Welcome to ‘The Hague Hilton’

With its muzak soundtrack and bland female narrator it could be a corporate video lauding the latest product launch. But this is a new promotional cyber-tour around the Detention Unit at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague. The film shows such comfortable conditions that it might be better named "The Hague Hilton".

The narrator intones: "While awaiting or undergoing trial, the physical welfare of detainees is of paramount importance. The unit allows the detainees to maintain as normal a life as possible." These were not privileges granted to the victims of those found guilty.

Each detainee in The Hague has his own private cell, around 15 square metres - the size of an average hotel room - with television and computer, hand basin, toilet, a large window, single bed and bookshelves. There

are fresh towels, clean sheets, and an intercom to speak to unit staff.

When not in court, detainees may use the communal kitchen and leisure area, which is equipped with table football and backgammon, or "relax and cook their own food".

Since it opened in 1995, more than 130 people have been held in the unit, a tiny fraction of those responsible for the war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. The 49 current detainees may watch TV and read newspapers from the Balkans.

Each floor has its own shower-room, washing machines, tumble driers and ironing boards. All faiths are catered for, and there are even guitars. The video does not show us inside the conjugal visits room.

When not relaxing, detainees may learn computer skills, foreign languages - English is especially popular - and take classes in ceramics. Each detainee is allowed