New Project

Yesterday and today have been very busy days for me at work. I was asked by my supervisor to directly assist Charles Taylor's Counsel. This is very exciting for me, but also means more work and challenge which I look forward to. I'm very tired right now, so I have to go to sleep now. Take care and I'll talk to you all later.

Mo

Tuesday May 16

Hello everyone, it's Mo here again; I hope everyone is doing great. Work is getting a bit hectic now. Things are picking up and I have a lot of work to do. For this reason, my journal entry for today will be short.

I spent part of the day talking to my supervisor about the rules and procedures of my internship and what projects I will be working on during my time with the court. I was also a little sad that he is going on leave at the end of the week. He's traveling to Canada where his family lives to spend time with them and then he's off to Oxford University to defend his dissertation for his Ph.D in International Humanitarian Law. He is a very intelligent, educated, and caring man and I will be forever thankful for all his help during my stay at the Court.

I now have a new supervisor who is a defense counsel in the CDF trial. I had a chance to meet with and speak with him today and I look forward to working with him towards the overall betterment of the defense team. I did some research today on the Rwandan genocide and its causes for my outgoing supevisor which was also quite interesting.

I took some pictures with my new supervisor in the traditional robe used by international lawyers. I hope you enjoy the pictures and have some comments and questions. Take care everyone and I look forward to hearing from everyone soon.

Mo

First Monday at Work

Hello everyone, it's Mo here again. I hope everyone is doing great. Today was my first Monday at work and I have to say it was an interesting one. I finally got my U.N. email address (haidaram@un.org), and some internal mail from other sections of the court.

For most of the day, I was going through the live feed of the on-going defense case in the CDF trial. The proceedings are very interesting and exciting. They are quite different from the Common Law system. For example, unlike the common law system, the proceedings are a combination of the common and civil law systems. A lot more hearsay evidence are admissible as truth without much corroboration (it will be hard to otherwise prosecute these cases without allowing some hearsay evidence).

I have a meeting with my boss tomorrow to discuss a plan for the remainder of my time with the court. I am really interested in working with a particular defense team, but my supervisor advised me to wait until I have gotten acclimated to the office first. I have a lot to do tomorrow including going over some trial transcripts and maybe some research and writing. Once again, thank you all and I hope to hear from you all soon.

Mo

Weekend

Hello again guys, I hope everyone is doing great. My first weekend at work was fill with things to do. I worked on my journal, spent time with friends and family members, worked on my paper and started my research on the African Court on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR). The subject matter of the research is very interesting and quite different from my current internship position.

I was told by my supervisor that he had some important work for me to do this week; I'm very excited about what it might be but also somewhat apprehensive. As I indicated in Friday's posting, I had the opportunity to meet four of the accused currently in the Court's custody. Due to confidentiality rules, I can only say it's an experience I will never forget. I was excited and very interested in seeing them in person.

I'm ready for my second week at work and I look forward to you all joining me.

Sincerely
Mo