, process, and make available additional materials with the goal of advancing a better understanding of the work of the ICTY and the history of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
ICTY Archives’ Path to The Dodd Center for Human Rights
The following publications outline the call for open ICTY archival access, beginning in 2012.
View the Publications
Truths, Memories and Historians in the Archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
Robert Donia
pp. 223–228 in H.G. van der Wilt, J. Vervliet, G.K. Sluiter. J.Th.M. Houwink ten Cate (eds), The Genocide Convention: The Legacy of 60 Years (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden 2012)
OTP-ICTY Digital Archives Project Proposal
Complete documentation on file with Predrag Dojčinović
2014-2016
Safeguarding the Hague Tribunal’s Unique War Archives, Balkan Transitional Justice
Richard A. Wilson, Robert J. Donia, Saskia Baas
March 30, 2016
Op-ed: Preserve the Archives of the Yugoslavia Tribunal, NRC Handelsblad
Saskia Baas and Richard Ashby Wilson
April 4, 2016
The Truths of the War, Leuven Transitional Justice Blog, Institute of Criminology at the University of Leuven
Predrag Dojčinović
October 11, 2018
Robert Donia Collection
The documents in the collection were admitted into evidence on July 22, 2010, in the case of The Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadžić, subsequent to being referenced in the testimony of Robert Donia. Robert J. Donia served as an expert witness at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Predrag Dojčinović Collection
The records from The Prosecutor v. Ratko Mladić offer multifaceted historical, political, military, cultural and legal narratives, covering the time frame before, during and after the crime of genocide was committed against the Muslim population of Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995.
Ellen Elias-Bursać Collection
The Ellen Elias-Bursać Collection offers an overview of translation and interpreting challenges that arose during the trials at the ICTY. The archive includes administrative documents, trial transcripts, official memoranda, judgements and other documents related to dilemmas and disputes posed by translations and interpreting of Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS) terms.
The Dan Saxon Collection
The Dan Saxon Collection is a compilation of records and materials from the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia's (ICTY) trial of General Momčilo Perišić. The collection contains prosecution and defense exhibits, trial transcripts, legal briefs, documents, videos and photos describing the coordinated assistance in men and materiel provided by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the armies of Republika Srpska and Republika Srpska Krajina from 1992 - 1995.
The András Riedlmayer Collection
András Riedlmayer's Collection is an extensive archive documenting the systematic destruction by nationalist extremists of the cultural heritage of the former Yugoslavia during the series of international armed conflicts between 1991 and 1999. It includes meticulous records, photographs, and expert reports from Mr. Riedlmayer’s extensive fieldwork undertaken for the ICTY, detailing the destruction of libraries, archives, mosques, churches and other cultural sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and beyond. His expert testimonies at the ICTY and his legacy as a whole remain crucial resources in the international efforts to bring those responsible for these war crimes to justice, and to preserve and restore the region’s diverse cultural heritage.
Upcoming Collection: The William B. Tomljanovich Collection
The William B. Tomljanovich Collection encompasses documentary evidence regarding Croatian and Herceg-Bosna leadership which was gathered in the course of investigations and litigation during his tenure as Research Officer in the ICTY Office of the Prosecutor's Leadership Research Team from 1999 to 2011 and the ICTY Prosecutor’s Office Appeals Team from 2011 to 2017. Tomljanovich's collection includes materials used in various ICTY prosecutions, including the Prlić et al., Naletilić-Martinović, Kordić-Čerkez, Blaškić and Gotovina et al. cases, offering valuable insights into the history of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1990’s, and the crimes committed during that period. The collection reflects his extensive work reviewing documents found in the HVO collection of the Croatian State Archive (where roughly 10,000 boxes of wartime materials are found) and transcripts from the office of the President of the Republic of Croatia as well as other sources.
The collection is currently under development. We invite you to revisit in the future to access the collection upon its public release.
Upcoming Collection: The Christian A. Nielsen Collection
The Christian Axboe Nielsen Collection offers the most comprehensive and representative compilation of documents presented by him as a historical expert witness in some of the most significant trials before the ICTY in The Hague, concluding with the Tribunal's closure in 2017. The collection primarily highlights Nielsen's expertise in the organization and operational role of the Bosnian Serb police in the crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1990s, as well as their connections to Serbia's state and police authorities.
Christian A. Nielsen has worked as an analyst at the ICTY and at the International Criminal Court (ICC), and has appeared as an expert witness in international and domestic criminal and civil cases, including the ICTY trials of Momčilo Krajišnik, Mićo Stanišić, Stojan Župljanin, Goran Hadžić and Radovan Karadžić. He has also worked as a consultant for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and for the Ministry of Justice in Canada and for the Federal Prosecutor in Germany.
Christian A. Nielsen is an Associate Professor of History and Human Security at Aarhus University in Denmark. He received his Ph.D. in Eastern European history with distinction from Columbia University in 2002, and also holds a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
Christian A. Nielsen’s books include Making Yugoslavs: Identity in King Aleksandar’s Yugoslavia (University of Toronto Press, 2014) and Yugoslavia and Political Assassinations: The History and Legacy of Tito’s Campaign Against the Émigrés (Bloomsbury/I.B. Tauris, 2020) and Mass Atrocities and the Police: A New History of Ethnic Cleansing in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bloomsbury/I.B. Tauris, 2022).
The collection is currently under development. We invite you to revisit in the future to access the collection upon its public release.
The Goražde Legacy-ICTY Pilot Collection
The Goražde - ICTY Pilot Collection is a joint project established between the Human Rights Dodd Impact initiative and the filmmakers of the documentary UNCONQUERED: Goražde - City of Heroes. This forthcoming digital archive will incorporate interviews, footage, and still images from the acclaimed feature film documenting firsthand testimony of the Bosnian Serb attacks and occupation of Goražde during the Bosnian War between 1992-1995.
The pilot collection will enrich the existing ICTY Digital Archives by providing additional primary source materials that convey experiences during the prolonged siege of Goražde, including war crimes, and post-conflict justice. The archive holds significant educational value for research purposes and will continue expanding through student multimedia projects and materials from the documentary’s production archive.
Learn more about the project and the archive here.
Access The Goražde Legacy Collection
In case you experience technical difficulties accessing any collections, please contact us here.
INTRODUCTION TO GENOCIDE STUDIES
Instructor James Waller, Ph.D.
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES: GENOCIDE STUDIES
Instructor James Waller, Ph.D.
HUMAN RIGHTS & POST CONFLICT JUSTICE
Instructor Richard Wilson, Ph. D.
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Instructor Predrag Dojčinović
This course aims to provide each student with a broad understanding of the complex challenges, successes and failures of international criminal courts and tribunals. Students develop insights into the complex legal, political, philosophical, historical, military and cultural issues that may impact efforts to bring perpetrators of grave international crimes to justice.
HUMAN RIGHTS ARCHIVES I AND II
Instructor Catherine Masud
A two-part course sequence focused on human rights archives and digital storytelling. The courses combine hands-on archival work with creative storytelling techniques. The sequence aims to document, preserve, and share community memories and histories, creating an important resource for ongoing scholarship while strengthening university-community relationships.
Emma Dashnaw
Emma Dashnaw is a passionate advocate for digital history and archiving, with a focus on preserving the memory of genocides. As a Master of Arts student in Human Rights and a graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in History, Emma has dedicated the past three years to digitizing and preserving documents and artifacts. Her work with projects like Digital Windham and the ICTY Digital Archives demonstrates skills in using digital tools to bring community history to life and preserve important records for future generations.
Read Emma's reflecton on her experience with digital history here.
Gamze Ozker
Gamze is a graduate student in Human Rights, focusing on political violence and the evolving dynamics of modern conflict. Her research interests include the decision-making processes of non-state armed groups, their perceived legitimacy, and how civilians influence the conduct and outcomes of conflicts. Through her work with the ICTY Digital Archives, she aims to highlight how historical and contemporary narratives reveal the complexities of warfare, from governance to accountability, while emphasizing the human suffering it generates.
Read Gamze's reflection on curating memories in the digital age here.