July 9, 2019

Today we visited the International Criminal Court (ICC) to observe some of the pre-trials for Al Hassan, charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as tour their library. When we first arrived at the ICC we were given some time to tour their welcome area, which has exhibits to introduce visitors to the work of the ICC. One thing which I loved about these exhibits was their victim-centered focus. As a psychology major, I often spend time in my classes learning about the damages of trauma, and how they last long after the trauma has physically ended. In many cases, this trauma can have the effect of interfering with daily life of the victims, impeding their ability to hold a job, live on their own, or even just form close relationships. One of the activities in the welcome area which really appealed to me about this subject was a quick role play on the audio guides they had given us, which allowed you to read a scenario about preparing for a trial and getting ready for the victims to give testimonies. They would show a brief paragraph about the victim's background, such as how they were worried about their identity being revealed, and then there would be three multiple choice options about how to accommodate the victim. After selecting the option you felt was best, the audioguide would debrief you on why your selection was good, how it could be improved, and other options that would have also been suitable for the scenario. I really enjoyed this activity because it not only shows how the ICC takes their victims seriously, but also brings it to the visitors to help us understand the intricacies of these trials. It's easy, as a visitor, to look at a court trying war criminals and assume that everyone being tried there should just automatically go to jail, but the ICC made it very apparent to visitors that there was still a great deal of deliberation going into each trial; the defendant is given millions of dollars worth of legal defense, victims are still brought in to provide evidence of true criminal actions, and despite being on trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, or crimes of aggression, a good percentage of cases don't move beyond the pre-trial phase because the court doesn't feel that they have strong enough evidence against the defendant. For me, I went into the visit excited to see and hear about more dramatic (for lack of a better term) crimes than I have ever encountered before, but I didn't even consider the victim perspective. I really liked how the ICC immediately took my focus back to what matters--the people who have been affected by the crimes--and refocused my perspective of the visit on why these trials matter. For me, this provided a good lesson beyond the courtroom for me to take as I move forward and start thinking about getting a job after graduation. I often wonder what to do with a Bachelor's degree in psychology, and to me, the ICC did a successful job of integrating psychological principles within their own focus on justice. This is something that I strive to do as I move forward in my career, by identifying places within any workplace where I can integrate something of what I learned in the psychology major and use it to amplify the underlying goal of the workplace.