Abstract
A transcript of an interview with Benjamin B. Ferencz by Leigh Swigart and David P. Briand. The interview took place on November 7, 2014 in Waltham, MA, USA, and the transcript, which is represented here, has been reviewed and edited from the original audio version. During the interview, Ferencz reminisces on Nazi war crimes research and evidence collection for U.S. Army; Einsatzgruppen trial; the Battle of Mogadishu/Black Hawk down in Somalia and resulting U.S. reluctance to intervene early in Balkan Wars; early stages of Yugoslavia tribunal negotiations at United Nations, and international community's failure to act to prevent violence in Rwanda. Ferencz also discusses campaign to have aggression recognized as a punishable crime under international criminal law; rebranding the crime of aggression as a crime against humanity; necessity of permanent mechanisms to adjudicate international criminal law; the problem of the glorification of war-making; Yugoslavia and Rwanda tribunals and International Criminal Court (ICC) as progress in the rule of law, and the role of the religious community to prevent acts of aggression.