The Politics and Procedures Concerning the Establishment of a Permanent International Criminal Court

Abstract

As part of a third generation of Holocaust Survivors, I had been made aware of Jewish genocide and other crimes against humanity from a very young age. What I did not understand as a child, and what I still have yet to comprehend, is how human beings could orchestrate and execute such atrocities without any notable signs of guilt or grief. I have recently come to realize, though, that I will never be able to completely answer this question. I simultaneously discovered that the existence of a more important question; how can these types of heinous crimes be prevented in the future? As a reaction to this question, I chose to move to Washington, DC during my winter 1997 SIP quarter to contribute to the establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC), which would try individuals for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The internship and research I carried out took place under the direction of Steven J. Gerber, esq., director of the Washington International Criminal Court Project, a project sponsored primarily by a UN reform agency called the World Federalist Association (WFA). The following written analysis represents a compilation of my observations and experiences relating to the ICC and to WFA, along with necessary logistical and background information on both.