Violet Henderson/Courtesy photo
Yunseo Kim/Courtesy photo
LAPS NEWS RELEASE
Two students – Yunseo Kim and Violet Henderson, both juniors at Los Alamos High School – attended the 17th Model International Criminal Court (MICC) November 16–21. The MICC is a simulation of trials before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for students from all over the world. Located in the Hague, Netherlands, the ICC is the world’s most sophisticated mechanism for the protection of Human Rights and rules of warfare. MICC is a project that aims to teach core principles of the ICC to high school and university students.
This year, a total of 33 students from Germany, Israel, Poland, and the United States participated in the program. Selected students take on the roles of judges, prosecutors, defenders, and observing journalists in two historical war crime cases – a trial from the Nuremberg Tribunals and the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Violet and Yunseo —who are both Captains on the Los Alamos High School Hilltalkers Speech & Debate team — were two out of nine students representing New Mexico and the United States. A week-long MICC program is usually held in Krzyzowa, Poland, however due to Covid-19, this year’s MICC was an online event.
Violet Henderson was a member of the Defense team for the Friedrich Flick case. She says, “Participating in MICC was an incredible experience that I feel immensely grateful to have been a part of. I am especially grateful to have been able to form great friendships with the amazing students from Europe and Israel; the effective communication and cooperation we were able to have despite being so far apart is astonishing. During the program itself I was fascinated learning about the International Criminal Court, international relations, morality, and human rights. It truly has inspired me to try to make the world a better place.”
Yunseo Kim was the Presiding Judge for the case of Friedrich Flick. She says, “MICC was a fantastic opportunity that gave me a new perspective about the complex issue of human rights around the world. It was such a unique experience that allowed me to form very close friendships with like-minded and passionate international students, who all have different cultures and backgrounds. MICC definitely helped me to further my passion for international relations, and has encouraged me to become a more open-minded global citizen.”
The MICC is an incredible experience for young students to deepen their understanding of the people and the world around them. Please contact Margo Batha (m.batha@laschools.net) for more information on MICC in 2022 or about the Los Alamos High School Hilltalkers Speech and Debate team.