David M. Crane was the founding chief prosecutor of the international war crimes tribunal in West Africa called the United Nations Special Court for Sierra Leone. The world’s first hybrid international war crimes tribunal, the Special Court for Sierra Leone successfully prosecuted those who bore the greatest responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity, to include the first sitting African head of state in history, President Charles Taylor. He recently published a book on his experience there called Every Living Thing, the first time an international chief prosecutor has written about his daily experiences seeking justice for victims of atrocity.
Read more about Crane in OHIO Today
Dr. Crane served 30 years in the U.S. government prior to his selection by Kofi Annan to be the Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court, the first American since Justice Robert H. Jackson. A member of the Senior Executive Service of the United States, he retired from federal service as the Director of the Office of Intelligence Review in the Department of Defense where he oversaw on behalf of the Secretary of Defense and the Intelligence Committees of the U.S. Congress, 80% of the U.S. Intelligence Community organizations.
Since leaving West Africa, Dr. Crane has been a leading force in seeking justice for the people of Syria through the Syrian Accountability Project and assisting in the creation of the International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism for the Republic of Syria. The Syrian Accountability Project is part of the Global Accountability Network (which he founded) that also houses the Yemeni Accountability Project and the Venezuelan Accountability Project, as well as the Uyghur and Ukrainian Accountability Projects.
Dr. Crane is assisting the international community in the creation of a Special Tribunal for Ukraine on the Crime of Aggression. For these efforts Presided Vladimir Putin has placed sanctions on him and banned him from travel to the Russian Federation. He is one of 25 persons that Putin has personally sanctioned as an enemy of the state.
In 2014, Dr. Crane was the co-author of the world famous “Caesar Report” which captured for the first time direct evidence of crimes against humanity being committed by President Assad of Syria against his own citizens.
Dr. Crane is a veteran having served his country as an officer in the 101st Airborne Division during the Vietnam era and the 82d Airborne Division, as well as a Special Operations Officer in the United State Army. His highest awards include the master parachute badge and the Legion of Merit.
He holds various undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees from Ohio University, Syracuse University and Case Western University. At OHIO, he earned a History bachelor's degree in 1972 and an African studies master's degree in 1973. He was presented an Honorary Doctorate of Letters Degree at OHIO's Graduate Commencement in 2017. He earned a Juris Doctor from Syracuse University in 1980.
