Juan E. Méndez, lauded human rights and legal scholar, delivers CEU's 2010 Nowicki Lecture

Juan Méndez, an advisor on crime prevention to the International Criminal Court, addressed CEU students, faculty, staff, and visitors in this year's 6th annual Marek Nowicki memorial lecture.

Méndez' talk -- "Transitional Justice, Peace and Prevention" -- offered an overview of the legal, political, and moral demands of both adjudicating and preventing human rights atrocities. Drawing on past experience as the UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide and numerous other posts, Méndez said preventing genocide cannot happen through justice alone.

"Prevention require coordinated, simultaneous and dynamic action in four different areas: protection, relief, accountability, and peace talks. None of these actions can take primacy over the others, and so justice alone will be insufficient to prevent crimes," he told the audience.

Learn more about past Nowicki lecturers and Méndez' career at http://legal.ceu.hu/Nowicki_Lecture.

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Education

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• juan
• mendez
• transitional
• justice
• genocide
• prevention
• rwanda
• yugoslavia
• united
• nations
• central
• european
• university

[Mike10four]

When viewing our unalienable Rights from the vantage point of science, it becomes clear they apply to all Life, from bacteria to humans, and Social systems, including Charles Darwin’s research; as in some Grand Unification principle for all Living-systems (see my channel video). The Laws of Nature trumps mortals in power; a new understanding of these Rights may help make this world a better place to live.