Programs in International Justice and Society

March 8-9, 2015

The Responsibility to Protect principle, adopted by leaders across the globe in 2005, recognizes that the international community has a role to play when sovereign states fail to protect their own populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. As R2P reached its 10-year milestone, many questions remained about the principle's legitimacy, implementation and potential abuse. This conference brought together leading scholars and global actors to share ideas and experiences about both philosophical and practical aspects of R2P.

Conference Papers

• Introduction by Daniel Terris and Galia Golan.

• Uriel Abulof, "Behemoth vs. Leviathan: Revisiting the Responsibility to Protect."

• Ofra Bengio, "America in Iraq: The Price of Opening Pandora's Box."

• Christen Broecker, "UN Human Rights Monitors: Essential Advocates of the Responsibility to Protect."

• Hans Corell, Richard Goldstone and John Shattuck, with moderator Leigh Swigart, "Roundtable on Justice and Accountability."

• Chen Kertcher, "R2P at 10: Implementing an R2P Agenda for Peace Operations."

• Mordechai Kremnitzer, "Responsibility to Protect: A Right of Self-Defense for All States Against Atrocities."

• Rajan Menon, "Humanitarian Intervention: A Dissenting View."

• Benny Miller, "The Sources and Effects of Humanitarian Interventions: Realism, Liberalism and the State-to-Nation Balance."

• Timea Spitka, "Drawing the Red Lines: Gender and Responsibility to Protect in BiH and Israel/Palestine." 

Nov. 7, 2014

Benjamin B. Ferencz speaks with Brandeis University students following his talk. From left, Sneha Walia ’15, Ally Eller ’15, Nathan Goldwag ’16 and Bethany Adam ’15. Photo: David Weinstein.

In 1945 Benjamin B. Ferencz, then only 27 years old, was appointed Chief Prosecutor for the United States in the Einsatzgruppen Case, a part of the post-World War II Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. It became what the Associated Press called "the biggest murder trial in history." It was his first case.

Twenty-two defendants were charged with murdering over a million people. All of the defendants were convicted, and 13 were sentenced to death. The verdict was hailed as a great success for the prosecution.

Ferencz's primary objective had been to establish a legal precedent that would encourage a more humane and secure world in the future. Following that experience he dedicated his life to advocating steps to replace the "rule of force with the rule of law." He is a strong supporter of the International Criminal Court.

During a visit to Brandeis in November hosted by the Ethics Center, Ferencz shared some of what he has come to believe the world now needs. "We've got to change the way people think because we've all been raised to glorify war making," he said. "We have glorified killing. We have glorified nationalism. We have glorified 'God bless our country and to hell with the rest of the world.' That doesn't fly anymore. The world is shrinking."

Ferencz explained that his philosophy is based on the concept of "planethood" — the concept for which his foundation is named: "We are all inhabitants of one small planet and we must learn to live on this planet together in peace and human dignity regardless of our race or creed. ... No longer thinking in terms of 'neighborhood' or 'nationhood,' but 'planethood.'"

Watch video of Ferencz's talk

Spring 2014

Lecturers, from left, Jacqueline McAllister, Alana Tiemessen, Emily Strauss and Nicole deSilva.

"Exploring Global Justice" was a series of lectures by young academics and practitioners in the field of international justice. These included:

• "On Knife's Edge: The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia's Impact on Civilian Violence," by Jacqueline McAllister, PhD candidate in political science at Northwestern University, a visiting professor at Wellesley College and the spring 2014 Ethics Center Fellow.

• "The International Criminal Court and the Politics of Justice in Africa," by Alana Tiemessen, postdoctoral fellow, University of Chicago Department of Political Science.

• "Rule of Law and Development in Africa," by Emily Strauss, special counsel, Lawyers Without Borders.

• "Strategic Action in African Regional Courts," by Nicole deSilva, PhD candidate in political science, Oxford University.

March 11, 2013

In September 2012, the United Nations reaffirmed, along with world leaders and civil society representatives, that "the rule of law applie[s] equally to all States and international organizations, including the United Nations. All persons, institutions and entities [a]re accountable to just, fair and equitable laws, and entitled to equal protection before the law, without discrimination."

Given this position, what is the responsibility of the U.N. toward human rights organizations that demand compensation for victims of the ongoing cholera epidemic in Haiti, allegedly brought to the island by its own peacekeepers? What is the appropriate institutional response when U.N. peacekeepers and other staff are charged with acts of wrongdoing in conflict zones, including sexual violence and arms trafficking?

Featured Panelists*

• Hans Corell, former Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel of the United Nations, Sweden.

• Richard Goldstone, retired Justice of the Constitutional Court, South Africa.

• Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, President of the Center for Strategies and Security for the Sahel Sahara, Mauritania.

• Gillian Sorensen, Senior Advisor, United Nations Foundation, Washington D.C.

* All panelists are members of the International Advisory Board of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.

March 5, 2013

Experts working in diverse fields, including economic development, international business, environmental protection, international law, human rights and indigenous rights, examined the intersecting interests and responsibilities of those working in sometimes conflicting sectors.

Moderator

• Bruce Magid, Dean, Brandeis International Business School.

Panelists

• Fernando Ribeiro Delgado, Lecturer, Harvard Law School.

• Cristina Espinosa, Professor, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.

• Daniel Luis Gleizer, Banco Itau BBA, Vice President (Saõ Paulo).

• Moises Lino e Silva, Lecturer, International and Global Studies and Anthropology, Brandeis University.

• Biorn Maybury-Lewis, Executive Director, Cambridge Institute for Brazilian Studies; Institute for International Urban Development; University of Massachusetts, Boston.

watch videos from event

Jan. 30, 2013

Donald Ferencz, left, and Prince Zeid.

His Royal Highness Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein of Jordan, the Hashemite Kingdom's permanent representative to the United Nations, argued in a speech at Brandeis that the rule of law is essential to make humanity whole following crimes committed against it, but law is not enough.

Prince Zeid's talk, "Beyond Nuremberg: The Future of International Criminal Justice" (watch video | read), delved deeply into the question of how men and women seek to restore their humanity in the wake of genocide and other atrocities.

Prince Zeid's journey through the sites and the literature of the Holocaust led him to meditate on the question of how survivors — and their extended communities — can become whole again. For Zeid, that process begins with the establishment of the rule of law, and in particular with the extraordinary trials at Nuremberg that for the first time substituted due process for the cycle of revenge.

Dec. 1-2, 2011

Salomón Lerner Febres delivers keynote address. Photo/Robyn Spector.

This two-day symposium explored the performative dimensions of justice-seeking in the aftermath of violence, with a focus on Cambodia, Peru and the United States.

How can societies best recover from widespread violence and human rights violations? What do public ritual, theater, truth commissions and criminal trials each offer as justice-seeking strategies? How does performance, broadly conceived, satisfy the human need to understand violence and reconstruct dignity in its wake?

Opening Remarks

• Leigh Swigart, Director, Programs in International Justice and Society, International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life — "International Ciminal Justice: Do We Expect too Much?"

Keynote Address

• Salomón Lerner Febres, President, Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission — "Memory of Violence and Drama in Peru: The Experience of the Truth Commission and the Yuyachkani Theater Group."

Organizers

• International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, Brandeis University

• School of Law, Northeastern University

Directors

• Leigh Swigart, Director, Programs in International Justice and Society, International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life

• Cynthia Cohen, Director, Peacebuilding for the Arts, International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.

Funding Support

• Curtis International Council Fund of The Boston Foundation

Brandeis Co-sponsors

• Department of African and Afro-American Studies

• Department of Latin American and Latino Studies

• Legal Studies Program

• Mandel Center for the Humanities

• Master's Program in Coexistence and Conflict

• Office of the Arts

• Peace, Conflict and Coexistence Studies Program

Nov. 30, 2009

Hassan Bubacar Jallow, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, delivered the inaugural Distinguished Lecture in International Justice and Human Rights, titled "International Criminal Justice: Developments and Reflections on the Future." As part of his visit to Brandeis, Judge Jallow also attended an informal lunch with Brandeis undergraduate and graduate students; sat for an interview with National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" program; and addressed members of Boston's legal and judicial community as the featured speaker at a Brandeis Spotlight Forum, "Seeking Justice After Mayhem," at the Old State House in Boston.

Funding Organization

Planethood Foundation

Nov. 5, 2009

Justice Richard Goldstone, head of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, and Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, discussed the results of their controversial fact-finding mission to the Gaza Strip to investigate and assess the bloody conflict between Israeli and Palestinian fighters the previous winter. Their report said there was evidence of war crimes on both sides and that the Israelis made disproportionate use of force. In addition to a large crowd of faculty, staff and students, the event drew a plethora of national and international media, including The Boston Globe, The Jerusalem Post, Al Jazeera, Israel National News, New England Cable News, YNet, Public Radio International's "The World" and Reuters.

Read coverage and watch a video of the event

Nov. 29-Dec. 1, 2007

Participants in the 'Sexual Violence Under International Law' panel, from left: Suzanne Chenault, Catherine MacKinnon, Bellancille Umukobwa, Murtaza Jaffer and Romauld Haule.

This three-day symposium, held in Arusha, Tanzania, brought together members of the chambers, prosecution and defense of the International Criminal Courts and Tribunals in Rwanda with academics, legal practitioners, government officials and civil society actors from Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and Sierra Leone, as well as from Europe and North America. Participants discussed the successes and challenges of the ICTR, in particular, but also those of other courts on the continent, in bringing to justice persons who have committed genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The significance of particular ICTR cases for Africa was also discussed, including the Akayesu Case, which found that rape can constitute an act of genocide, and the Media Case, where journalists and media owners were found responsible for incitement to criminal activity through radio broadcasts and newspapers. Other symposium sessions addressed the fairness of proceedings in international criminal tribunals and how these tribunals' work can foster the rule of law in national jurisdictions.

Resources

• Request a PDF of the conference report.

Sept. 15-16, 2005

'Prisoner of Conscience' by Victor Ekpuk

The intent of "Telling the Story" was to analyze, over a two-day period, the process by which human rights violations are documented and the reasons they are made public. The conference brought together practitioners who produce or use documentation of violations — such as journalists, filmmakers, artists, human rights reporters, forensic specialists and legal practitioners — with scholars who approach it from theoretical perspectives – such as legal scholars, women's studies scholars and anthropologists. "Telling the Story" had two principal aims:

• To promote an elevated awareness of the complex processes and decisions that go into documenting human rights violations, thus helping the consumers of such documents to analyze and interpret them with thoughtfulness and skepticism.

• To provide an opportunity for practitioners of human rights documentation to explore systematically these processes and decisions in a multidisciplinary framework.

Academic Directors

• Leigh Swigart, International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.

• Mark Auslander, Department of Anthropology.

Funding Support

• Boston Foundation.

• Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities.

Resources

• Request a PDF of the conference report, "Telling the Story: Power and Responsibility in Documenting Human Rights Violations."

March 8, 2004

"Justice Across Cultures" explored a variety of issues that arise when systems of justice encounter cultural difference. Participating scholars explored a general set of questions through the examination of particular historical and geopolitical cases. They attempted to answer, among other questions:

• Under what kinds of historical and political conditions do calls for international systems of justice arise?

• How are we to understand the intersection of international and domestic justice, and how might these systems be reconciled when in conflict?

• What role might international systems of justice have in mediating cultural differences and/or in preventing intercultural violence?

• What kinds of practical difficulties confront those who are charged with enforcing international laws in local communities and in states where those laws conflict with the culturally and/or religiously based moral values of community members?

• How, if at all, can the various institutions of civil society be used to prevent ethnic conflict?

• What has been the experience of various restorative justice projects, including both official truth and reconciliation trials and more informal cross-cultural peacekeeping missions? What can we learn from their successes and failures?

Resources

PDFs of contributions by the following panelists are available by request:

• Omar Dajani, "'End of Conflict' and Other Fictions: Competing Visions of Justice in the New Middle East.

• Sally Merry, "Tensions Between Global and Local Social Justice: CEDAW and the Problem of Rape in Fiji."

• Leigh Payne, "In Search of Remorse: Confessions by Perpetrators of Past State Violence."

• Yasemin Soysal, "Rights, Identity and Claims-Making."

Dec. 12, 2000

In this roundtable discussion, members of the Independent International Commission on Kosovo joined scholars, journalists, diplomats and activists examined the 1999 war and its implications for the future. The occasion for this forum was the release of the report by the Independent International Commission on Kosovo, a 13-member panel sponsored by the government of Sweden. The commission was chaired by Judge Richard Goldstone, justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and former prosecutor of the U.N. War Crimes Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Its report, presented to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in October 2000, examines key developments prior to, during and after the Kosovo war, including systematic violations of human rights in the region.