Be sure to have covered the following areas Study Guide for Test 2 2014 I The Nuremberg Trials i Charges a The charges defenses and legal precedents of the Nuremberg Trials 1 War crimes civilians couldn t be charged a Crimes committed by the military b c Against military or civilians of a hostile country In a time of war 2 Crimes against humanity civilians can be charged a Inhumane acts committed against the civilian population i Murder extermination enslavement b Crimes must be planned and systematic c Can occur outside of a war time situation ii Defenses 1 Goering Defense a Merely a show trial with no jurisdiction b victor s justice c Goering and fellow Germans could only be tried under German law Jackson s Response d i if these men are the first war leaders of a defeated nation to be prosecuted in the name of the law they are also the first to be given a chance to plead for their live in the name of the law 2 Ex Post Facto Defense a Charges were not crimes under international law at the time they happened b Retroactive prosecution i Shouldn t be charged with something that was not a crime at the time it occurred c Jackson s Response i there is no injustice in punishing defendants for something they knew was wrong even if the action was not specifically covered by international law a The German state committed these crimes not individuals b Jackson s Response i Individuals commit atrocities therefore individuals must be prosecuted ii Command control theory leaders are responsible for 3 The State Crime Defense what their subordinates do 4 Superior Orders Defense a Merely following orders i Defense of lower level officers that carried out atrocities at the command of superior officers b Jackson s Response i this is not a defense lower level soldiers are to be prosecuted for offenses they commit whether or not they have been given orders ii There is an obligation to disobey order when they involve committing a human rights violation iii Legal precedents 1 Individuals at the highest level of government can be prosecuted for human rights violations by an international tribunal 2 Following orders is no longer a defense 3 Both civilians and military leaders can be prosecuted 4 Command control theory is now an established part of international law b The definition of genocide i The attempt intent to eliminate an entire people in whole or in part 1 Based on race religion nationality or ethnicity a four grounds of genocide ii A crime against an entire people c The requirements of the UN Convention Against Genocide i Prosecute genocide ii Prevent genocide 1 140 countries have currently ratified 1 More controversial 2 Countries more reluctant to get involved when genocide breaks out a Hesitant to call such incidences genocide but rather mass killings i Ex Rwanda described as genocide like by Clinton administration word smithing d The roles of Raphael Lemkin and William Proxmire in combating genocide 3 Not just after the fact i Raphael Lemkin 1 Polish lawyer before WWII that created the word genocide a Goal to make genocide a crime under international law i Tried to get treaty recognized by UN 2 Lost his entire family to the Holocaust a Tried to get genocide put in for the Nuremberg Trials ii William Proxmire i Unsuccessful 1 Obsessed with the idea of genocide like Lemkin 2 Made a speech every day for 19 years over 3200 on why the US should ratify Convention Against Genocide to Congress a Determined that the US ratify i Eventually signed and ratified in US in 1986 II The ICTY a The background and human rights violations of the 1991 1995 Balkan conflict i Background 1 Parts of Yugoslavia declaring independence in 1991 a Serbia orthodox Christian majority b Croatia Catholic majority c Bosnia Muslim majority 2 Balkan War breaks out in 1991 a Serbian army and Serb paramilitaries try to both expand Serbia and ethnically cleanse it i Ethnic cleansing becomes the goal of the conflict b Expelling Croats and Bosnian Muslims through systematic rape ii Human rights violations torture and murder 1 Between 1993 and 1995 over 130 000 people massacred a Many in UN safe havens e g Srebrenica and Sarajevo 2 3 5 million refugees 3 60 000 rapes of Muslim women a rape camps established in Bosnia i Places where women were raped on a daily basis b Rape emerges as a weapon of war 4 Concentration camps were present for Bosnian men 5 July 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8000 Muslim men and boys a Documented by NATO satellite photography of mass graves iii International community does little to help 1 US and NATO afraid of Vietnam repeat 2 European countries refuse to accept Balkan refugees b The task and process of the ICTY i Task 1 Prosecute rather than prevent current genocide a Meant to deter more atrocities 2 Mandate of the ICTY a Violations of the Geneva Conventions laws of war b War crimes c Crimes against humanity d Genocide ii Process 1 Similarities to Nuremberg Trials a being a government official doesn t provide immunity b c superior orders is not a defense command control theory is applicable 2 different from Nuremberg a 11 judges from 11 different nationalities b Allows for an appeals process c No death penalty d Occurs during the conflict not victor s justice c The primary jurisdiction of the ICTY Where and when i The ICTY has primary jurisdiction over crimes committed within its jurisdiction ii even though it is concurrently competent with national courts The ICTY can insist that national prosecutions defer to the competence of the Tribunal in the interests of justice iii Established in 1993 in Hague to address events in former Yugoslavia 1991 1995 d Positive accomplishments of the ICTY i Genocide prosecuted for the first time ii Customary international law strengthened 1 Countries that commit war crimes and genocide can be punished iii Rape is considered torture and a crime against humanity III The ICTR e Weaknesses and shortcomings of the ICTY i Initially only lower level soldiers prosecuted ii Tribunal had no enforcement police powers iii Powers that created ICTY send mixed political signals 1 Must treat accused criminals as political leaders in attempts to end Balkan Wars 2 Let Serbia keep lands it obtained through ethnic cleansing f The Srebrenica case i July 1995 1 8000 Muslim men and boys are massacred by Serbs ii Took place in a supposed UN safe haven iii Documented by NATO satellite photography of mass graves a The background and human rights violations of the Rwandan conflict i 100 days of
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