Project Updates

The One World festival begins on Wednesday, 5th March, 2008 and lasts throughout the week. Anyone interested, is able to attend the film screenings as well the various debates which will be held during the festival, including debates about international criminal justice.

Screenings include the films, 'Slobodan Milosevic - President under anklage', and 'Darfur Now', which are scheduled for Monday, 10th March in the small auditorium of Prague's Municipal Library. A discussion with Essa Faal, representative of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor, Petr Válek, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative, and Jan Kratochvíl, a lawyer and representative of the League of Human Rights, will follow these screenings. The discussion will cover the punishment of people who take part in genocides, as well as the issues of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Moreover, the participants will tackle the issue of the involvement of the international community in catching and sentencing the perpetrators of such crimes as well as the issue of the support of the ICC by the Czech Republic.

The International Criminal Court will be the subject of a discussion also in the Parliament on Tuesday, 11th March, 2008. After the screening of 'Justice without limits', MPs, senators, and invited guests will have an opportunity to discuss the ICC and international criminal law, with Dr. Ivana Janů, a constitutional court judge and former judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The discussions will cover the importance of international criminal justice, and the Czech Republic's role in supporting international endeavours to punish crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, as well as the possible ratification of the ICC by the Czech Republic. Through these screenings and discussions, the One World festival aims to highlight the issue of international criminal justice to MPs and Senators of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, who are due to decide on the Czech Republic's ratification of the International Criminal Court in the coming months.

As well as screenings and public debates, the One World festival also boasts artistic exhibitions. The exhibition, 'Drawings of Genocide', will form part of this years festival and is comprised of sketches drawn by children from Darfur in western Sudan. These pictures, drawn by little hands, provide an eloquent and alarming testimony to the conflict, sketched permanently in the artists' minds. The sketches will be exhibited in Langhans Gallery from 5th to 13th March.

You can find more information about the festival, and the programme of events, here.