Masters in International Crimes and Criminology | Master's degree | Humanities & Culture | On Campus | 1 year | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | Netherlands

War crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide harm individuals, disrupt societies and pose a threat to international peace and security. The international community has over the past decades clearly expressed the need to prevent and stop these international crimes from taking place and to prosecute the world’s most responsible perpetrators. Yet, effective action is often hampered by a lack of will or knowledge. Preventive strategies cannot be effectively set up without a thorough understanding of the root causes of these crimes. A call for action to stop crimes from taking place can only take place if effective monitoring systems are in place, while successful prosecution of orchestrators or organizers of these crimes can only take place if they can be clearly linked to atrocities that have taken place on the ground. Designing these strategies and executing these tasks can only be done by means of taking a multi- and interdisciplinary approach. The unique Master’s program in International Crimes and Criminology teaches a small group of approximately 25 students the necessary intellectual skills to take this approach and trains them how to apply the knowledge and expertise to real-world situations.