The International War Tribunal

True Justice or a Victor's Justice?

Background: Victor's Justice

The Nuremberg Trials were the sets of trials of officials involved in World War II and the Holocaust during the Nazi regime. The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg, Germany, from 1945 to 1949, at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice. The first and more famous of these trials was the Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal (IMT), which tried 24 of the most important captured leaders of Nazi Germany. It was held from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946. Eleven countries came together to form the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), convened on April 29, 1946 to try the leaders of Japan for joint conspiracy to start and wage war. Each defendant would be charged with multiple crimes, which can generally be summed up by the following:

I. CRIMES AGAINST THE PEACE

Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of crime against peace, which consists of planning, initiating or waging a war of aggression against the territorial integrity, political independence or sovereignty of a state, or in violation of international treaties, agreements or (legally binding) assurances.

II. WAR CRIMES

These are violations against the international rules of war such as mistreatment or murder of war prisoners, deportation of civilians to slave labor, attacks on defenseless civilians or civilian sailors, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, or devastation not justified by military necessity, etc…

III. CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

This charge refers to acts of murderous persecution (e.g., extermination, enslavement, deportations) against a body of people (genocide) on political, racial, or religious grounds, as being the criminal offence above all others. International relations scholars have broadly defined "crimes against humanity" as acts so grave, on a scale so large, that their very execution diminishes the human race as a whole.

"You are the Jury" - The Defendants

Read through the background for each of the alleged war criminals being put on trial below. Then determine which charge (I, II, or III) this person is guilty of and determine the punishment each individual should receive.