Patrons and Supporters of The Court
The late Benjamin Ferencz was an investigator of Nazi war crimes after World War II and the chief prosecutor at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, one of the 12 subsequent Nuremberg Trials held by the US at Nuremberg, Germany. Later, he became the world‘s main advocate of international rule of law and for the establishment of an International Criminal Court. From 1985 to 1996, he was an adjunct professor of international law at Pace University. As a major driving force for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, he was invited to join the Prosecutor in delivering a plea to humanity as part of the closing statement in the first case at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
"No court in the world is holding Vladimir Putin responsible, the citizens of the world will,“ says the initiators and the late Ben Ferencz (102), Nuremberg prosecutor and honorary patron of THE COURT. Ferencz prosecuted the leaders of the Nazi -Einsatzguppen in Nuremberg in 1947 and joined chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in 2011 in delivering the closing statement before the first verdict of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Last month the US Congress voted to award him the Congressional Gold Medal, an honour bestowed on fewer than one hundred individuals in US history.
Oleksandra Vyacheslavivna Matviichuk is a human rights lawyer and civil society leader based in Kyiv, Ukraine. She is known for her work in promoting human rights and democracy in Ukraine, particularly through her advocacy for freedom of expression and media independence.
Matviichuk is the head of the Center for Civil Liberties, a Ukrainian NGO that advocates for the protection of human rights, including the rights of journalists and activists. She has been actively involved in various human rights initiatives in Ukraine, such as monitoring human rights violations during the Euromaidan protests in 2014 and documenting cases of torture and ill-treatment in Ukrainian prisons.
The Center for Civil Liberties has also been instrumental in advocating for reforms to Ukraine's criminal justice system, including the adoption of fair trial standards and the elimination of torture and other forms of ill-treatment in detention facilities.
In 2020, the Center for Civil Liberties was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to promote human rights and democracy in Ukraine. The organization was recognized for their work in defending the rights of marginalized groups, promoting transparency and accountability in government, and advocating for an end to the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.
In addition to her work with the Center for Civil Liberties, Matviichuk is a member of the Ukrainian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and serves on the board of the International Renaissance Foundation, a philanthropic organization that supports civil society initiatives in Ukraine.
Matviichuk has received numerous awards and recognitions for her human rights work, including the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize in 2018 and the Anna Politkovskaya Award in 2019.
