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?
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.
ReadListen (Real Audio, 14:31 min)
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. ReadListen (Real Audio, 19:31 min)
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. ReadListen (Real Audio, 16:30 min)
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