Sarajevo, May 29, 2025 — From May 26 to 29, the International University of Sarajevo (IUS) served as the host for the opening public session of the Gaza Tribunal, a people’s tribunal formed by a coalition of international legal scholars, human rights experts, and civil society leaders. Established to investigate Israel’s genocide and war crimes in Gaza, the tribunal convened in Sarajevo—a city that deeply understands the legacy of mass atrocity and the urgent need for justice.
Opening Address: A Call from Sarajevo to the World
The tribunal opened with a compelling keynote address by Prof. Dr. Ahmet Yıldırım, Rector of IUS, who welcomed participants and underscored the moral gravity of the moment:
“This is not just a gathering. It’s a call to conscience,” declared Rector Yıldırım. “Thirty years after Srebrenica, we now witness Gaza. This is not a conflict — it is a genocide unfolding in real time. Sarajevo stands with you. Srebrenica mourns with you. This tribunal is not the end — it is a beginning.”
A Global Assembly for Justice
Led by Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, the Gaza Tribunal featured contributions from a wide range of voices: legal experts, academics, journalists, UN rapporteurs, and eyewitnesses. Participants examined:
The political economy of genocide
The crime of starvation in Gaza
International complicity and media propaganda
The criminalization of student and civil resistance
From Srebrenica to Gaza: shared experiences of genocide and survival
These sessions highlighted the mechanisms and systemic structures enabling genocide and demanded coordinated global action.
The Sarajevo Declaration: A Moral Reckoning
The Gaza Tribunal concluded with the adoption of the Sarajevo Declaration, a sweeping and unflinching document expressing collective moral outrage at the ongoing genocide in Palestine and charting a path for global civil society to confront and dismantle structures of oppression.
“We, the members of the Gaza Tribunal, having gathered in Sarajevo from 26 to 29 May 2025, declare our collective moral outrage at the continuing genocide in Palestine, our solidarity with the people of Palestine, and our commitment to working with partners across global civil society to end the genocide and to ensure accountability for perpetrators and enablers, redress for victims and survivors, the building of a more just international order, and a free Palestine.”
The declaration offers a detailed condemnation of the Israeli regime's policies and actions, which it identifies as constituting:
Genocide
Apartheid
Ethno-supremacism and settler colonialism
Mass displacement, starvation, torture, and extrajudicial executions
Targeting of civilians, medical personnel, journalists, and UN staff
The Tribunal demanded:
Immediate cessation of Israeli military operations
Unrestricted humanitarian aid to Gaza
Release of all Palestinian detainees
Full accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity
A universal boycott, divestment, sanctions regime, and military embargo
An end to Zionism as a state ideology and the establishment of an equal rights-based order for all inhabitants of the region
It also denounced global complicity, including the failure of international institutions and governments to uphold their legal and moral obligations, and the persecution of human rights defenders and activists worldwide. The declaration called for protection of free speech and assembly and condemned the misuse of antisemitism accusations to silence criticism of Israeli policies.
A Broader Vision for Global Justice
The declaration emphasized that the struggle for Palestinian liberation is inseparable from the defense of international human rights and law. It warned of the collapse of the global human rights order if genocide in Gaza continues unchallenged.
“We are convinced that the challenge of justice now falls to people of conscience everywhere... Palestinian lives are at stake. The international moral and legal order is at stake. We must not fail. We will not relent.”
The tribunal hailed the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its ongoing genocide case and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for issuing arrest warrants for senior Israeli leaders. It called on states to act on these measures and for global civil society to hold their governments accountable.
Looking Ahead: Final Proceedings in Istanbul
The Gaza Tribunal will continue its work in preparation for its final session in Istanbul in October 2025, where a Jury of Conscience will present formal findings and recommendations based on testimonies collected. The Sarajevo session, steeped in the symbolic memory of Bosnia’s own genocide, marked a profound and solemn beginning to this global initiative.
A Historic Moment at IUS
For the International University of Sarajevo, hosting the Gaza Tribunal marks a defining moment. In a city that has lived through the horrors of siege and genocide, Sarajevo provided a powerful moral and symbolic venue for this tribunal.
As Rector Yıldırım concluded in his opening speech:
“We will not look away. We will document, expose, and remember. Because Palestinian lives matter — not as statistics, but as human beings.”
