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27 June 2006
International Bodies and Local Courts Hold War Crimes Trials
Tribunals try former leaders for crimes against humanity, genocide
Washington -- Former Liberian President Charles Taylor was transferred to The Hague June 20 to stand trial for 11 counts of crimes against humanity.
Taylor is accused of being responsible for the murder, rape and mutilation of thousands of people in Sierra Leone. If convicted, he will serve his sentence in Great Britain.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone was established by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations to try those responsible for violating international law during the country's civil war. In addition to Taylor, 11 people are on trial in that court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the court's Web site.
FAMOUS WORLD WAR II TRIALS PAVE WAY FOR TODAY'S TRIBUNALS
Today's war crimes tribunals are modeled after one of the most famous war crimes trials, the Nuremberg trials. The Nuremberg trials, held in Nuremberg, Germany, were established after World War II to hold leaders of the German Nazi regime responsible for their crimes.
The guidelines used for the Nuremberg trials were established by the Charter of the International Military Tribunal (IMT.) Also known as the London Charter because it was developed in London, the IMT was signed by the leaders of the United States, United Kingdom, France and the former Soviet Union in June 1945.
The IMT defined war crimes by breaking them into three categories that still are used in some tribunals today. "Crimes against peace" include the planning of an act of aggression or violating treaties. "War crimes" are defined as the violations of laws of war, such as murdering civilians or killing hostages. "Crimes against humanity" include inhumane acts committed against a civilian population, such as extermination or enslavement.
CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY TRIED THROUGH INTERNATIONAL COURTS
Although Taylor's trial will be conducted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, it will take place in the facilities belonging to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in the Netherlands.
The ICC holds trials for those accused of international crimes including war crimes and genocide. The court was established in 2002 with the ratification of a 1998 treaty signed by 60 nations.
The Hague is also the site of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Established by the U.N. Security Council in 1993, the ICTY tries those from the former country who are accused of violating international humanitarian law or committing acts of genocide. The most famous case before the court was the trial of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who had been on trial since February 2002, defending himself against 66 counts of crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Convention in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. Milosevic died of natural causes on March 11 before his trial ended. (See related article.)
Other tribunals have tried and convicted former political leaders for crimes against humanity. The first conviction for genocide was issued against Jean-Paul Akayesu, the mayor of Tabu, Rwanda, who is serving a life prison sentence. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), created by the U.N. Security Council in 1994, continues to hold trials for war crimes committed in Rwanda that year.
NATIONS PROSECUTE WAR CRIMINALS AT HOME
The United States encourages nations to pursue justice through their own legal systems. Some countries have established special courts to prosecute war criminals.
In Iraq, the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal was established specially to prosecute members of the Saddam Hussein regime. The trial began in October 2005 with charges brought against Hussein and others for committing crimes against humanity.
More information on the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is available on Web sites of those courts.
More information about the U.S. position on the ICC is available in a fact sheet on the State Department Web site. Additional information about war crimes also is available on the State Department's Office of War Crimes Web site.
Information on the Saddam Hussein trial is available on a Library of Congress Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
