Reporting from the Kilimanjaro (wing)

You will have to excuse the delay in my writing. I have already been swept up by the daily commotions of life in Arusha, work at the Tribunal, and travel arrangements.
For starters, I am in my room at the White House. It is 2am on a Tuesday. The internet connection is rather slow, and my day has been so full today and yesterday that I am recovering from a long nap or fighting jet lag. At least I have the Internet and a mosquito net over my head, for which I am very grateful. Ode to the mosquito net:


Dreamcatcher of the East,
she’ll hang the crawling creepers and
veiled threats on wings and foot.
Nestled in her royal curtains, I am in utero.



The summer interns are officially slated to begin next week, but I have decided to come in early to get the logistics out of the way, such as getting my UN ID pass, signing up for Swahili language lessons, and getting a feel for the big, maze-like building that houses the Prosecution, Defense, and the Trial Chambers on different wings. Most importantly, I get to have my pick of the available computers and offices, which, like the rooms in this house, go from best to worse in order of seniority.

We work in the Chambers’ wing, the Kilimanjaro. “We” here at the office constitute Jack, Matthew, and Douglas from the White House, as well as Leyli and a French girl, Sophia. There are more interns’ offices down the hall. Like Charlie’s Clueless Angels, we receive our cryptic orders from various supervising legal officers from the busy phone in the room. We recognize one thick voice at the end of the line as being the legal officers and interns’ supervisor’s, and it is his office I first visit upon my entrance. Earlier this afternoon, I sat on his leather chair and enjoyed a cup of hibiscus tea while we discussed the kinds of cases I would most like to work on. He also invites me along to hike Mt. Meru. At the corner of the room, a small TV transmits a case being tried just a few doors down. The most magnificent birds—large, pelican-or cormorant-like creatures, fly at the level of the seventh floor, overlooking the city in the hills. A cool breeze from our open windows suffices to prevent us from slowly steaming at our desks. The air feels fresh and the bleeding sunsets in the unpolluted sky are a radiant sight to behold.

By the end of the day, I am assigned a very interesting case already in the drafting process with French attorneys (French is the other working language of the Court). The women are bloody brilliant—I watched them deliberate on important issues of the case, seamlessly switching from French to English legal terms and dissecting the issue from all possible perspectives—that of the Rwandan government, the role of the gacacas (pronounced "gachacha". Popular courts in Rwanda that handle a bulk of the crimes committed in the 1994 genocide), the judges, the Appeals Chamber… I’ve found these deliberative sessions to be one of the best parts of an intern’s apprendisage. I sit and absorb and observe how different attorneys think through different issues, approach pragmatic affairs and balance the political conflicts as just one part of their jobs. Mostly, they are in the enviable position of pushing for the best legal standards and stances after weighing the arguments of the prosecution and the defense, and presenting such views in a convincing package to the judges. A lot of the times, these arguments are in conflict with the judges’ positions and adjustments have to be made. That is where politics come in and create a tricky balancing act. Because of the nature of international judicial institutions, there is an inevitable tension between the domestic laws of a still fragile nation, Rwanda, and the otherwise countervailing interests of justice in the abstract but foundational legal sense.

Due to the confidential nature of the work of the Tribunal, I will not be commenting on the specific aspects of the case here but will be providing context where I can. Already, I am knee-deep in literature and am excited at the freedom and the responsibility that comes attached with my assignment. You can think of the legal process as having many layers of review with many drafting stages. The lawyers oversee the big picture of the case and assign different sections to people on the team. At the bottom, the indentured intern writes her opinion or a memorandum on the assigned issue. The lawyers provide feedback as we deliberate throughout the process. But in the end, because we essentially work for the judges, my supervising attorney seemingly gives me leeway to push for the arguments I feel strongly about, and collate various arguments where they are in dispute. It’s a collaborative process rather than a strictly hierarchical one from the usual office setting, and although our views may not always agree with the ultimate decision-makers’, our job is to also persuade them with coherent legal analysis. In that regard, I have never before been involved in the decision-making aspect of the law, and I am very excited for this unique opportunity. The law is very much being made and applied in the Chambers and in clerks’ offices everywhere. The law is judge-made-- with a little bit of help from a team of passionate and hard workers.