Bachelor’s degree? Done. Master’s degree? Done. Internship at an international organization? Done and won’t be forgotten anytime soon. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon is an international tribunal that was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1757. The primary mandate of the Tribunal is to hold trials for the people accused of carrying out the attack of 14 February 2005 in Beirut which killed 22 people, including the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and injured many others. The Tribunal’s official languages are Arabic, English, and French. All official documents issued by the Tribunal must be written in these three languages.

I interned at the Arabic Translation Unit within the Languages Services Section of the Tribunal. I consider myself lucky to have worked with translators and revisors of the highest caliber. It is safe to say that I found the experience challenging, as I was genuinely surprised by the amount of work and research that it requires, but I loved every second of it. In addition to working on my lingual capacities, I underwent several UN-specialized trainings. This brought my experience to a whole new level as it made me feel that I’m part of a worldwide entity. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Hague in general and at the Tribunal in particular, and though it is true that I only spent a few months there, I have a feeling that these memories will last a lifetime.      

                                                                                                                                     Youssef Moussallem

                                                                                                                 Diplômé de l’ETIB