He also criticized the Swiss banks in connection with the dormant accounts scandal . In 1998 , he testified before Senator Alfonse D'Amato 's hearing on the assets of Holocaust victims by the US Senate Banking Committee , against the Swiss banks and in support of the claims of the World Jewish Congress . His book '' The Swiss , the Gold and the Dead : How Swiss Bankers Helped Finance the Nazi War Machine '' was published in America in 1998 . A prize foundation fund in the name of Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi was established in Geneva in 1989 , and Nelson Mandela was selected the first recipient of the fund 's Gaddafi International Human Rights Prize . Some newspaper accounts have identified Ziegler as one of the panel members who administered the fund in 1989 . He has denied launching the award , however , and has said that he was merely " consulted . " Although Libya funded the award , its winners were to be chosen by the Swiss foundation , and Ziegler said that " ironclad guarantees " had been established to ensure that " Tripoli 's influence would not be felt . " Gaddafi Prize officials announced thirteen disparate winners in 2002 , including Ziegler and the French philosopher and convicted Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy . '' Agence France-Press '' noted the irony of Ziegler , who had worked for Holocaust reparations in Switzerland , sharing the award with Garaudy . Ziegler turned down the prize , saying that he " could not accept an award or distinction from any country because of my responsibilities at the United Nations . " Ziegler 's alleged associations with the Gaddafi Prize has been the subject of criticism . Alan Johnson , writing for '' The Guardian '' online in 2008 , criticized Ziegler for " launching " the prize four months after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 ( which many believe to have been the work of Libyan agents ) . Joshua Muravchik from the American Enterprise Institute also criticized his involvement with the award in a 2006 article for the '' Weekly Standard ''
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Jean Ziegler