2005 Architects of Peace Award Citation for Marla Ruzicka

Comments delivered by Ethics Center Executive Director Kirk O. Hanson at the Award Ceremony June 25, 2005.

Marla Ruzicka, a 29 year old American, was killed in a roadside bomb blast in Baghdad earlier this year. Marla - and her work -- inspire us for so many reasons - for her commitment to the innocent victims of war, for her search for positive ways to engage in peace making, for her cheerfulness -- and for her persistence.

Marla grew up in sunny California and attended schools here. After attending Long Island University's Friends World program, she sought ways to challenge the conventional wisdom that held countries in conflict with one another. She traveled to Cuba, to Palestine, to East and South Africa. She worked for Global Exchange, a San Francisco based human rights organization known for its confrontational approach. She traveled to Afghanistan immediately after the fall of the Taliban and there found her calling in a focus on the plight of the innocent victims of war.

In Afghanistan she successfully worked with military commanders who often had funds for emergency assistance to victims. After the start of the war in Iraq, she recruited 150 volunteers who went to hospitals and into towns to produce the first comprehensive list of people killed or injured in Iraq. Her organization Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) continues her work.

Working with Sen. Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, she got language into an appropriations bill that eventually provided $7.5 million for aid to victims in Afghanistan, and $10 million for Iraq to rebuild homes and schools, provide medical assistance and make loans. More appropriations are in the works. Leahy said before her death that "Marla is one of those unique people who combines unlimited energy, fearlessness, intellect, a bit of craziness and a determination to help people who have suffered terrible losses half a world away."

Marla turned her anguish over war into an overpowering impetus for alleviating the suffering of the innocent victims of war. She learned to work productively with the military and to lobby officials like Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld - respectfully but very persistently. She became a very effective advocate for the victims of war - and therefore for peace. We salute her character, her work, and her memory.

Honoring Marla takes nothing away from acknowledging the pain - and sacrifice - of over 1600 Americans and their families -- those military sons and daughters have lost their lives in Iraq. War touches all - those who fight at the direction of their governments, the civilians who have died in untold numbers, and individuals like Marla who have worked so tirelessly to bring humanity and peace in the midst of conflict.