The Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia announces today the appointment of Mrs.Yvonne Terlingen as Coordinator of the Victims and Witnesses Unit.

Biographical Note

Mrs. Terlingen (born in Amsterdam, 1945) comes from the London-based International Secretariat of Amnesty International, where she was Researcher for South-Asia (1972 to 1995) dealing with many victims of human rights violations and their care. During that period, she often acted as Head of the Asia Region, and represented Amnesty International at many international conferences and meetings such as the UN Commission on Human Rights (1989 and 1995) or the Human Rights Committee (1991).
Constantly involved in the field of the international humanitarian law, Mrs. Terlingen is the author of many reports and documents published by Amnesty International, and has closely monitored the development of international human rights standards as Editor of the Interights Bulletin.
Mrs. Yvonne Terlingen has studied law at the Amsterdam University (1970), carried out postgraduate research at the London School of Economics (Criminology, 1971) and successfully followed a course on International Protection of Human Rights (London, 1990).

The Victims and Witnesses Unit

The Victims and Witnesses Unit will coordinate the provision of care, protection and support to victims and witnesses who will be heard by the Tribunal. It will seek to ensure that they can do so with dignity, and in conditions of safety and security.
The Unit is aware that testifying before the Tribunal may, for some victims and witnesses (including women and men testifying about rape), be a traumatic experience. In order to provide support and assistance in the period before, during and after giving testimony when the well-being of victims and witnesses is particularly at risk, the Unit will closely cooperate with official bodies, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and relevant experts.
The Unit which will consist of four people with relevant expertise and will work for witnesses for the prosecution as well as for the defence. They will do so strictly in accordance with principles of fairness and impartiality.