Nobel Winner and My Lai Prosecutor to Speak at Ohio University Baker Peace Conference

Contact: Jess Goode at 740-593-1886 or goode@ohio.edu

Editors: A photo of Betty Williams is available for download at www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/williams_betty.jpg

ATHENS, Ohio (February 6, 2001) -- A Nobel prize-winning Northern Ireland peace activist and the My Lai Massacre prosecutor will talk about strengthening peace by confronting the consequences of war crimes during the Baker Peace Conference at Ohio University this Friday and Saturday.

Nobel prize winner Betty Williams will speak at 8:30 p.m. in the Ohio University Inn Ball Room. My Lai prosecutor William Eckhardt will speak at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday at the same location.

"At the close of a century so dominated by war and the destruction it brings, we must ask ourselves: can warring parties have lasting peace if they don't confront the awful history of war crimes?" said Ohio University President Robert Glidden. "That is the question that the Baker Peace Conference seeks to raise this weekend as it considers the history, causes and prosecution of war crimes."

"It is becoming ever more clear that successful peace efforts include some way to deal with war crimes, whether through trials, truth and reconciliation commissions or a hybrid," said event organizer Ohio University Political Science Professor and Contemporary History Institute Interim Director Harold Molineu. "During this conference we will seek to understand the link between peace and bringing justice to the victims of war crimes."

In 1976, Betty Williams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work against sectarian violence in her native Northern Ireland. Williams was spurred to action when violence took the lives of two local children in the 1970s. Williams, along with the children's aunt, Betty Maguire, founded the Community of Peace People, an organization that continues to advocate for peace in Northern Ireland.

William Eckhardt successfully prosecuted Lt. William Calley for directing American soldiers to kill more than 300 innocent Vietnamese villagers in what is now known as the My Lai Massacre. Eckhardt is presently a Clinical Professor of Law and the Director of Urban Affairs Outreach at the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law.

Note for planning: The Ohio University Inn is located at: 331 Richland Avenue, Athens, Ohio 45701.