Delegation becomes 1st from US to travel to 12-country conference
Former Student Body Treasurer Coy Gibson recently went on a field trip that took him pretty far from home.
Gibson, USC graduate students Stefania Petcu and Zulfikar Berk and Columbia Jewish Day School teacher Valerie Hoyt traveled to Poland last week to take part in the Model International Criminal Court, a program that simulates the International Criminal Court.
Representing 12 countries from three continents, participating students are immersed in issues related to the case in question. Simultaneously, students are exposed to courtroom skills that could come in handy when presenting a case, such as writing, reasoning and presenting.
Of the 50 students accepted into the program, USC had four representatives. Both Petcu and Berk served as judges, and Hoyt and Gibson were a part of the press team.
The team not only represented USC but also the state of South Carolina and the U.S. This year marked the first time since the program was established in 2006 that Americans were sent to participate in the annual event.
The fictional case at hand was of humanitarian crime, Hoyt said. Teams made up of prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and the press were given the chance to react to the case, set to have taken place in a fictitious country formerly a part of the Soviet Union. In three of the four parts of the case, the judges were questioned on whether the crimes were indeed committed against humanity. The remaining portion of the case dealt with whether the action was to be considered a war crime.
Berk recalled a few memorable lines from the week that he thought summed up the conference’s essence.
One of his favorites: “‘All equal different,’” he wrote in an email, “underlines the way that people from all over the world should share the same human values.”
As a judge, Hoyt worked with other participants to determine the case’s outcome.
“We had to decide if the accused was responsible or not for the commission of crimes against humanity,” Hoyt said in an email response. “The decision of the panel was based on testimonies given by the Office of the Prosecution and Defense, as well as the facts of the case.”
The topic of leadership came up often, Gibson said, as did how education is often taken for granted in the U.S., which can often affect global decision-making.
“Through this workshop, I experienced that reaching the quick decision on international issues is not easy since every system may approach the issue differently,” Berk said.
Gibson also noted the prevalence of U.S. pop culture around the world, as those in attendance sang “Sweet Home Alabama” on a bus, and many knew trivia about America, while few Americans knew the answers to questions posed about other countries.
“It gives you the opportunity to reflect on what we have here and be fortunate for what we have,” Gibson said. “Continue fighting for human rights and individual rights in America, but at the same time, be respectful of what others may or may not have.”