Fred Grünfeld – författare

This volume is about the failure to prevent genocide in Rwanda in 1994. In particular, the research focuses on why the early warnings of an emerging genocide were not translated into early preventative action. The warnings were well documented by the most authoritative source, the Canadian U.N. peace-keeping commander General Romeo Dallaire and sent to the leading political civil servants in New York. The communications and the decisionmaking are scrutinized, i.e., who received what messages at what time, to whom the messages were forwarded and which (non-) decisions were taken in response to the alarming reports of weapon deliveries and atrocities. This book makes clear that this genocide could have been prevented. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.

International crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes as well as other gross human rights violations are manifestations of collective violence which endanger international peace and security. and warrant our full attention. It however takes a multi- and interdisciplinary approach to understand the true nature and causes of this type of criminality. The aim of this book is to take such an approach and to provide university students, scholars, professionals and practitioners within the field with the knowledge they need. The legal background and particularities of international crimes; the social context in which these crimes are committed as well as the perpetrators and bystanders thereof are studied. Within the book many case studies are presented as illustrations.

The book looks at the role of states and international organisations in their attempts to prevent the genocide in Darfur (2003-2005); from early warning to limited action in the field of humanitarian assistance, mediation, sanctions and peace-keeping. The book uses several theories to explain how decision-making led to the (absence) of international responses.

Professor Theo van Boven has made his mark in the field of human rights by writing a vast number of scholarly articles, reports, studies, congress papers and the like, covering many topics. Most of his work has been published in law journals, textbooks, Festschrifts and other sources. Since not all of these publications are easily accessible, it is the purpose of this anthology to bring together a selection of his writings from 1966 to 1998. The editors have focused on those subjects that played a major part during Theo van Boven's career and that are, in their view, the most interesting to the reader. That is why this volume contains papers on such issues as the United Nations and its role as regards human rights, racial discrimination, the right to rehabilitation, the international criminal tribunals, the role of NGOs and many more. The papers have been arranged in different groups under general headings. Within each group, articles dealing with the same subject have been put in chronological order. A detailed bibliography, covering most of Theo van Boven's publications, is included in this book as an annex. All through his work Theo van Boven displays his sound theoretical background as well as his enormous practical experience. This combination makes his writings so attractive and compelling to read.

Those involved in human rights, whether on a theoretical or a practical level, sometimes cannot help feeling that they are dancing on a tightrope stretched between two high trees above a deep ravine. On one side of the ravine, a jungle stretches out as far as the eye can see; a jungle which is ruled by the laws of the fittest; laws that have no regard for justice and vulnerability. On the other side of the ravine, justice has, in the course of time, changed the laws of the jungle into laws which include and protect vulnerable individuals in society. In this second volume in celebration of Theo van Boven's 65th birthday, a number of Theo's friends try to come to grips with the tension between the `jungle of exclusion' and the `ideal of inclusion', in the full knowledge that Theo has preceded them in a great deal of pioneering work. The volume opens with an interview with Theo van Boven. Topics covered in the present volume include (inter alia): pre-20th century bills or rights, Mandelstam as forgotten pioneer of human rights, racial and gender discrimination, the rights of the child and child abuse, the right to reparation, the role of bystanders, globalization of economic power, economic and social rights and the European Union, tobacco use as a human rights issue, illegally obtained evidence, human rights policies, cultural diversity, human rights funding, the African human rights system, follow-up action to state reporting, character of the views of the Human Rights Committee, the Human Rights Committee and gender mainstreaming, the UN Commission on Human Rights, and the International Criminal Court.