The training was conducted in two parts first in Beirut, and then in The Hague from 26 – 28 November. It included interactive sessions with more than 20 trial monitoring experts, as well as visits to the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. The NGO representatives also spent one and a half days at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon where they met senior Tribunal officials. The training was financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of The Netherlands.
"As members of the civil society, we are keen to make sure that the judicial process is on the right path in order to bring fairness and justice to the victims and to protect the rights of the Accused. This training provided us with the tools to make sure that all these principles are upheld", said Marwan Abdallah from the Foundation for Human and Humanitarian rights.
George Ghali from ALEF stated: "this training is a great opportunity for us as representatives of the civil society to acquaint ourselves with international criminal proceedings now that trial has started before the STL."
Representatives of the following Lebanese NGOs attended the training: the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH), The Lebanese Association for Education and Formation (ALEF), Justice Without Frontiers, Justicia, AL Karama, Permanent Peace Movement, National Association for Combating Corruption, Follow-up Committee on the work of the STL at the Beirut Bar Association, the Foundation for Human and Humanitarian Rights Lebanon, the Human Rights Information and Training Center, WILpower, the Lebanese Association for an Efficient Civil Society and the Lebanese Transparency Association.