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All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunals
The behind-the-scenes story of how today's war crimes tribunals came to be
Within days of Madeleine Albright's confirmation as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 1993, she instructed David Scheffer to spearhead the historic mission to create a war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. As senior adviser to Albright and then as President Clinton's ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, Scheffer was at the forefront of the efforts that led to criminal tribunals for the Balkans, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Cambodia, and that resulted in the creation of the permanent International Criminal Court. All the Missing Souls is Scheffer's gripping insider's account of the international gamble to prosecute those responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and to redress some of the bloodiest human rights atrocities in our time.
Scheffer reveals the truth behind Washington's failures during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, the anemic hunt for notorious war criminals, how American exceptionalism undercut his diplomacy, and the perilous quests for accountability in Kosovo and Cambodia. He takes readers from the killing fields of Sierra Leone to the political back rooms of the U.N. Security Council, providing candid portraits of major figures such as Madeleine Albright, Anthony Lake, Richard Goldstone, Louise Arbour, Samuel Sandy Berger, Richard Holbrooke, and Wesley Clark, among others.
A stirring personal account of an important historical chapter, All the Missing Souls provides new insights into the continuing struggle for international justice.
Within days of Madeleine Albright's confirmation as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 1993, she instructed David Scheffer to spearhead the historic mission to create a war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. As senior adviser to Albright and then as President Clinton's ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, Scheffer was at the forefront of the efforts that led to criminal tribunals for the Balkans, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Cambodia, and that resulted in the creation of the permanent International Criminal Court. All the Missing Souls is Scheffer's gripping insider's account of the international gamble to prosecute those responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and to redress some of the bloodiest human rights atrocities in our time.
Scheffer reveals the truth behind Washington's failures during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, the anemic hunt for notorious war criminals, how American exceptionalism undercut his diplomacy, and the perilous quests for accountability in Kosovo and Cambodia. He takes readers from the killing fields of Sierra Leone to the political back rooms of the U.N. Security Council, providing candid portraits of major figures such as Madeleine Albright, Anthony Lake, Richard Goldstone, Louise Arbour, Samuel Sandy Berger, Richard Holbrooke, and Wesley Clark, among others.
A stirring personal account of an important historical chapter, All the Missing Souls provides new insights into the continuing struggle for international justice.
552 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
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August 26, 2015
All The Missing Souls by David Scheffer, offers itself as a personal history of the war crimes tribunals. Though it would be an invaluable contribution to the literature of international criminal justice if it were that alone, the work is much more, augmented by other discernible narratives that enrich the effort.
David Scheffer was Counsel to Madeleine Albright at the UN, and during her tenure as Secretary of State, served as the first United States War Crimes Ambassador. For those dynamic and exhaustingly long years, Scheffer played a pivotal role in the origination and development of each war crime tribunal and special court–Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Cambodia – and in the capstone achievement of the creation of the International Criminal Court.
As coordinator, negotiator and drafter, and as an assiduous chronicler, Scheffer provides an insider’s record of the establishment of these institutions, marking the epochal advances in the quest for justice for victims of radical evil.
The work also furnishes an insightful study of the fundamental conflict and tension posed by the imperatives of politics and its challenge to the development of international criminal law and its implementation. An even more granulated portrait is revealed of the internecine, sometimes personal, bureaucratic and administrative intransigence of the various stakeholders engaged in this complex process. Scheffer depicts the institutional biases of his counterparts at the State Department, The Department of Defense, intelligence agencies, Congress, and adjunct players serving the administration, each aggressively asserting their influence and power to advance their parochial interests. All The Missing Souls describes the diplomatic machinations of states reluctant to surrender sovereignty to any tribunal; and a UN, perversely possessive of its power, plagued by ego-driven leaders and bureaucrats threatening to derail creation of an infrastructure for justice.
Thus, while ostensibly the book is oriented towards the legal challenges encountered, it is an equally compelling read for students of political science interested in policy formation, the decision making process, and the realities of diplomacy in practice. Scheffer excels in his patient thorough explanation of how the complex conflicts over political and legal issues were resolved through persistent, creative, and intelligent efforts at compromise.
An additional skein woven into the narrative, providing context for those unfamiliar with the confusing typology and lexicon, norms and definitional vocabulary of the subject matter of international criminal justice is a brief enlightening excursus, where Scheffer lucidly defines the substance of the crimes included within the subject matter jurisdiction of the tribunals and ICC, distinguishing genocide from crimes against humanity, atrocity law and violations of the laws of war; and explaining the importance of the correct characterization of these crimes for purposes of initial investigation, jurisdiction and prosecution.
Perhaps the most compelling motivation for reading All The Missing Souls is its rendition of an extraordinary personal odyssey arising from the experience of a unique ambassadorship. Scheffer, at times self-critical, becomes an anguished and gifted witness of the dark of side of humanity, haunted and impelled to persist indefatigably in a conscience-driven quest to strip impunity from perpetrators of radical evil. As such, All The Missing Souls earns a place among works included in the canon of “witness literature.”
Few diplomats are wrenched from the urbane comforts of their conference rooms to stand in a fetid makeshift hospital tent witnessing:
…the victims of a machete attack… I could scarcely understand
the carnage. I saw one child whose brain had just been stuffed back
into his head by the doctor, without anesthetic. Another child was told
that his leg would be amputated. His screams persisted throughout my
visit and echoed within me for days. A beautiful teenage girl was lying motionless, forever paralyzed by a gunshot wound. An old woman was
barely intact from machete slashes. (p.116)
As Scheffer concludes this passage:
I had a recurring nightmare for years after Mudende. I would arrive at
a massacre scene with the dead blanketing the killing field. But there
always was a solitary tent, and when I entered it there was one hideously wounded survivor who pleaded for help. I would run from the tent screaming
for a doctor. The doctor never arrived and death overtook the victim. (p.116)
This traumatic experience, with images of horror reminiscent of Goya, olfactory assaults inflicted while wading ankle deep in the muck of freshly discovered mass graves, and the tactile reality of comforting an injured victim with a touch, inspires in Scheffer a resoluteness and sense of purpose that sustains him for more than a decade in grappling with a myriad of antagonists in attaining justice for his constituency of victims.
The book skillfully blends the different narrative threads by structuring the core chapters with an emphasis on the paramount issue or problem encountered in the particular tribunal, accompanied by the diplomatic and political efforts engaged in by Scheffer and others to surmount the obstacles. Thus the sections dealing with the establishment of the Rwanda Tribunal discuss the difficulties to reach agreement among stakeholders on the threshold issue that genocide occurred, and that a tribunal was needed as a vehicle for accountability.
Disagreements clouded every step of the way: the selection of the prosecutor becomes a protracted and fraught process, as is the source of the judges for the tribunal—the Rwandan judiciary and legal profession having been nearly decimated by the genocide. A rancorous conflict ensues over whether the death penalty is available, with Rwandans zealously advocating their right to impose it, and the UN and many nation states adamantly objecting. Other issues arise: the period of time to be covered, the crimes to be prosecuted by the Tribunal, and those relegated to Rwandan courts. Marathon negotiations were necessary to resolve each thorny issue. Scheffer’s leadership as coordinator and negotiator and his unrelenting efforts contribute to nursing the effort to fruition.
Yugoslavia was different. The Tribunal was established during a period of continuing hostilities. The Serbian leaders with whom diplomats were attempting to negotiate a cessation of the military conflict were among the top prospects to be prosecuted. Thus, political issues of amnesty and impunity were inescapably embedded in balancing the essential objective of ending the slaughter and preventing a further wave of atrocity crimes, and the objective of holding the perpetrators accountable for their crimes. The appreciation of the significance of that issue is enhanced with reference to creation of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, where political expediency favoring amnesty prevailed over the objective of accountability, engendering regrettable consequences. Other seemingly routine issues, such as obtaining intelligence necessary to prepare arrest warrants, gaining access to the killing fields, and ultimately arresting the suspects, embattle Scheffer in political and bureaucratic skirmishes with allies and even other agencies of the US government.
While each of the individual tribunals and special courts represent important milestones paving the road towards the attainment of justice for victims of atrocity crimes, it is the sections of All The Missing Souls narrating the tortuous struggle to negotiate, draft and execute the Rome Statute, establishing the International Criminal Court, that is central to the work. The salient theme is the story of American participation and its insistence upon the prerogatives of American “exceptionalism,” with the US encouraging other nations to surrender sovereignty and submit to the Court’s jurisdiction, while remaining hesitant itself and only signing at the last moment. Unfortunately promptly thereafter, upon accession of the Bush administration, the US compromised its status by letter- reservation, nullifying its role as a participant and reducing it to that of an observer.
To the extent that Scheffer evaluates the effectiveness of the process he participated in, it is to make the nuanced and undeniable claim that the existence and functioning of such international tribunals with successful prosecutions to their credit place potential perpetrators on notice, signaling that impunity has been rejected as a defense to atrocity crimes and that state sovereignty is no longer a shield to hide behind. These are achievements of magnitude and worthy of praise for Scheffer and others allied in this great undertaking for within a decade, a revolution in the pursuit of justice was accomplished.
All The Missing Souls merits renewed consideration and should be recognized as an iconic work, taking its place among the compendium of superb works in law, diplomacy and political science. It illuminates, informs, even inspires, and teaches splendidly in each area. The work should also be recognized for the personal achievements of its author: for his dedicated, unceasing efforts as a passionately committed man of conscience.
Students and professionals interested in the subject matter will encounter an engrossing, riveting, surprisingly dramatic story of truly seminal events that happened on Ambassador Scheffer’s watch.
Bernard M. Brodsky
David Scheffer was Counsel to Madeleine Albright at the UN, and during her tenure as Secretary of State, served as the first United States War Crimes Ambassador. For those dynamic and exhaustingly long years, Scheffer played a pivotal role in the origination and development of each war crime tribunal and special court–Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Cambodia – and in the capstone achievement of the creation of the International Criminal Court.
As coordinator, negotiator and drafter, and as an assiduous chronicler, Scheffer provides an insider’s record of the establishment of these institutions, marking the epochal advances in the quest for justice for victims of radical evil.
The work also furnishes an insightful study of the fundamental conflict and tension posed by the imperatives of politics and its challenge to the development of international criminal law and its implementation. An even more granulated portrait is revealed of the internecine, sometimes personal, bureaucratic and administrative intransigence of the various stakeholders engaged in this complex process. Scheffer depicts the institutional biases of his counterparts at the State Department, The Department of Defense, intelligence agencies, Congress, and adjunct players serving the administration, each aggressively asserting their influence and power to advance their parochial interests. All The Missing Souls describes the diplomatic machinations of states reluctant to surrender sovereignty to any tribunal; and a UN, perversely possessive of its power, plagued by ego-driven leaders and bureaucrats threatening to derail creation of an infrastructure for justice.
Thus, while ostensibly the book is oriented towards the legal challenges encountered, it is an equally compelling read for students of political science interested in policy formation, the decision making process, and the realities of diplomacy in practice. Scheffer excels in his patient thorough explanation of how the complex conflicts over political and legal issues were resolved through persistent, creative, and intelligent efforts at compromise.
An additional skein woven into the narrative, providing context for those unfamiliar with the confusing typology and lexicon, norms and definitional vocabulary of the subject matter of international criminal justice is a brief enlightening excursus, where Scheffer lucidly defines the substance of the crimes included within the subject matter jurisdiction of the tribunals and ICC, distinguishing genocide from crimes against humanity, atrocity law and violations of the laws of war; and explaining the importance of the correct characterization of these crimes for purposes of initial investigation, jurisdiction and prosecution.
Perhaps the most compelling motivation for reading All The Missing Souls is its rendition of an extraordinary personal odyssey arising from the experience of a unique ambassadorship. Scheffer, at times self-critical, becomes an anguished and gifted witness of the dark of side of humanity, haunted and impelled to persist indefatigably in a conscience-driven quest to strip impunity from perpetrators of radical evil. As such, All The Missing Souls earns a place among works included in the canon of “witness literature.”
Few diplomats are wrenched from the urbane comforts of their conference rooms to stand in a fetid makeshift hospital tent witnessing:
…the victims of a machete attack… I could scarcely understand
the carnage. I saw one child whose brain had just been stuffed back
into his head by the doctor, without anesthetic. Another child was told
that his leg would be amputated. His screams persisted throughout my
visit and echoed within me for days. A beautiful teenage girl was lying motionless, forever paralyzed by a gunshot wound. An old woman was
barely intact from machete slashes. (p.116)
As Scheffer concludes this passage:
I had a recurring nightmare for years after Mudende. I would arrive at
a massacre scene with the dead blanketing the killing field. But there
always was a solitary tent, and when I entered it there was one hideously wounded survivor who pleaded for help. I would run from the tent screaming
for a doctor. The doctor never arrived and death overtook the victim. (p.116)
This traumatic experience, with images of horror reminiscent of Goya, olfactory assaults inflicted while wading ankle deep in the muck of freshly discovered mass graves, and the tactile reality of comforting an injured victim with a touch, inspires in Scheffer a resoluteness and sense of purpose that sustains him for more than a decade in grappling with a myriad of antagonists in attaining justice for his constituency of victims.
The book skillfully blends the different narrative threads by structuring the core chapters with an emphasis on the paramount issue or problem encountered in the particular tribunal, accompanied by the diplomatic and political efforts engaged in by Scheffer and others to surmount the obstacles. Thus the sections dealing with the establishment of the Rwanda Tribunal discuss the difficulties to reach agreement among stakeholders on the threshold issue that genocide occurred, and that a tribunal was needed as a vehicle for accountability.
Disagreements clouded every step of the way: the selection of the prosecutor becomes a protracted and fraught process, as is the source of the judges for the tribunal—the Rwandan judiciary and legal profession having been nearly decimated by the genocide. A rancorous conflict ensues over whether the death penalty is available, with Rwandans zealously advocating their right to impose it, and the UN and many nation states adamantly objecting. Other issues arise: the period of time to be covered, the crimes to be prosecuted by the Tribunal, and those relegated to Rwandan courts. Marathon negotiations were necessary to resolve each thorny issue. Scheffer’s leadership as coordinator and negotiator and his unrelenting efforts contribute to nursing the effort to fruition.
Yugoslavia was different. The Tribunal was established during a period of continuing hostilities. The Serbian leaders with whom diplomats were attempting to negotiate a cessation of the military conflict were among the top prospects to be prosecuted. Thus, political issues of amnesty and impunity were inescapably embedded in balancing the essential objective of ending the slaughter and preventing a further wave of atrocity crimes, and the objective of holding the perpetrators accountable for their crimes. The appreciation of the significance of that issue is enhanced with reference to creation of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, where political expediency favoring amnesty prevailed over the objective of accountability, engendering regrettable consequences. Other seemingly routine issues, such as obtaining intelligence necessary to prepare arrest warrants, gaining access to the killing fields, and ultimately arresting the suspects, embattle Scheffer in political and bureaucratic skirmishes with allies and even other agencies of the US government.
While each of the individual tribunals and special courts represent important milestones paving the road towards the attainment of justice for victims of atrocity crimes, it is the sections of All The Missing Souls narrating the tortuous struggle to negotiate, draft and execute the Rome Statute, establishing the International Criminal Court, that is central to the work. The salient theme is the story of American participation and its insistence upon the prerogatives of American “exceptionalism,” with the US encouraging other nations to surrender sovereignty and submit to the Court’s jurisdiction, while remaining hesitant itself and only signing at the last moment. Unfortunately promptly thereafter, upon accession of the Bush administration, the US compromised its status by letter- reservation, nullifying its role as a participant and reducing it to that of an observer.
To the extent that Scheffer evaluates the effectiveness of the process he participated in, it is to make the nuanced and undeniable claim that the existence and functioning of such international tribunals with successful prosecutions to their credit place potential perpetrators on notice, signaling that impunity has been rejected as a defense to atrocity crimes and that state sovereignty is no longer a shield to hide behind. These are achievements of magnitude and worthy of praise for Scheffer and others allied in this great undertaking for within a decade, a revolution in the pursuit of justice was accomplished.
All The Missing Souls merits renewed consideration and should be recognized as an iconic work, taking its place among the compendium of superb works in law, diplomacy and political science. It illuminates, informs, even inspires, and teaches splendidly in each area. The work should also be recognized for the personal achievements of its author: for his dedicated, unceasing efforts as a passionately committed man of conscience.
Students and professionals interested in the subject matter will encounter an engrossing, riveting, surprisingly dramatic story of truly seminal events that happened on Ambassador Scheffer’s watch.
Bernard M. Brodsky
January 1, 2021
DNF. I had a law professor once who had previously been DOS OLA and all of his lectures were I went to this meeting at the UN once and talked to some important people and then the treaty was signed just the way I thought it should be. And that is exactly this book. It is ALL about the meetings with important people and the decisions the Scheffer (and Albright) made. It isn't really about war crimes or atrocities (admittedly I gave up 100 pages in). It reeks of white male hubris. He described a woman's eyes as "sad and penetrating" when discussing a meeting they had about creating a war crimes tribunal. He talks a million times more about the other "important" diplomats and scholars he met with than any of the victims themselves. The victims may be the heart of a war crimes tribunal, but they were definitely not the heart of this book.
Only recommend if you're interested in U.S. diplomacy, not if you're actually interested in war crimes tribunals.
Only recommend if you're interested in U.S. diplomacy, not if you're actually interested in war crimes tribunals.
October 15, 2022
A superb book on international law and war crimes tribunals. The author has a unique expertise, and emphasises the importance of communication in diplomacy.
April 20, 2025
# 2025 Reading Challenge # Read a book from your back stock (a book you’ve had on your self or in your to-read queue for 5 years or more)
June 5, 2012
This was completely fascinating - the look into the politics behind the setting up of the tribunals, the legal back and forth regarding authority and legal structure, and the sheer horror of what unfolded in the 1990s in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone. Human and wonky, this is a really good read. If depressing given the inaction of governments and their self-interest.
February 2, 2014
A "must read" for anyone interested in international efforts to hold those guilty of atrocity crimes accountable. Scheffer has been in the trenches in the most seminal times for this area of the law. His perspective is genuine, and his ability to communicate it readable (in spite of the denseness of the material).
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews