Aarif is an experienced policy and legal adviser on matters concerning international criminal law and public international law, including international human rights law. He has a long history of working in courts, non-governmental organisations, and international organisations. Aarif has advised widely on conflict resolution and the legal implications thereof in relation to conflicts or crises in Bosnia, Turkey, Iraq, Myanmar, Syria, the former Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Libya, among others. 

Aarif has extensive experience drafting applications and submissions to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), United Nations Special Procedures, United Nations treaty bodies, and other international courts, tribunals, and panels. He regularly undertakes advisory and drafting work on international law matters, both on a consultancy and pro-bono basis. 

Aarif is a formal member of several prominent panels that advise on international human rights or criminal law issues. He previously undertook a placement in the Office of the President and the UK division of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) where he assisted judges in an advisory and drafting capacity in relation to decisions/judgments issued by the Court. He was also a legal officer at the former United Nations International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (UN ICTY). 

Current work includes:

• Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression as allegedly being committed in Ukraine: Creation of a new ad hoc tribunal that will concern alleged responsibility for Russian and Belarussian leaders for the crime of aggression. Acting as sole junior, led by Prof Philippe Sands KC. [2022 – Present]

• Hazara Inquiry into Alleged Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. [2022 – 2023]

• Yazidi Justice Committee: Major international report and work in pursuance of bringing an International Court of Justice (ICJ) case; ancillary cases are being brought. [2021 – Present]

Aarif’s public international law (PIL) work spans several different practice areas and countries, and he advises individuals, companies, public interest groups, and States in respect of public international law claims. 

His PIL matters have included case work and/or the provision of advice at the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, Bar Human Rights Committee, EU Delegation to the UK, European Court of Human Rights, Council of Europe, Accountability Unit, Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), US Centre for Disease Control, and the Democratic Progress Institute. 

Aarif is a consultant at the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) advising on the application of human rights to public policy. He also works (as a co-founder) with the consultancy Accountability Unit, which advises parliamentarians, practitioners, NGOs, and others on legal redress (including State responsibility) for gender-related harm in conflict settings, including on issues related to genocide, discrimination, torture, and slavery. Aarif was invited to join the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Pro Bono Lawyer’s Panel, which provides legal assistance to local practitioners representing British nationals imprisoned overseas. 

Current and recent work includes: 

• Publishing a book on comparative constitutional law that considers the process of creating and amending constitutions and how such processes can impact possible future conflict: A Constitution of the People and How to Achieve It (2021, CUP). 

• Drafting a seminal report, published in July 2020, for the Bar Human Rights Committee on the responsibility of States under international law to Uyghurs and others in Xinjiang, China who face alleged violations of international law.

• Founder of international ad hoc committee, Yazidi Justice Committee (2020 – Present), and principal co-author of the related ground-breaking report on State Responsibility and the Yazidi Genocide in Iraq and Syria in July 2022. 

• Advising a Rohingya network on the proceedings in The Gambia v Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), specifically relating to possible third-party intervention in the matter; gaps in evidence/submissions in the current proceedings; and implementation of the interim measures in the case. 

• Advising UK parliamentarians on the reform of the law relating to genocide and crimes against humanity and making effective UK obligations under the Rome Statute, Genocide Convention, the UN Convention Against Torture, and the Geneva Conventions.

• Supervising and undertaking research on public international law, minority rights, gender and equality law, and sexual and gender-based violence, and applying that research in litigation and advocacy submissions via Accountability Unit. 

• Consulting on the conduct of strategic litigation via Public International Law and Policy Group to advance the issue of constitutional reform in Bosnia and counselling litigants challenging discriminatory laws before the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and ultimately the ECtHR. 

Other significant international cases include:

• Anon v Turkey, UN Human Rights Committee: Case concerning unlawful extra-territorial airstrikes by Turkey on a hospital in Iraq.

• Chiragov and others v Armenia (13216/05), Grand Chamber, European Court of Human Rights: Case regarding the rights to property (Article 1, Protocol 1) and rights to private and family life (Article 8) of Azeri nationals who were forcibly displaced from their home territory in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of former Soviet Azerbaijan.

• Kaytan v Turkey (27422/05), European Court of Human Rights: Case concerning complaint that the applicant’s life sentence had no possibility of a review.

• Tunc v Turkey (24014/05), European Court of Human Rights: Case that alleged effectiveness of investigation by respondent state into death was impaired on account of a lack of independence of the court upholding a decision to discontinue the proceedings.

• Cerf v Turkey (12938/07), European Court of Human Rights: Case against respondent state for failure to investigate the murder of an activist suspected to have been carried out by State agents.

• Yoyler and others v Turkey (10783/07): Case concerning complaint that proceedings before the national courts had not been concluded within a reasonable time and that there was no effective remedy under Turkish law.

• Zelal Ozgokce v Turkey (29779/09): Case concerns the alleged unfairness of the criminal proceedings due to the systemic restriction imposed on the applicant’s right of access to a lawyer during the pre-trial stage.

• Canpolat (3) v Turkey (26944/08): Case concerning educational committees of certain prisons deciding not to allow the applicants to receive certain editions of miscellaneous periodicals and/or other publications, some of which were in the Kurdish language, on various different grounds.

Aarif has more than a decade of experience working on international criminal (ICL) and humanitarian law (IHL) issues. He has provided extensive advice, and acted in proceedings, before international courts or tribunals in his capacity as Counsel to States, international organisations and public interest organisations. He has conducted litigation, advocacy, research, mentoring, and investigation work on international criminal law matters related to several countries. He lectures and advises widely on ICL and IHL issues with a focus on mass atrocity crimes, including genocide. He is currently on the roster of candidates for instruction for several United Nations bodies. 

Current and recent work includes: 

• Advising the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ukrainian Presidency, and other international actors, on setting up a special tribunal relating to the crime of aggression allegedly being committed in Ukraine by Russia, aided by Belarus. 

• Advising a State Party on a referral to the International Criminal Court.

• Principal legal adviser and co-counsel of an international independent people’s tribunal (Uyghur Tribunal) investigating allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity committed against a minority group in China. [2021-2023] 

• Acting as Principal Co-author of the Bar Human Rights Committee Report on State Responsibility and the Uyghurs. [2020] 

• Advising an international NGO, appearing before a tribunal, on allegations of forced organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience in China. 

• Advising/representing a client NGO on violations of international criminal and human rights law relating to crimes committed against minority groups in Iraq and Syria. 

• Advising/representing a client on the application of the law relating to genocide—in particular, the Genocide Convention—to historic crimes in Iran in relation to a minority group and considering actions under Universal Jurisdiction and/or other possible action in domestic courts. 

• Advising/representing clients in relation to historic crimes and continuing violations in the former Yugoslavia, providing preliminary advice on international criminal law and international human rights law in relation to crimes committed in Bosnia and Kosovo. 

• Drafting decisions, orders, and parts of eventual judgments as well as managing witness evidence following deliberations with judges in the trial and appeal chambers of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (UN ICTY). 

• Advisory work, from inception, for UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS), the U.S. Centre for Disease Control (CDC), and World Health Organisation (WHO) including on the “Global Partnership on Ending HIV-related Stigma and Discrimination”. [2018 – Present]

Other significant work includes:

• Mladić (IT-09-92) “Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Trial Chamber I, ICTY: Prosecution of Ratko Mladic, the wartime military commander of the Bosnian Serbs, for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Work involved substantive and procedural issues. 

• Prlić et al. (IT-04-74) “Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Appeals Chamber, ICTY: Prosecution of members of the Croatian Defence Council for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Work involved procedural issues.

• Stanišić & Župljanin (IT-08-91) “Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Appeals Chamber, ICTY: Prosecution of members of the state security services of Serbia for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Work involved procedural issues.

Aarif has advised individuals, companies, public interest groups, and States in international arbitration cases. 

Aarif’s international arbitration and public international law work spans a number of different practice areas: acting as counsel in commercial arbitration matters; advising on judicial review of government decisions impacting companies; advising on international arbitration cases concerning public international law including investment arbitrations; applying for injunctions and disclosure orders; leading seminars on State expropriation of property; advising on compliance with international sanctions (Russia, Iran, Cuba, and Libya); and litigating and advising widely on human rights matters in the UK and a number of other countries, including issues arising from equality and anti-discrimination law. 

Current and recent work includes: 

• Conducting work on commercial arbitrations and advising in relation to international arbitrations. 

• Advising a consortium of interested parties and State officials on best practice in relation to implementation of a sanctions regime compliant with international law. 

• Advising potential litigants on domesticating and enforcing judgments in the UK, particularly related to harm arising from unlawful acts during armed conflict. 

• Creating a non-profit entity to undertake advocacy, policy development, and training in relation to public international law issues affecting Ukraine during and following the armed conflict since 2014, including but not limited to acts of aggression, deportation of children, and human rights violations. 

Aarif has a long-standing interest in all types of public law challenges. He has 

advised individuals, companies, public interest groups, and States in judicial review and civil claims, whether for claimants or respondents. 

Aarif’s public law work spans a number of different practice areas: advising on judicial review of government decision-making in relation to decisions about prosecution of international crimes; drafting legislation giving effect to obligations of core international treaties related to human rights or international crimes; advising on changing the law relating to implementation or applications of sanctions; advising on judicial review or appeal of domestic criminal cases; and litigating and advising widely on human rights matters in the UK and a number of other countries, including issues arising from equality and anti-discrimination law. 

Aarif is a former judicial assistant to Sir John Mummery QC at the Court of Appeal and a judicial assistant in the Office of the President and the UK Division of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). 

Recent and significant work includes:

• Advisory work on the Genocide Determination Bill 2022 - Present; Genocide Amendment to the Trade Bill 2019-2021; and Genocide Amendments to Other Bills. [2019 – Present]

• “Manchester 10”Appeal, Court of Appeal: Case concerning an out-of-time appeal, as new counsel, to challenge a conviction of conspiracy to murder handed down against a black youth who was a child at the time of the alleged substantive offence. [Permission allowed, case pending]

• Jonathan Adamson v Paddico (267) Limited, Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council, William Magee, Thomas Hardy [2012] EWCA Civ 262: Case concerning an appeal to reverse the registration of land as a town or village green. [JA at Court of Appeal] 

• Brian Telchadder v Wickland (Holdings) Limited [2012] EWCA Civ 635: Case concerning scope of the security of tenure conferred on occupiers of mobile homes owned by them and stationed under licence on pitches in protected residential sites. Case turned on whether it was reasonable to terminate the appellant’s licence for alleged breaches of notices issued to him. [JA at Court of Appeal] 

• LW (China) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 519: Case concerning whether the country guidance case of LL China permits the consideration of individual circumstances in a particular case. [JA at Court of Appeal] 

• SG (Iraq) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 940: Case regarding guidance as to the approach of the administrative court to suspending removals pending country guidance appeals in the court of appeal. [JA at Court of Appeal] 

• O’Neill and Lauchlan v. the United Kingdom (nos. 41516/10 and 75702/13), European Court of Human Rights: Case concerning complaint about the excessive length of criminal proceedings brought against the applicants. [JA at Court of Appeal]

• The Hospital Medical Group v Colin Westwood [2012] EWCA Civ 1005: Challenge against a decision that the respondent was a “worker” for the purposes of the Employment Rights Act 1996 s.230(3)(b). [JA at Court of Appeal] 

Aarif regularly appears in the Magistrates’ Court and Crown Court and has acted extensively for protestors accused of a variety of crimes of varying seriousness. He has represented activists engaged with numerous causes, including climate change, animal rights, and serious international criminal law or human rights violations. 

In the Crown Court, Aarif has represented clients on matters related to criminal damage, public nuisance, sexual and gender-based violence, drug-related offences (including the application of the Proceeds of Crime Act), and assaults occasioning aggravated bodily harm and grievous bodily harm. He has experience dealing with vulnerable clients, including those with mental health conditions. Aarif also has an active appeals practice and has appeared before the Court of Appeal in relation to appeals on conviction and sentencing. 

Clients find Aarif to be very personable and value his calm, methodical approach in preparing cases. Defendants appreciate his manner in conference and especially his provision of sound advice of the court process, the nature of the offence of which they are charged, and their rights and entitlements as defendants. 

Aarif brings valuable transferable skills from his extensive experience both as a solicitor and barrister in international criminal law as well as public law. 

Recent and notable publications include:

• Project Syndicate, “Who Should Decide If It’s Genocide?”,  Apr 2024. Available here.

• Accountability Unit, Legal Note, “Genocide: A Short Primer on the Law”, Nov 2023. Available here. 

• American Bar Association’s International Criminal Law Practice Project, “Judgement Drafting Guide”, Sep 2023 [Contributing Author and Expert Reviewer]. Available here. 

• UNAIDS, “Practical Guide to Ending HIV-related Stigma and Discrimination”, Sep 2023. Available here. 

• POLITICO Europe, “There ought to be no hiding place for Putin”, Mar 2023. Available here. 

• Law.com, “Why a special tribunal on Ukraine is critical for justice for all”, written with Dr. Carrie McDougall, Jan 2023. Available here. 

• The House Magazine, “The UK’s support is critical to establish a special tribunal to prosecute Russian crimes of aggression”, Dec 2022. Available here. 

• Politics Home, “Countries must face the International Court of Justice over Yazidi genocide”, Jul 2022. Available here. 

• Yazidi Justice Committee, “State Responsibility and the Yazidi Genocide”, Jul 2022 [Principal Co-Author]. Available here. 

• The House Magazine, “The UK must support a special international tribunal to try Putin for the war in Ukraine”, May 2022. Available here. 

• The Times, “We need a special tribunal to bring Putin to justice”, Mar 2022. Available here. 

• Uyghur Tribunal, “Advisory opinion on the applicable law on genocide and crimes against humanity”, Oct 2021. [Author and Lead, other counsel are signatories only] Available here. 

• Accountability Unit, contributed various legal briefings on ICL, IHRL, and IHL, 2020-present. Available here. 

• St Ethelburga’s Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, “Pathways of resistance: Resilience, potentiality and power in the pursuit of justice”, Feb 2022. Available here. 

• Wilson Center, “A Constitution of the People: Achieving a Durable Peace in Bosnia”, Jun 2021. Available here. 

• Columbia University Press and Ibidem Press, “A Constitution of the People and How to Achieve It” [Published Book], 2021. Available here. 

• The Justice Gap, “Is Britain in a constitutional crisis and, if so, is it terminal?”, Apr 2021. Available here. 

• IBA Human Rights Institute, “High-Level Briefing Paper on the Genocide Amendment to the UK Trade Bill”, Jan 2021. Available here. 

• Bar Human Rights Committee, “The responsibility of states under International Law to Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims”, Jul 2020 [Principal Co-Author]. Available here. 

• UNAIDS submission to Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women on the draft General Recommendation on Trafficking in Women and Girls in Context of Global Migration, May 2020. Available here. 

• The Justice Gap, “Why lawyers are complicit in an unjust system”, Dec 2019. Available here. 

• Garden Court North Chambers, “An assessment of Judge de Prada’s dissent, in the Karadžić? Appeals Judgment, on genocide in seven Bosnian municipalities”, May 2019. Available here. 

• Garden Court North Chambers, “Barbarism is beneath us: States’ reluctant commitment to the European Court of Human Rights in an age of authoritarianism” [five-part series], Dec 2018. Available here. 

• European Journal of International Law, EJIL Talk!, “First and second degree genocide? Considering a case for bifurcation of the law”, Jun 2018. Available here. 

Recent and notable appearances include:

• International Nuremberg Principles Academy and the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen, “Judging the Nuremberg Moot Court”, Jul 2024. 

• Legal Tech Talk, “Leveraging Legal Innovations in Achieving Justice for Ukraine”, Jul 2024.

• CEO Club London / APPG on Ukraine, “Confiscation of Russian State Assets: The Way Forward”, Jul 2024. 

• Sheffield DocFest, “Documenting International Crimes in Ukraine”, Jun 2024. 

• Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania, “Genocide: Legal and political contestation and the future of the Genocide Convention”, Feb 2024. 

• Chatham House, Panel discussion, “Russia’s use of abduction, torture and sexual violence in war”, Feb 2024. 

• Office of the President of Ukraine, Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Justice and Accountability for Ukraine (JAFUA), Conference on the special international tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, Feb 2024. 

• ADC-ICT Conference, “Failure of State responsibility and citizens as the agents of accountability”, Dec 2023. 

• City University Law School, “The architecture of international justice: origins, resilience & growth”, Dec 2023. 

• Bar Human Rights Committee & Manchester International Law Centre, “Human Rights Careers, Skills & Values”, Nov 2023. 

• Queen Mary University, Institute for Conflict Studies and Analysis of Russia hybrid roundtable on the topic of Modern Warfare and Law: The Ukrainian Experience. Delivered lecture entitled “Navigating the landscape of immunities in achieving accountability and justice for Ukraine”, Oct 2023. 

• Office of the President in Ukraine, Special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, “Justice to be served”, Aug 2023. 

• Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) & Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), Lviv International Law Summer School. Delivered seminars on: 1. Crime of Aggression; 2. Genocide; 3. Investigating International Crimes; 4. Mass Atrocity Crimes & State Responsibility, Aug 2023. 

• Lietuvos Respublikos teisingumo ministerija/Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania, the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus and Law and Democracy Center ‘Justice Hub’ event, “Responsibility for the Belarussian State’s alleged Crimes against Humanity and the Migrant Crisis”, 12 Jun, 2023. 

• St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, “Celebrating Courage: Stories of Displacement & Home”, 21 May, 2023. 

• Bar Human Rights Committee – “Panel on human rights and the rule of law in Myanmar” where Aarif delivered a speech on “Accountability for International Crimes in Myanmar – State Responsibility: 'Diminishing Democracy” – 7 Jun, 2023. 

• UK Parliament and APPGs on Genocide and CAH, Ukraine and International Law, Justice and Accountability, “The Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression”,  28 Mar, 2023. 

• Embassy Delegations in the UK, hosted by Slovenian and Ukrainian Embassies,  “Accountability Processes in the Russia-Ukraine Armed Conflict”, 27 Mar, 2023. 

• Oxford-Ukraine Summit 2023, “Individual Criminal Responsibility for Crimes in Ukraine and the Special Tribunal”, 13 Mar, 2023. 

• Withers Worldwide LLP, “Investigation, documentation, and prosecution of international crimes”, 1 Mar, 2023. 

• Rene Cassin Institute, “Ukraine: How the law can hold Putin to account”, 23 Feb, 2023. 

• German Ministry of State for Culture and the Media, ENRS, Dokumentations Zentrum, “A Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression allegedly being committed in Ukraine,” 9 Feb, 2023. 

• UN Week Sarajevo & International Forum Bosnia, “The Constitution of the People and How to Achieve It”, 1 Feb, 2023 

• Parliamentary Assembly for the Council of Europe, Side Event, First Session: The crime of aggression, Ukrainian Delegation, 23 Jan, 2023. 

• APPG on Ukraine, “ICC accountability and the campaign for a special tribunal”,  12 Dec, 2022. 

• Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Middle Temple Hall, “Special tribunal for the crime of aggression and criminal responsibility for international crimes”, 9 Dec, 2022. 

• NOHA and Lithuanian Ministry of Justice and Foreign Affairs, “Mass atrocity crimes and state responsibility,” 25 Oct, 2022. 

• Manchester International Law Centre, “Justice for Ukraine: Too little, too late?”,  Oct 2022. 

• Information Commissioner’s Office, Human rights reform and data privacy, “The UK Bill of Rights and the ECHR”, Sep 2022. 

• Association of European Journalists, “Holding Russia accountable”, Sep 2022. 

• Yazidi Justice Committee (in conjunction with APPGs/IBAHRI/BHRC), “State responsibility and the Yazidi genocide”, major international report launch at Inter- Ministerial in Parliament, Jul 2022. 

• Keeping Channels Open, third session on Ukraine conflict, “Coordinating approaches/war crimes investigations”, Jun 2022. 

• Red Lion Chambers, webinar on international crimes and the crime of aggression, May 2022. 

• Lithuanian and Ukrainian Foreign Ministries, Vilnius conference on the crime of aggression, May 2022. 

• Institute for Integrated Transitions, University College London and Glasgow University, contributing participant in the Peace Treaty Initiative Workshop, 16 May, 2022.

• Oxford Forum for International Development (OxFID), “Creative approaches to accountability for genocide”, Feb 2022. 

• UK Parliament, APPG on Yazidis, Parliamentary briefing on State Responsibility for the Yazidi Genocide Parliament, Feb 2022. 

• OUT-LINES, University of Manchester, GCN, and the Coalition for Genocide Response, “Existential risks to Bosnia-Herzegovina”, Nov 2021. 

• Manchester International Law Centre, book panel, “A constitution of the people”, Nov 2021.

• Geoffrey Nice Foundation (GNF) & REFCEMI, “Conditions of life calculated to destroy: towards the destruction of the Yazidis in the middle east?”, Jul and May 2021, respectively. 

• GNF, “Precursor to mass atrocities: breakdown of the rule of law and failures to prevent”, Jul 2021. 

• Wilson Center, “A constitution of the people: achieving a durable peace in Bosnia”, Jun 2021. 

• Coalition for Genocide Response, “The law relating to starvation under international law: the unfolding situation in Tigray,” Jun 2021. 

• OUT-LINES, Garden Court North Chambers in conjunction with Accountability Unit, ELSA, Public International Law Centre, and University of Manchester, “The ‘crime of crimes’: personal and legal reflections on genocide”, Nov 2020. 

• Human Rights Lawyers Association, “Inequality in the UK and the law: why lawyers are complicit in an unjust system”, Feb 2020. 

• European Law Students’ Association, University of Manchester, “Censorship and lawyers: an interplay of rights, roles, and responsibilities”, Nov 2019. 

• Transitional Justice Working Group (Seoul, South Korea), GNF, ICL Masterclass, “Mass atrocity crimes and the European Court of Human Rights”, Jul 2019. 

• Young Legal Aid Lawyers, “Human rights and the breakdown of rule of law in Europe”, May 2019. 

• GNF, ICL Masterclass, “Reassessing and reviewing the laws relating to genocide and crimes against humanity”, Jul 2018. 

• GNF, Alumni Conference, “Revision of the law relating to genocide and its possible bifurcation into first and second degree”, Feb 2018. 

• European Union FRAME, European Inter-University Centre, “The role of courts in realising rights and access to justice in Turkey”, Apr 2017. 

• Institute for Women’s Studies, Beirut, Jun 2015. 

• GNF, “Legal accountability for sexual violence in Syria and future prosecution of war crimes”, Nov 2016. 

• International Forum Bosnia, “Human rights and gender inequality in post-conflict divided societies”, Jul 2016. 

• UNICTY, “Facilitating future prosecution of sexual violence at international tribunals”, Mar 2016. 

• LSE, Women Peace Security Centre, “Alternative methods of implementing the International Protocol on Documenting and Investigating Sexual Violence”, Jan 2016. 

• As a member of the UNICTY Chambers’ Speakers Guild, Aarif delivered seminars on topics including: the law relating to extermination, persecution, and genocide (Jul 2016; Jan, Apr 2017); the indictment, and associated legal principles, in the case of Ratko Mladić (Apr 2014); and post-conflict constitutional design in divided societies with lessons from Bosnia (Mar 2014).