The constant gardener
Benjamin B. Ferencz
Adrian Jones,
McMaster University
Benjamin Ferencz is an international public intellectual active in fundamental areas of global concern including peace, human rights, and international criminal justice. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1943, and serving in the United States army until 1945, he investigated Nazi offices and archives in Berlin and, at the age of 27, was appointed by the United States to serve as a Prosecutor at the post-Second World War Nuremberg trials of Nazis for war crimes. He has since undertaken a range of public advocacy initiatives for peace, the international rule of law, and particularly for the establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute human rights and humanitarian atrocities. His advocacy continues as Founder of the Pace Peace Center, and particularly in letter-writing campaigns and public appearances to increase support and awareness of the ICC, and to promote global peace.
His efforts reflect a determined optimism concerning humankind's potential and the role of international law to curb its evils, especially war. These sentiments relate to core considerations of globalization and autonomy, and the interrelationship between peace, security, and individual and collective development: "We share one interdependent planet. No nation and no person can feel secure until all are secure" (Ferencz 1998, 1). His emphasis on individual autonomy and well-being is illustrated by his promotion of the idea of a "new humanity which recognizes the sovereignty of the individual as the guiding norm of international society" (Ferencz 1999, 358). His advocacy campaigns also demonstrate the increasing autonomy and capacity of non-state actors, particularly in an era of global communications, to help shape the international agenda and facilitate progressive change.
Works Cited:
Ferencz, Benjamin B. 16 June 1998. Address to United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the establishment of an International Criminal Court. Rome, Italy.
Available:
www.un.org/icc/speeches/616ppc.htm
(accessed 17 February 2005)
Ferencz, Benjamin B. 1999. Can aggression be deterred by law?
Pace International Law Review 11
(1):
341-59.
Suggested Readings:
Benjamin B. Ferencz website.
Pace Peace Center,
www.benferencz.org (accessed 17 February 2005).
Ferencz, Benjamin B. 2003. From Nuremberg to Rome: A personal account. In
Justice for Crimes Against Humanity.
ed. Mark Lattimer and Philippe Sands,
Oxford, UK:
Hart Publications.
United States National Holocaust Memorial Museum Website.
Ferencz Personal Archives,
www.ushmm.org (accessed 17 February 2005).