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UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES

POSTAL AODRESS-ADRESSE POSTALE: UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. 10017 CABLE ADDRESS-ADRESSE TELEGRAPHIQUE: UNATIONS NEW YORK

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL CABINET DU SECRETAIRE GENERAL

II •5 1 MRR-41997 3 March 1997

Dear Mr. Ferencz,

I would like to thank you for your letter of 3 February and your congratulations on my appointment. I would also wish to apologize for my delay in replying to it.

Your suggestion to offer a copy of your book "New Legal Foundations for Global Survival" to the Secretary-General is most kind. I regret that the vast range of commitments imposed on him during these first months in office will make it difficult for the Secretary-General to personally receive the book from you.

The Secretary-General would however be very appreciative if this interesting work be sent to him. Also, were you to come to New York, I would be very happy to meet again with you.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Benjamin B. Ferencz Delray Beach, Florida BENJAMIN B. FERENCZ o ESJLL1 Seville Boulevard #355 |j Delray Beach, Florida 33446-2150 III (winter residence only) Phone (561) 499-8642

February 3, 1997

Under-Secretary-General S. Iqbal Riza Chef de Cabinet, Office of the Secretary-General United Nations, New York 10017

Dear Under-Secretary-General Riza:

Although my computer and I are often not on speaking terms, I was pleased to receive its recent report that you had been elevated to your new and very important post Please allow me to convey my sincere congratulations to you along with every good wish for your future success and happiness.

I know that Secretary-General Kofi Annan must be swamped with congratulatory messages from all over the world and that the Chef de Cabinet will have to shield him from such intrusions. I have therefore refrained from adding to his correspondence ( particularly since I personally wished him success BEFORE the elections, which may be more important). But I would welcome your guidance on the folio whig:

You may recall that in my opening APPRECIATION in my book New Legal Foundations for Global Survival (see flyer) I expressed my gratitude for the help you had given me when you were Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. I had sent a copy of the book to Secretary-General Boutros Boutros- Ghali and from the responses of Jean-Claude Aime I believe it may have been helpful in some respects. I would be pleased to personally present, or send, a copy of the book to Mr. Kofi Annan - if you believe that would not be an imposition. I would appreciate your candid guidance.

With renewed good wishes, Benjamin B. Ferencz Ferencz became Chief Prosecutor for the in what the Associated Press called "the biggest murder trial in history." Twenty-two defendants were charged with murdering over a million people. He was only twenty-seven years old. It was his first case. All of the defendants were convicted. Thirteen Benjamin B. were sentenced to death. The verdict was hailed as a Ferencz was born in great success for the prosecution. Ferencz's primary the Carpathian moun- objective had been to establish a legal precedent that tains of would encourage a more humane and secure world in in 1920. When he was the future. ten months old his taught me that creating a world of family moved to tolerance and compassion would be a long and ardu- America. His earliest ous task. And I also learned that if we did not devote memories are of his ourselves to developingeffective world la w,thesame small basement apartment in a district— cruel mentality that made the Holocaust possible appropriately referred to as "Hell's Kitchen." Even at might one day destroy the entire human race. an early age, he felt a deep yearning for universal In 1970, with the United States sinking ever deeper friendship and world peace. into the quagmire of Vietnam, it was only natural that After he graduated from in his mind should turn to the need for a peaceful world. 1943, he joined an antiaircraft artillery battalion prepar- After careful deliberation, Ferencz decided that he would ing for the invasion of France. As an enlisted man under gradually withdraw from the private practice of law General Patton, he fought in every campaign in Europe. and would dedicate himself to studying and writing As Nazi atrocities were uncovered, he was trans- about world peace. ferred to a newly created War Crimes Branch of the His book Defining International Aggression—The Army to gather evidence of Nazi brutality and appre- Search for World Peace was published in 1975. It seemed hend the criminals. to him that there was little sense in denouncing aggres- Indelibly seared into my memory are the scenes sion, terrorism, and other un- I witnessed while liberating these centers of death less these offenses became part of an accepted interna- and destruction. Camps like Buchenwald, tional criminal code enforced by an international court. Mauthausen, and Dachau are vividly imprinted in He wrote another two-volume documentary history, my mind's eye. Even today, when I close my eyes, I witness a deadly vision I can never forget—the cre- An International Criminal Court—A Step Toward World matoria aglow with the fire of burning flesh, the Peace, which was published in 1980. It was intended to mounds of emaciated corpses stacked like cord wood be a tool that nations could use to build a structure for waiting to be burned I had peered into Hell. peace. On the day after Christmas 1945, Ferencz was honor- While still at Harvard, he had studied jurispru- ably discharged from the U.S. Army with the rank of dence with Professor Roscoe Pound, one of the most Sergeant of Infantry. He returned to New York and learned jurists in the world. The results of his research prepared to practice law. Shortly thereafter, he was were recorded in another two-volume book, Enforcing recruited for the Nuremberg war crimes trials. International Law—A Way to World Peace, which was The U.S. had decided to prosecute a broad cross published in 1983. In order to spread the word to a section of Nazi criminals once the trial against Goering larger audience, he condensed the gist of his thinking and his henchmen was over. Ferencz was sent with into a small, inexpensive paperback, A Common Sense about fifty researchers to Berlin to scour Nazi offices Guide to World Peace. The title was influenced by that and archives. In their hands lay overwhelming evidence greatpatriot, TomPaine, whose pamphlet Common Sense of Nazi genocide by German doctors, lawyers, judges, had inspired the American Revolution. generals, industrialists, and others who played leading Benjamin B. Ferencz wrote PlanetHood with Ken roles in organizing or perpetrating Nazi brutalities. Keyes, Jr., to offer practical steps for the average citizen Without pity or remorse, the SS murder squads killed to take to help establish international law and urge U.N. every Jewish man, woman, and child they could lay reform. He lives with his wife, Gertrude, in New their hands on. Gypsies, communist functionaries, and Rochelle, New York. He is Adjunct Professor of Inter- Soviet intellectuals suffered the same fate. It was national Law at and founder of the tabulated that over a million persons were deliberately Pace Peace Center. He continues to write and speak murdered by these special "action groups." worldwide for international law and global peace. -At Liberty- A Guest Column

After the genocide and inhumanity of -began to resist the Treaty World War II, the United States took of Versailles on the grounds that it was the lead in drawing the charter for the a diktat that it had been forced to International Military Tribunal at Nur- accept. The Kaiser had already escaped emberg. The Nuremberg principles, to neutral Holland, and Germany re- which provided the legal basis of the fused to hand over any of its nationals tribunal, were affirmed by the United for trial by an Allied court. Nations in 1946 and made clear that In 1920 a Committee of Jurists ap- aggressive war and crimes against hu- pointed by the League of Nations and manity would no longer be tolerated. dominated by Elihu Root, a former U.S. In opening the Nuremberg tribunal, secretary of both war and state and a Justice Robert Jackson, on leave from senator from New York, proposed that the U.S. Supreme Court to serve as an international criminal court be estab- chief prosecutor for the United States, lished "to try crimes constituting a heralded the rule of law. "That four breach of international public order or great nations," he said, "flushed with against the universal law of nations." victory and stung with injury stay the The advice of these expert jurists was hand of vengeance and voluntarily sub- politely brushed aside by professional mit their captive enemies to the judg- Needed: An International diplomats. Sovereign states were not ment of the law is one of the most Criminal Court ready to yield authority to a permanent significant tributes that Power ever has international tribunal, even after World paid to Reason.... We must never forget by Benjamin B. Ferencz War II when the U.N. was founded. that the record on which we judge Although the United Nations charter these defendants today is the record on for the sole purpose of prosecuting per- requires that peace be maintained "in which history will judge us tomorrow." sons responsible for serious violations conformity with the principles of justice Yet, since Nuremberg there has of international humanitarian law com- and international law," the U.N. has no been no international criminal court to mitted in the territory of the former legislative authority, its World Court call international criminals to account. Yugoslavia." While the ad hoc tribunal lacks compulsory jurisdiction, and And the crimes continue. can deal only with Crimea committed there is no effective system to enforce Iraq immediately comes to mind. after January 1,1991, its creation may be world law. But the end of the cold war The United Nations Security Council, a stepping stone to a permanent court. has given us an opportunity to create a led by the United States, mobilized in- Setting up such a court would in- mechanism that would allow the U.N. ternational forces to repel aggression volve limiting sovereign rights in a way to begin to carry out its charter goals. by Iraq against Kuwait. But contrary to that would certainly be famil iar to Amer- The absence of an international crimi- the Nuremberg doctrine that only the icans: just as the 13 Colonies found it nal court of law to punish offenders guilty should be punished—after a fair necessary to cede many sovereign mocks the victims of war and inhuman- trial and with evidence of guilt beyond rights to a central government in 1787, ity and encourages more criminality. All doubt—Iraq's civilian population has so the violent and interdependent glob- who imperil humanity must know that become the main victim of both eco- al community of today is beginning to they will be held to personal account, nomic sanctions and missile attacks, learn that real sovereignty belongs to regardless of rank, station or nation- while its leader, allegedly responsible the people and that no one should be ality. As , who served for every in the book, re- allowed to get away with mu ixler. as U.S. chief of counsel at Nuremberg, mains head of government. It is sadly Although the Constitution authorizes has written, "The laws of war are not a ironic that a great military victory won Congress to punish "offenses against one-way street." Law poses no threat to by brave young people upholding the law of nations," the question of the innocent. A permanent internation- American principles abroad should be indicting a sovereign before :'n inter- al criminal court with worldwide juris- followed by a lack of legal courage on national court did not arise until after diction would close a gap that now the part of political leaders back home. . A 15-member Commis- exists in the world legal order; it is long But perhaps change is at hand. In sion on Responsibility of the Authors of overdue and would uphold America's the former Yugoslavia, "ethnic cleans- the War, chaired by Secretary of State finest moral traditions in protecting ing" and mass rapes so outraged public Robert Lansing, reached the conclusion peace and human dignity. opinion that the Security Council that violations of die .."laws anc! customs ordered that evidence of infringement of war or the laws of humanity" were Benjamin B. Ferencz, a chief prosecutor of human rights in the Balkans be criminal offenses for which even a chief in the Nuremberg war crimes trials, is assembled. On May 25,1993, the coun- of state could be punished. But almost Adjunct Professor of International Law cil established an "international tribunal immediately after signing it, defeated at Pace University. CONSTITUTION is published three times yearly by the Foundation for the United Stales Conslilulion, 1271 Avenue ol the BENJAMIN B. FERENCZ Americas, New York, New York 10020 C Copyright 1993. All rights reserved. Reproduclion in whole or in part without — written permission is prohibited. Back issue and reprint permission requests (or educational purposes snould be submitted " 14 BAYBERRY LANE in writing to the publisher, CONSTITUTION Magazine, 1271 Avenue of the Americas. New York, New York 10020. (212) 522-5527. Not responsible lor unsolicited material, which requires return postage and self-addressed envelope. A copy ol the last annual NEW ROCHEL.LE. N. Y. 1O804 80 financial report may be obtained upon written request to the office of the Foundation for the United Sijiics Co.isliiution or to the New York Department of State, Office of Charities Registration, 162 Washington Avenue. Albany, Now York TELEPHONE 914 - 632-37

CONSTITUTION/FALL 1W HOW TqMAKE THE UNITED NATIONS EFFECTIVE FOR PEACE

Ferencz's book gets accolades from authorities...

From the introduction to New Legal Foundations for Global Survival: "Professor Ferencz, a distinguished teacher and lawyer, is both an idealist and a prcc'

' This book is a thoughtful, practical and, above all, timely examination of how to ororrde peace and security in the world. It advances the proposition -once at the core of Arrenca* ?orc>gn pb'ic'y - t^ct increasing the salience of international law can help to regulate and miiiaa'e Y:C'C'~:

"This creative book proposes constructive legal and moral ways by which the United Nations can be effective in the world after the Cold War. This volume is essential reading for every person who desires to be a moral architect of the new world based on the rule of law and human dignity." Robert F. Drinan, SJ., Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center

"Benjamin Ferencz' book stands out as one this is impressive, not only because of the depth of the analysis, or because of the daring of the proposals, but because the combination of both is so rare. It is required reading for anyone seriously interested in the policy implications of the end cf the co'c/ war. " Peter Honsen, The (Sto

>• "A wsfonory scholar, Ben Ferencz presents o carefully crofted blueprint for g/oboLsurv/Vo/. Thoroughly researched, eloquently written with a historical context, the book is a crystallization of the author's ide- alistic - and pragmatic - prescription for global peace and security with /usf'ce as i.'s foundation I con- sider it a masterpiece!" Ved P. Nanda, Professor of Law, Director, International Legal Studies Program University of Denver

Berjomin B Ferencz, g^oduo'e of H0.'vo'd law School and former United State* pro^ecu'or at the Nuremberg war crime* Tialj. wo* the director ol post war reV^u'ion program^ and helped to fo^h'on and irrplemenr the 'owv providing compen^at'On to sufvivor* of Nazi p«?r l*Xution Hii boofc Plane'hood vr'i^pn wfh Ken Kpye^ \' i u"od (or a mere campa^vona'e or^d hunone world O'der a rpcumng rheme m all of >">} booki D' Ferp^cz ret red os and .r.iernotionat lawyer n and adjunct pro- Fenof of tmernotional low at Pace University MB ha? wrftpn wide'y on problerni of wQf'd pecce List price $14.95 THE AMEWCAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAV.1 [Vol. i) . Globat Survival 1995] BOOH REVIEWS AND NOTES international law enforcement is quite thor- at strengthening courts for peace, would (1) ough, and his appraisal is realistic. To illustrate. enhance the International Court of Justice, (2) create an International Criminal Court, and (3) he urges state* to "look beyond traditional create a World Tribunal for Social Justice to thinking on legal normi" to is to include inter- address human rights and environmental prob- national law* reflecting "a greater willingness lems. The final four resolutions, to strengthen to share and be fair—to consider need before peace enforcement, would (1) create a UN Dis- greed" (p. 37). Noting "the absence of any im- armament Enforcement Agency, (2) create a partial forum with binding legal authority to UN Sanctions Agency, (3) create a UN Police resolve international conflicti [as] • fatal gap In Agency, and (4) create a UN Social Justice the system of peace through law." he consider* international court* endowed with greater au- Agency. thority "a vital component of a more peaceful Finally, Ferencx presents concrete proposals world order—or there will be no peaceful to generate the necessary political will for achieving the goal he has defined. Specifically, world" (p. 82). He call* for the establishment of a UN disarmament agency and for the fash- he call* Car changing existing perceptions and ioning of new International mechanism* and mobilizing public opinion for peace through peace education and vigorous participation in institutions to enforce international law. . the process by nongovernmental organizations Global Ferena next reconsider! the existing global management structure*, focusing specifically on (NCO«). The premise of Ferencz'* book is valid. The the challenge* of sovereignty, nonintervention Survival diagnosis is sound. To critic* who may accuse in domestic affair*, self-determination, self-de- Security through trig Security Council him of indulging in utopianism and broad gen- fense, and consensus voting in the UN organs. eralizations, Ferencz admits that "some of the by He studies the role of regionalism, focusing es- difficulties have been oversimplified. That is de- pecially on the European Community model, as Benjamin B. Ferencz liberate. There is no need to drown in a morass a necessary interim step toward globalism; but Inlroducl/on t>/ of details or to search for more problems to he concludes that the United Nations alone pro- rebut every proposed solution." This book, pre- Louis 8. Sorin vides the "ultimate protection of peace and hu- sents bold, innovative and thought-provoking man dignity." This leads him to a discussion of ideas. No doubt those already wary of the Secu- various existing proposals for amending, revis- Brill S.M. Kjoislad rity Council, which they fault as undemocratic, ing or replacing (he UN Charter, which aim at already overreaching, and unfair, will consider alleviating UN structural shortcomings. Since the' prospect of further expanding its powers he considers the Implementation of the various disquieting. Unquestionably, though, the book plans and proposals unfeasible at this juncture, will further the much-needed public discourse and since "today's crisis can not wait for tomor- 1 on this vital subject during the fiftieth anniver- Ntio Legal Foundations for C'-otat Survival Stcvnr/ row's Utopian dreams to come true." he exam- tfimigk tin Stcuritj Council By Benjamin B. sary of the United Nations. In Ferencz's words, ines instead the option of maxing the present Fertncz. New York, London, Rome: Oceina the "journey toward a new world of peace must Charter work, with "a little imagination and a Publication], Inc., 1994. Pp. xvi. 448. be started now" (p. 581). lot of determination" (p. 242). Index. J69.95. What Ferencz calls "a little Imagination" is VED P. NANDA In thil book. P ••jimin B. Frrenci. a duun- to opt for the best choice available: he proposes Univmity ofDmvrr guished la. ^r, law teacher ana pxace activist. that the UN Charter be nude more effective hu undertaken the herculean task of era/ling in maintaining international peace by "comtt a blueprint for a world order under the rule of interpretations." The key, as he see* it, is for law. In the preface, he terms it a how-to book, the Security Council to adopt twelve new resolu- which thowi "by specific legal formulations" tions to fulfill its ;xiiting obligation by strength- The paperback edition" of how to get from today's world, characterued ening its capacity. He apdy invokes the Charter by legal and structural shortcoming*—deficient mandate in Article 1, wh ich enunciates UN pur- New Legal Foundations lawi, inadequate judicial systems, and feeble en- poses, and other pertinent Charter provisions, for Global Survival: forcement mechanisms—to "a' more peaceful and he builds on the existing international Security Through the Security Count world." Ferencz present! a rare blend of idealis- norms for his proposed resolutions. The first by Benjamin B. Ferencz tic and pragmatic prescriptions to accomplish five resolutions, designed to strengthen the laws the task, focusing primarily on the full use of of world peace, calf for (1) settling all disputes can be,purchased for $15.00 the UN Charter in innovative wayi to mike the by peaceful means, (2) clearly defining aggres- system work. The book, building on hj culler sion, (5) prohibiting crimes against humanity, World Federalist Association works, is, in his words, "the culmination of ovrr (4> ending the arms race, and (5) enhancing 20 yean of intensive itudy" (p. vii). locialjustice. The next three resolutions, aimed 418 Seventh Street, SE Ferena provide! a historical context for his Washington, DC 20003 inquiry. In the first part of the book, he pairv- italungly details the weaknesses of ihe ex^iung 1-800-WFA-0123 world legal order. His analysis of existing inter- national lawi of peace, international courts and Also in Paperback at the UN Bookstore