Aldo Zammit Borda - Histories Written by International Criminal Courts and Tribunals: Developing a Responsible History Framework

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Off with his head

Each event would have featured in relevant histories: of the independence of Scotland or of events leading to Oliver Cromwells republican commonwealth. But did the trialsindictment read to Wallace before he was so cruelly deconstructed; some 30 witnesses for Charlesadd much to the overall history of the two conflicts themselves? Perhaps not.

Happening between these two beheadings was another of significance. Sir Peter von Hagenbach beheaded in Breisach in 1474 for atrocities committed when serving the Duke of Burgundy is famously, if controversially, relied on as the sentence imposed by the first international war crimes trial. Von Hagenbach was tried by 28 judges from regional cities for murder and rape, crimes counted by some as early forms of crimes against humanity. Von Hagenbach was tortured into confession and six witnesses were called against him. The trial and beheading led to revenge by the Duke of Burgundy, von Hagenbachs master; but the trial record is not itself often, or ever, relied on for an account of anything except the particular acts of von Hagenbach himself.

But maybe it was not just in the fourteenth, fifteenth or seventeenth centuries that trials or atrocities are no more than they seem and often seeming less like proper trials and more like political events. Passing over the few (Germans only) tried for fairly minor offences at Leipzig after WWIthe Kaiser himself was given sanctuary in the Netherlandswhat of the Nuremberg trials that followed WWII? Critically tagged as victors justice they were efficient with short sharp drops to neck break or strangulation for ten of those tried in the first famous leadership trial: 11 were sentenced to deathGring cheated the hangman.

Two statements of the value of war crimes trials were delivered but possibly in chronologically reverse order of relevance. Hartley Shawcross, British prosecutor at Nuremberg said:

This tribunal will provide a contemporaneous touchstone and authoritative and impartial record to which future historians may turn for truth and future politicians for warning.

Hannah Arendt on the Eichmann trialabout which more belowsaid:

The purpose of the trial is to render justice and nothing else; even the noblest of ulterior purposes can only distract from the laws main business: to weigh the charges brought against the accused, to render judgement and to mete out punishment.

The Nuremberg trials after WWII were short and efficient but discredited because no thought was given to criminality of the other sideour side if from the UK or US. There was a great deal of evidence but has the evidence from those trials featured much in the works of historians explaining the context in which the crimes were committed? Not too much. Evidence was mostly focused on the criminal acts of individuals. Arendts approach seems more applicable than Shawcrosss.