Saturday, May 2, 2009

Facing yourTransgressions

Living in a land that boasts of its “strong” and “fair” judicial system, the United States courts are intricate and can be very helpful. The Adversarial Legalism in this country welcomes as many lawyers as it can get, while always keeping in mind that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. However, not all court cases and tribunals are as simple as small claims, car accidents, or robbery. The world is as perfect as its various court systems and that isn’t saying much. Unfortunately, there are governments and political movements that are overcome with power and greed and evil. These types of institutions—many times throughout history—have posed threats to weaker sects of society. And, in some cases, there are mass, state orchestrated violence projected on the feeble minorities. For one example, Nazi Germany, lead by Fascist leader Adolf Hitler began using malicious propaganda against the Jews, homosexuals, and others alike in order to prepare for his Final Solution. Hitler’s plan was to exterminate all Jews and others he deemed as enemies.

After igniting World War II and exterminating millions of people in concentration camps, Hitler came close to completion of his game plan. However, the Nazis and their allies ended up losing the war. The only question after the war seemed to be, who will pay for these atrocities now that Hitler is dead? The prosecution of the Nazis and their allies would have to be large scale, and the selection of the lawyers is a problem in itself. In response to the Nazi atrocities, the Nuremberg Trials adjourned with many Nazi soldiers accused of various war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The trials concluded in 1949 with several members of the Nazi Party convicted for war crimes. The purpose of these war crimes tribunals was deemed to be necessary in order to potentially avoid other atrocities such as genocide or insidious military invasions. However, it wasn’t until 2002 when the United Nations, established in 1945 to replace the League of Nations, when the International Criminal Court was chartered. In response to the war crimes committed in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the International Criminal Court was applied to these violent incidents.

It is 2009 and the United States of America has still not ratified the International Criminal Court charter established by the United Nations. In fact, it took President Clinton some time before he even recognized the 1994 "situation" in Rwanda as genocide. The 1994 clash between Rwanda's Hutus and Tutsis led to the Hutu extermination of about one million Tutsis. These two factions are virtually identical, yet they have been enemies for quite some time. The Hutus became infamous for their use of machetes and even mass rapes with the intent of spreading the AIDS virus in order to eradicate Tutsi women.

The International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda was instituted to bring justice to this war torn region. These tribunals are important because they hold certain people and factions accountable for crimes in order to prevent any future occurrences. Maybe, if the whole world knew that crimes such as genocide and mass rape are punishable, then there might be fewer cases of this sort. In 1998, Jean-Paul Akayesu, a member of the Hutus, was convicted of multiple accounts for his role in several cases of rape of Tutsi women.

The United Sates of America's image as an independent nation is respectable and understandable, but we cannot claim to be the free nation and country of justice and hope if we do not support the fair trials of war criminals. People in Rwanda were being executed in record numbers considering the duration of the war. This is something that should never happen again. It would be a milestone step for our young country to take if we stood for international justice.


-Brittain Bush