Eight local high school pupils jetted off to Europe last month to attend the Model International Criminal Court (MICC) programme, held in Poland and Germany from 3 May to 10 May.
Eight local high school pupils jetted off to Europe last month to attend the Model International Criminal Court (MICC) programme, held in Poland and Germany from 3 May to 10 May.
Learners from several government schools in Grahamstown were selected by the submission of motivational essays and panel interviews.
The Rhodes Law Clinic also assisted local learners to partake in the international event.
The eight selected pupils were: Anelisa Valela and Ntsikelelo Charles from Ntsiki High School; Nita Harry, Sinomtha Qinisile and Teneal Potts from Victoria Girls High Schoo;, Nomathamsanqa Zono from Mary Waters; and Lwazi Kamana and Ngcoza Mbasa from Graeme College.
The group, accompanied by Educator Representative, Kevin Watson and Team Coordinator Thabang Mokgatle, , travelled to Frankfurt, Berlin, before bussing to Krzyżowa, Poland, where the event was held.
Many of the participating youngsters said they felt invigorated by the experience and travels.
The programme exposed them to facets of European culture, interactions with people of different nationalities, international travel, human rights and law.
During the project the students explore their roles as prosecutors, members of the defence, judges or members of the observing media in multinational teams.
The subject content of the simulations is final pleadings of historic cases that were heard before the international tribunals, namely the Nuremberg Tribunal, the ICTY and the ICTR.
In that context students get to know more about the background of the conflicts, learn who was responsible, but also learn that a fair trial is the basis for sustainable justice and the protection of human rights.
Nita Harry from Victoria Girls’ High said, “I was fascinated by the intricate details of the law and the different ways that others are influenced by it.”
“It left me knowing that law is not an easy career,” said Lwazi Kamana, from Graeme College. “But even though it gave me a wake-up call, I am still going to pursue law.”
The programme included workshop discussions on human rights, law and history, legal training and simulated trials.
“Being a racially diverse group, the pupils found that members from other teams on the programme were often surprised at the possibility of having, for example, black South Africans and Indian South Africans able to speak Afrikaans,” said Mokgatle, who is also a law student at Rhodes University.
The biannual event brings together high school learners from Argentina, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Uganda, South Africa and Vietnam to raise awareness for human rights and foster intercultural dialogue.
This is the second time that the Rhodes Law Clinic and learners from Grahamstown have participated in the MICC programme. Nine local learners previously took part in the 2012 event.
