Human Rights 2nd Class Crimes against Humanity: Asia PI4553

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Human Rights 2nd Class Crimes against Humanity
AsiaPI4553

• Professor Neil J. Mitchell

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Country Presentations

• 30/1/07
• 6/2/07
• 13/2/07
• 20/2/07
• 27/2/07
• 6/3/07 A-C
• 13/3/07
• 20/3/07 D-J
• 17/4/07 K-P
• 24/4/07 R-S
• 1/5/07 T-Zimbabwe
• 8/5/07
• MLitt Meeting Wed 14Feb

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Outline

• The Rape of Nanking
• Explanation in the Case Study
• More Generally
• Politics of Atrocities
• Women in War
• Summary points

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The Rape of Nanking

• Background
• Political system in Japan
• Agenda and War aims
• What happened at Nanking?
• Evidence used by Chang
• What resistance?
• Horror of it
• Torch for humanity?

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Explanations

• Aberration?
• Cultural what attributes of a culture lead to
  this sort of behaviour?

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Explanations

• Role of officers
• Who are they?
• Wont Control-Cant Control?
• Tactical
• Training
• ?

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Nanking History and Revisionism

• Counter claims by Japanese historians - Masahiro
  Yamamoto, Nanking Praeger 2000
• Numbers 15000-50000 were killed in unlawful ways
  as a result of execution and other atrocities
  (5-20000 civilians) Rape 20,000 (p115).
• Discrepancies
• Explanations
• Safety most important factor influencing the
  conduct of many Japanese soldiers was concern
  over the security of their leaders the SEF was
  apparently responsible for a massacre on a larger
  scale than the Tenth Army, most likely because
  the SEF leadership was concerned about the safety
  of its commander rather than a malicious intent
  to terrorize the population, Prince Asaka
  pp91-2)
• Food problem local commanders often received
  an order either to kill the captives or take care
  of them appropriately (p142)
• How important are the numbers?

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Politics of atrocities

• Japanese Nanjing massacre film January 25,
  2007,Guardian
• http//film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1998521,0
  0.html
• Textbooks some refer to incident
• Chang met Japanese ambassador to America on TV
  programme and demanded apology. When he muttered
  that there had been perhaps some unfortunate
  incidents, she was outraged. Economist 25 Nov
  2004
• Compensation and Comfort Women

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Politics of Atrocities More Generally

• Why dont we own up?
• Who likes unpleasant truths?
• Linked to Nationalism and to pride in
  institutions and identities
• Linked to public support for group or movement
• Linked to liability punishment and compensation
• Holocaust, Armenians, and Nanking (Soviet
  Union?)
• Denial Laws?

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German EU Presidency Proposed EU Directive

• The draft text "Each member state shall take
  the measures necessary to ensure that the
  following intentional conduct is punishable
  'publicly condoning, denying or grossly
  trivialising of crimes of genocide, crimes
  against humanity and war crimes as defined in'...
  the Statute of the ICC.
• Whats right with this?
• Whats wrong with this?

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Women in War More Generally

• Problem of comparison minimizing importance of
  single event?
• But ever thus
• So now let no man hurry to sail for home, not yet
  not till he beds down with a faithful Trojan
  wife, payment in full for the groans and shocks
  of war we have all borne for Helen.

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Recent examples

• Not just Axis powers - Red Army
• Bosnia widespread rape
• Rwanda
• Congo UN Peacekeepers

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General Issues

• Why women so vulnerable in war?
• Rape and laws of war
• Grotius
• Hague Convention 1907 Article 46
• http//www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/lawofwar/hague04
  .
• The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 Article 27
  "Women shall be especially protected against
  any attack on their honour, in particular against
  rape, enforced prostitution, or any form of
  indecent assault."
• Command responsibility
• Hague Convention 1907

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Cases of command responsibility

• Yamashita
• Milosovic

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Summary what the case point to

• What do we think of the role of culture in
  explaining atrocities?
• Rape and War
• Role of leaders wont control/cant control
• Other thoughts on Nanking?
• Judgement and Revisionism

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Next week Philosophical Foundations

• Where do rights come from?
• How absolute are they room for a little
  torture?
• How extensive are our rights?
• Lukes Lands and Walzers regimes of toleration
  do these provide a basis?
• Note additional Lukes article.