While its two days late, it is worth noting that 60 years ago, on November 20, 1945, the first war crimes trials were gavelled to life at Nuremberg, Germany. These trials, the first of their kind in history, were decreed by the victorious allies (US, Britain, USSR and France was allowed in) to deal with the millions of civilians that the Nazi regime had systematically put to death. They are commonly refered to today as the Nuremberg Trials.
Nuremberg was chosen as the site for the trials, as it was one of the cities that Hitler and the Nazi Party had extensive ties with. Having the trials there, it was thought, would help end the German ties with Nazism.
The ideas behind the trials - that civilian leaders of states can be held responsible for actions that were not illegal by their own laws - have remained a part of international law, and have even grown stronger (see the UN tribunals looking into war crimes in Bosnia and Rwanda). Most recently, there has been an attempt to make permenant an International Criminal Court to try individuals from any state that commit war crimes or genocide.
Posted by baltar at November 22, 2005 04:49 PM | TrackBack | Posted to War and HistoryQuite apart from whether the ICC is a good idea or a bad idea, the Nuremberg Trials were a great moment in history, and yet another sign of the remarkable vision of FDR and some of the other leaders of that era. I think that they are right up there with South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and perhaps the political work of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. in setting standards that can really move civilization forward - working to settle hideous histories in humane ways, achieving justice, not simply vengenance.
Posted by: Armand at November 23, 2005 11:00 AM | PERMALINK