Justice on Trial | American RadioWorks

July 2002

by Michael Montgomery, Stephen Smith and Deborah George


	In July, 2002, a permanent global court to prosecute war crimes assumes jurisdiction in The Hague. It's not the first time nations have come together to punish crimes against humanity. From the trials of Nazis at Nuremberg to the prosecution of war criminals in the former Yugoslavia, to people's courts in Rwanda—how effective is the machinery of international justice?

Your questions on the International Criminal Court answered.

SIDEBAR
The United States versus the International Criminal Court

RESOURCES
Key Terms
Related Links

This story is a part of The Promise of Justice, an on-going series examining the elusive concept of justice in societies wrenched by war and genocide.


		PART I The Legacy of Nuremberg On November 20, 1945 in Nuremberg, Germany, Adolf Hitler's top lieutenants stood accused by the world's first international tribunal of masterminding horrific crimes. With a new International Criminal Court taking jurisdiction in the summer of 2002, the lessons of Nuremberg—successes and failures— are all the more relevant. Read

		PART II Imposing Justice from the Hague In Europe, the collapse of Yugoslavia quickly descended into slaughter. In 1993, the UN created a tribunal to prosecute genocide and other crimes against humanity in the Balkans. This new court was based in The Hague, far from the killing fields in the former Yugoslavia. Read

		PART III Rwanda's Revolutionary Justice In the wake of the 1994 genocide, the African nation of Rwanda is beginning an experiment in what it calls "revolutionary justice". In the coming months, more than 10,000 open-air people's courts, called "gacacas" will begin hearing genocide cases. Read

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CREDITS
Host: Deborah Amos
Correspondents: Stephen Smith, Michael Montgomery, Deborah George
Coordinating Producer: Sasha Aslanian
Project Coordinator: Misha Quill
Technical Direction: Craig Thorson

Editors: Deborah George, Peggy Girshman
Production Assistance: Naomi Lubick, Dania Akkad
Executive Producer: Bill Buzenberg
Web Manager: John Pearson
Web Production Supervisor: Michael Wells
Web Producer: Emily Thompson

Major funding for American RadioWorks is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

This documentary was made possible, in part, by grants from the Open Society Institute, and the United States Institute of Peace.
Photo Above: Deborah George / © 2001 American RadioWorks