Living the Legacy of Mass Atrocities: Victims' Perspectives on War Crimes Trials

This article examines the dominant perceptions of war crimes trials among victims from Prijedor, a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Largely based on interviews with victims who have testified in trials before international, state and district courts, and victims who have never testified, non-governmental organization activists working with victims in their communities, and some professionals involved in Prijedor-related cases, the article attempts to cast new light on the factors which create and shape these perceptions. Considering the nature of the violence experienced by the community in question and the relatively substantive judicial response to it, the Prijedor case offers insights relevant to similar communities around the world and important lessons for courts and tribunals seeking to ensure that their work is capable of providing some sense of justice to victims.