War Crimes Prosecution Watch is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that compiles official documents and articles from major news sources detailing and analyzing salient issues pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of war crimes throughout the world. For more information about War Crimes Prosecution Watch, please contact warcrimeswatch@pilpg.org.

Former Nuremberg Prosecutor Ben Ferencz Closes ICC Case against Lubanga

September 11, 2011

By Eric C. Sigmund
Managing Editor of News, Impunity Watch

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – In a historic moment for the International Criminal Court, former Nuremberg prosecutor Benjamin Ferencz, joined ICC prosecutors last month to complete the Court’s first ever trial – concluding the closing statements in the case against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. Mr. Ferencz, a strong advocate of the ICC, served as the Chief Prosecutor for the United States at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, in the “Einsatzgruppen Case.” Mr. Ferencz’s efforts in what has been recognized as the “biggest murder trial in history,” led to the conviction of twenty-two Nazi war criminals charged with murdering over one million people. Mr. Ferencz’s remarks to the Court highlighted the continued importance of international criminal law since the Nuremberg tribunal and the role of humanity in promoting the rule of law.

Benjamin Ferencz, former prosecutor for the United States at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany (Photo Courtesy of benferencz.org)

Thomas Lubanga, the former rebel leader of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), has been charged with systematically recruiting children under the age of 15 as soldiers. This practice, which has been prevalent in conflicts throughout Africa, has been deemed a violation of international law. While some have called the legitimacy of the trial into question, Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda contends that Lubanga’s guilt reaches “beyond any possible doubt.” Deputy Prosecutor Bensouda further notes that “His conviction…will mean justice for thousands of victims and will send a clear message: There will be no impunity for those who recruit children.”

Reflecting on the importance of the Lubanga trial, Mr. Ferencz stressed that “this is a historic moment in the evolution of international criminal law.” Noting the magnitude of Lubanga’s crimes, Ferencz stated “The Prosecutor’s Office spoke at length, meticulously detailing grim facts establishing the responsibility of the accused for the crimes alleged. The evidence showed that waves of children, recruited under Mr. Lubanga’s command, moved through as many as 20 training camps, some holding between eight and sixteen hundred children under age 15… Words and figures cannot adequately portray the physical and psychological harm inflicted on vulnerable children who were brutalized and who lived in constant fear. The loss and grief to their inconsolable families is immeasurable. Their childhood stolen, deprived of education and all human rights, the suffering of the young victims and their families left permanent scar.” Closing the prosecution’s case against Lubanga, Ferencz encouraged the Court to “Let the voice and the verdict of [the] court now speak for the awakened conscience of the world.”

Mr. Ferencz’s comments mark a critical period in the development of international law. With the world awaiting the verdict against Mr. Lubanga, the former Nuremberg prosecutor reminds us all that international criminal law continues to “protect the fundamental rights of people everywhere.”

The full transcript of Mr. Ferencz remarks can be seen here.

For more information, please see:

Radio Netherlands Worldwide – Lubanga: Judges Deliberate First ICC Judgment – 29 Aug. 2011

Agence France Presse – Lubanga Guilty “Beyond Any Possible Doubt”: ICC Prosecutor – 25 Aug. 2011

BenFerencz.org – Speech of Mr. Benjamin Ferencz at Closing of Lubanga Case – August 2011

BenFerencz.org – Biography – 2011

Speech of Mr. Benjamin Ferencz at Closing of Lubanga Case

September 11, 2011

By Benjamin B. Ferencz
Published: August 2011
Courtesy of BenFerencz.org

This is a historic moment in the evolution of international criminal law. For the first time a permanent international criminal court will hear the closing statement for the Prosecution as it concludes it first case against its first accused Mr. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo.

I witnessed such an evolution. As an American soldier, I survived the indescribable horrors of World War II and served as a liberator of many concentration camps. Shortly thereafter, I was appointed a Prosecutor at the Nuremberg War crimes trials which mapped new rules for the protection of humanity. I was 27 years old then. I am now in my 92nd year, having spent a lifetime striving for a more humane world governed by the rule of law.

I am honoured to represent the Prosecutor and to share some personal observations regarding the significance of this trial.

The most significant advance I have observed in international law has gone almost unnoticed; it is the slow awakening of the human conscience. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed inalienable, fundamental rights of “all members of the human family as a foundation of freedom peace and justice in the world.” Countless human rights declarations have been made over many years by many dedicated persons and organizations. But legal action to enforce the promises has been slow in coming.

In Rome in 1998, when the Statute that binds this Court was overwhelmingly approved, over a hundred sovereign states decided that child recruitment and forcing them to participate in hostilities were among “the most serious crimes of concern for the international community as a whole.” Punishing perpetrators was recognized as a legal obligation.

What makes this Court so distinctive is its primary goal to deter crimes before they take place by letting wrongdoers know in advance that they will be called to account by an impartial International Criminal Court. The law can no longer be silent but must instead be heard and enforced to protect the fundamental rights of people everywhere.

The Prosecutor’s Office spoke at length meticulously detailing grim facts establishing the responsibility of the accused for the crimes alleged. The evidence showed that waves of children, recruited under Mr. Lubanga’s command, moved through as many as 20 training camps, some holding between eight and sixteen hundred children under age 15.

Words and figures cannot adequately portray the physical and psychological harm
inflicted on vulnerable children who were brutalized and who lived in constant fear. The loss and grief to their inconsolable families is immeasurable. Their childhood stolen, deprived of education and all human rights, the suffering of the young victims and their families left permanent scars. We must try to restore the faith of children so that they may join in restoring the shattered world from which they came.

Imagine the pain of mothers crying and pleading at the door of the camps still suffering and wondering what happened to their children. Picture the agony of the father who said : “[…] he is my first son. All of my hopes were laid on him. […]the child was ruined. […] Today he can do nothing in his life. He has abandoned his education. And this is something which affects me greatly.”

All of the girls recruited could expect to be sexually violated.

All of these events which the Prosecution has carefully presented have been proved beyond reasonable doubt. Once again, “the case we present is a plea of humanity to law.” It was a call for human beings to behave in a humane and lawful way.

The hope of humankind is that compassion and compromise may replace the cruel and senseless violence of armed conflicts. That is the law as prescribed by the Rome Statute that binds this Court as well as the UN Charter that binds everyone. Vengeance begets vengeance. The illegal use of armed force, which is the soil from which all human rights violation grow must be condemned as a crime against humanity. International disputes must be resolved not by armed force but by peaceful means only. Seizing and training young people to hate and kill presumed adversaries undermines the legal and moral firmament of human society.

Let the voice and the verdict of this esteemed global court now speak for the awakened conscience of the world.