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Never Again: Forging A Convention for Crimes Against Humanity

Following World War II, an international tribunal convicted Nazi leaders of crimes against humanity—widespread, systematic atrocities committed against civilian populations, including the attempted extermination of European Jewry. Today, however, some seventy years later, the world still lacks a global treaty for the prevention and punishment of such crimes despite their ongoing perpetration.

The gripping new film, Never Again: Forging a Convention for Crimes Against Humanity, delivers stark testimony from survivors of these continuing crimes—as well as calls from international experts working to remedy this gap in international law and justice. Together they present a compelling case for the adoption of a new global treaty by the international community.

Produced by the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis under the direction of Professor Leila Sadat, Director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute, and by Spot Media Production Group, Never Again posits that peace is not possible without justice, and that justice will come from the perseverance of global actors dedicated to the possibility of a better world.

  • Leila Nadya Sadat, Director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute, Washington University School of Law
    Director
  • Aleta Harris, Spot Media Production Group
    Producer
  • Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
    Key Cast
    P.O.V.: The Reckoning (Skylight, dir. Pamela Yates 2009); The International Criminal Court (Bukera Pictures 2013)
  • Benjamin Ferencz, Former Nuremberg Prosecutor
    Key Cast
    P.O.V.: The Reckoning (Skylight, dir. Pamela Yates 2009); Dead Reckoning (Saybrook and THIRTEEN 2017); The International Criminal Court (Bukera Pictures, dirs. Marcus Vetter & Michele Gentile 2013); A Man Can Make a Difference (W-Film, dir. Ullabrit Horn, 2015); Watchers of the Sky (Propeller Films & The Unofficial Man, dir. Edet Belzberg, 2014)
  • Ben Fainer, Holocaust Survivor and St. Louis Native
    Key Cast
  • David Scheffer, for U.S. Ambassador for War Crimes Issues
    Key Cast
    P.O.V.: The Reckoning (Skylight, dir. Pamela Yates 2009); The Genocide Factor (dir. Robert J. Emery, 2000); Living with Landmines (short) (dir. John Severson, 2007)
  • Serge Brammertz, Prosecutor for the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
    Key Cast
    Hunting Mladic: International Justice at Work (dir. Patrick Remacle 2011); The Trial (Headland Pictures, John Murphy & Bob O’Reilly dirs. 2009)
  • Christine Van den Wyngaert, Judge at the International Criminal Court
    Key Cast
  • William A. Schabas, international criminal and human rights lawyer
    Key Cast
    No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka (Outsider Films, dir. Callum Macrae 2013)
  • M. Cherif Bassiouni, Chairman of the Drafting Committee, Rome Diplomatic Conference
    Key Cast
    Project Advisor, P.O.V.: The Reckoning (Skylight, dir. Pamela Yates 2009); Advisor, Women War & Peace: I Came To Testify (Fork Films, 2011); Saddam Hussein: le procès que vous ne verrez pas (Canal +, dirs. Michel Despratx & Barry Lando, 2004); Saddam Hussein: Histoire d’un procès annoncé (Arte France, KS Visions, dir. Jean-Pierre Krief, 2005)
  • Souleymane Guengueng, Chadian torture victim and human rights activist
    Key Cast
    The Dictator Hunter (dir. Klaartje Quirijns, 2007)
  • Jacqueline Moudeina, Chadian lawyer and human rights activist
    Key Cast
    Hissein Habré: A Chadian Tragedy (Icharus Films, dir. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun 2016); The Dictator Hunter (dir. Klaartje Quirijns, 2007)
  • Justice Richard Goldstone
    Key Cast
    International Justice Takes Root: A short film by Skylight Pictures honoring Justice Richard Goldstone as the recipient of the MacArthur Award for International Justice (Skylight, dir. Pamela Yates 2009); Rwanda: Cry Justice (dir. Jim Clancy, 1995)
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Genres:
    Historical Documentary, Advocacy
  • Runtime:
    46 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 19, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Belfast Respect Human Rights Festival
    Belfast
    Ireland
    August 5, 2018
    Best Feature Documentary
  • St. Louis International Film Festival
    St. Louis
    United States
    November 11, 2017
    Human Rights Spotlight
  • New Haven International Film Festival
    New Haven, Connecticut
    May 4, 2018
    New Haven Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 11th Annual International Humanitarian Law Dialogs
    Chautauqua, NY
    United States
    August 27, 2017
  • St. Louis Holocaust Museum
    St. Louis, MO
    January 21, 2018
  • Asia-Pacific Experts' Meeting on a Global Convention for Crimes Against Humanity
    Singapore
    December 13, 2016
  • International Women's Day at Washington University School of Law
    St. Louis
    March 6, 2017
  • International Law Weekend - New York
    New York, NY
    October 29, 2016
  • Buffett Institute at Northwestern University
    Chicago
    April 24, 2018
  • Annual International Law Documentary Film Series
    Cleveland, Ohio
    February 28, 2018
Distribution Information
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Director Biography - Leila Nadya Sadat, Director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute, Washington University School of Law

Leila Nadya Sadat has been serving as Special Adviser on Crimes Against Humanity to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda since 2012. The James Carr Professor of International Criminal Law and Director of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University School of Law, Sadat is a prolific scholar, author, and public figure in the fields of public international law, international criminal law, human rights and foreign affairs. She directs the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative, a ground-breaking project launched in 2008 to write the world’s first global treaty on crimes against humanity. She is also the incoming President of the International Law Association (American Branch), and is a member of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations. She has published more than 100 books and articles in leading journals, academic presses, and media outlets throughout the world. Sadat is known around the world for her commitment to human rights and global justice as well as her boundless energy and passion for international law and politics.

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Director Statement

Seventy years after the Holocaust, crimes against humanity remain a global scourge. In spite of the stunning progress over the past two decades, which witnessed the rise of a movement for international justice that culminated with the establishment of the International Criminal Court in 1998, the rise of universal jurisdiction cases like Pinochet, and the creation of new justice mechanisms, global society has not yet tackled these crimes in an effective manner, leaving tens of millions of victims dead, displaced, subject to sexual violence, tortured, or disappeared. In 2008, I launched the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative, based at Washington University School of Law, to try to make a difference by drafting a new global treaty on crimes against humanity. The Initiative, headed up by a distinguished Steering Committee, brought together more than 250 internationally recognized experts on international criminal justice to study the need for a comprehensive convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity. Through a series of experts’ meetings and consultations, we discovered a significant legal gap that leaves many atrocity crimes unpunished, and many victims of these crimes without access to any kind of justice. The Crimes Against Humanity Initiative drafted a proposed treaty, which now has been translated into eight languages, and sparked a global movement. As a result, a potential global convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity is now being debated in the United Nations International Law Commission and closely being followed by individuals and organizations around the world who are dedicated to addressing the persistent impunity for perpetrators of crimes against humanity.

The film "Never Again" tells the story through the voices of the victims, of how the thirst for justice spans time and space, and how a new global treaty could become a reality and bring some real accountability for the perpetrators of these crimes. It is a sad fact that it is easier to convict someone for killing one person than for killing thousands or even millions. This can improve—but only if individuals, States, civil society and the international community care enough to muster the political will needed to change the status quo.

I hope that the film will spark awareness, educate and inspire so that one day, the words "never again" will no longer have a hollow significance.