Crimes Against Humanity.Serbian atrocities in Kosovo make the world look back to the first international war-crimes trials in Nuremberg, Germany This year, troops under the command of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic murdered more than 10,000 innocent ethnic-Albanian men, women, and children in the province of Kosovo, and forced nearly 1 million more to leave the country. Does war justify these acts? A United Nations-based international court says no. It issued an arrest warrant on May 28 for Milosevic and four subordinates, charging them with "crimes against humanity." Because of the court's action, Milosevic and his subordinates now can be arrested, tried, and punished if found guilty. This isn't the first time national leaders have been indicted INDICTED, practice. When a man is accused by a bill of indictment preferred by a grand jury, he is said to be indicted. for crimes of war. History's most famous war-crimes trial took place in Nuremberg, Germany, after World War II (1939-1945). Until then, punishment for war crimes was part of the winners' vengeance Vengeance Absalom kills half-brother, Amnon, for raping sister, Tamar. [O. T. against the losers. The Nuremberg trial sought to judge war crimes fairly according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the rule of law to make sure they would never be repeated. In World War II, Germany's Nazi leaders deliberately murdered some 6 million Jews Jews [from Judah], traditionally, descendants of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, whose tribe, with that of his half brother Benjamin, made up the kingdom of Judah; historically, members of the worldwide community of adherents to Judaism. and 5 million other European civilians. In February 1945, as victory over Nazi Germany neared, the three top leaders of the Allies met at Yalta in the Soviet Union. These three--U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin--agreed that Nazi leaders should be brought to trial for the evil they had done. The biggest war criminal, Nazi dictator dictator, originally a Roman magistrate appointed to rule the state in times of emergency; in modern usage, an absolutist or autocratic ruler who assumes extraconstitutional powers. From 501 B.C. until the abolition of the office in 44 B.C., Rome had 88 dictators. Adolf Hitler, slipped from their grasp. On April 30, while invading in·vade v. in·vad·ed, in·vad·ing, in·vades v.tr. 1. To enter by force in order to conquer or pillage. 2. Soviet armies pounded into Berlin, Hitler shot himself to death. But blaming everything on Hitler would not save his top subordinates. The court's charter ruled that "I was only following orders" would be no excuse. GUILTY OR INNOCENT? Tension mounted in Nuremberg on November 20, 1945, as the trial opened. Eight judges--two each from the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , Great Britain Great Britain, officially United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, constitutional monarchy (2005 est. pop. 60,441,000), 94,226 sq mi (244,044 sq km), on the British Isles, off W Europe. The country is often referred to simply as Britain. , the Soviet Union, and France--prepared to consider the guilt or innocence of 22 top Nazi leaders. Among them was Hermann Goering, who had been the head of Germany's mighty air force, the Luftwaffe. A New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times reporter described that first day: "The accused filed by threes into the court room ... The first seat in the first row of the defendants' box was occupied by Hermann Goering, the pompous, the exhibitionist, shorn of his medals and glitter as well as his excess poundage, at last in full possession of the unchallenged status as No. 1 Nazi ..." Prosecutors charged the German leaders with: (1) crimes against peace, such as attacking other countries in violation of treaties; (2) crimes against humanity, such as genocide genocide, in international law, the intentional and systematic destruction, wholly or in part, by a government of a national, racial, religious, or ethnic group. ; (3) crimes in the waging of war itself, such as killing or mistreating prisoners; and (4) conspiracy to commit any of these. JUST FAKING IT Faking It was a television programme originating on UK Channel 4 which has spawned various international remakes, including a US version which began in 2003 on the TLC network. As the trial got under way, lawyers for one defendant, Rudolf Hess Noun 1. Rudolf Hess - Nazi leader who in 1941 flew a solo flight to Scotland in an apparent attempt to negotiate a peace treaty with Great Britain but was imprisoned for life (1894-1987) Walther Richard Rudolf Hess, Hess , a onetime high German official, said he would be unable to stand trial because he had lost his memory. He had been examined by a prison psychologist, who believed he suffered from amnesia amnesia (ămnē`zhə), [Gr.,=forgetfulness], condition characterized by loss of memory for long or short intervals of time. It may be caused by injury, shock, senility, severe illness, or mental disease. . On November 30, the attorneys argued for two hours about whether amnesia would prevent Hess from testifying. Then Hess stood up and declared that he had only been pretending to have amnesia. He had fooled the psychologist, and he had even fooled his own lawyers. For more than three months, prosecutors laid out their case against the defendants, citing abundant evidence connecting them with Nazi crimes. Then, one by one, the defendants took the stand. As the Times reported, Goering was confronted with "testimony of a witness that it took five minutes longer to kill women because they were shorn before they were murdered so their could be used to stuff mattresses. Goering angrily shouted that he had dealt with larger economic issues and had not been concerned with `hair for mattresses....'" The Nazi officials argued that they were innocent because only nations, not individuals, could be guilty of war crimes. Prosecutors challenged that argument. HEARING THE VERDICTS Finally, on October 1, 1946, the defendants filed into court to hear the judges read their individual verdicts on the four charges. As the Times reported, Goering, Hess, and 17 others were found guilty: "Factually, coolly, each of the judges in turn intoned the findings ... No flicker of reaction crossed Goering's sober countenance as pointed references to his participation in the war conspiracy and war crimes underlined his scant chance of escaping with a light sentence." But, to prosecutors' dismay, the judges also set three defendants free. However despicable these defendants' roles in the Nazi regime, the court decided, the evidence wasn't strong enough to connect them personally to war crimes. In so doing, the Nuremberg court put the weighing of evidence ahead of the passions of war. THE LEGACY OF NUREMBERG The Times front page of October 2, 1946, announced the trial's final results (page 21). But only ten of the 12 sentenced to hang actually met that fate. Martin Bormann, a top Hitler deputy, had been tried in his absence in case he turned up alive. He never did. And the wily Goering cheated the hangman HANGMAN. The name usually given to a man employed by the sheriff to put a man to death, according to law, in pursuance of a judgment of a competent court, and lawful warrant. The same as executioner. (q.v.) . Hours before his scheduled execution, he killed himself by swallowing cyanide cyanide (sī`ənīd'), chemical compound containing the cyano group, -CN. Cyanides are salts or esters of hydrogen cyanide (hydrocyanic acid, HCN) formed by replacing the hydrogen with a metal (e.g., sodium or potassium) or a radical (e.g. . Seven other defendants received prison sentences. And that same year, war-crimes trials of Japanese leaders began in Tokyo, leading to more convictions. In Nuremberg, meanwhile, trials of lower-level Nazis went on until 1949. The Nuremberg trial changed forever the world's moral view of war. "By its very occurrence in the past," writes historian Joseph Persico, "Nuremberg increases the prospects for effective war-crimes trials in our time." The trial stands as a warning that individuals in war may be held accountable not only to their superiors, but to justice itself. ON FURTHER THOUGHT * In what ways were the Nazis' actions worse than those of a typical country at war? * Do you think it was fair to try Nazi leaders--and hang some of them--after their country lost World War II? |
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