Postcard from the ICTY

This chapter examines a postcard, readily available at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). It argues that the postcard demonstrates international criminal law’s preoccupation with two aims: ending impunity, and providing a meaningful voice for victims. The chapter also examines how the postcard is used in the branding and marketing of international criminal law. But why does an object designed to ‘market’ an international criminal tribunal use language and imagery that suggests guilt? And what does the placement of the victim’s and accused’s handcuffs tell us about the place of the victim and the accused in these trials? As a marketing technique, this postcard promotes certain aspects of international criminal law—but in doing so, it reinforces unhelpful tropes of good versus evil, of ‘deserving’ victimhood, and of conviction as a core component of international criminal law.