Evening star., 1942-10-11
Punishment of War
Criminals
BIZ Frederic J. HnSkin.

Il, SAID tnaL tnOSe reSQOnSlDle 1oi tlie
war should, and probably would. be
brought to justice, the statement set IN
motion q flood of comment on the sub
ject. Numerous articles printed in pub
lications throughout the Allied Nations
all confirm the conviction that those
guilty of violence against the civil popu-
lations should be punished appropriately.
Sumner Welles, Undersecretary OF
State, soon after the Presidents first
declaration, said that justice must be
done swiftly and inexorably, but no one
should be held responsible for crimes IN
which he had not shared. That state
ment, which doubtless expresses the
opinion of officials in the United Nations.
is notice serving utterance that justice,
not vengeance, is the intended purpose
in prosecuting war criminals.
But while these utterances have caused
much discussion about Furnishing those
who have inflicted mass murder on
large sector Of the world, they also raise
one of the most delicate questions OF
international law There is no interna-
tional law which makes the starting OF
war a crime. There are certain inter-
national rules and laws governing the
conduct of war, for violation of which
the perpetrators can be tried, but there
is no penalty for starting and prosecuting
a war.
The Versailles Treaty contained nu-
merous measures for bringing the guilty
of the First World War to justice, but
not one of these measures was ever
carried out Long before the war was
over the Allies had planned to bring the
Kaiser and his confederates to the bar
of Justice, and the French were even so
keen to do it that one cartoonist visual
lied how the Kaiser should be treated.
He drew a picture of the Washington
Monument and a sketch of the Eiftel
Tower. From the top of one to the other
stretched cable, and midway between
the two monuments the Kaiser was
shown hanging heels down with his
hands tied to the cable.
The cartoon probably did not repre-
sent the punishment the French had In
mind for the Kaiser, although it might
|
pie of the Allied countries. However, 1t
did represent very strong feeling that
criminals of the war should be pun
ished, and that the Kaiser was the ARCH
conspirator.
The Kaiser's fate however, was very
different from the one pictured-a sofe
domicile at Doom in Holland. under the
of tc(,
Fut in the eyes of international law the
Jutch were not harboring a criminal,
and for that reason when a demand was
made by the Allies for the Kaiser, the
Dutch Government replied that the Of
fense with which he was charged was
not one which was included in any ex-
tradition treaty.
| Though the Kaiser escaped to Holland
and lived out the remainder of his days
under guardianship Of the Dutch Gov
ernment certain of his confederates were
brought to the bar of justice. These
cases. 896 in ALL constitute long story,
stretch over so many years. and involve
so much detail that their full enumera-
ton cannot be made here.
up court to hear the cases, but the
German Government objected and pro-
posed to hear the cases before the en-
pires Supreme Court. The Allied gov
ernments appointed a commission to
consider Germany's proposal and de-
cided the offer was within the provisions
of the Versailles Treaty, and recon-
mended acceptance of the request.
The futility of permitting a court in an
aggressor country to sit in judgment in
cases involving it's violation of law is
shown by a few cases from the record.
The British hospital ship Dover Castle"
was sunk in direct violation of interna-
tional law, but the commander Of tie
submarine that did the sinking was &C
quilted because he had obeyed orders of
his superiors. The British also pre-
sented numerous cases of brutal and in
human treatment of prisoners. In most
instances the officers, although unable
to refute the charges, were acquitted on
the ground that charges did not con-
stitute misconduct according to Ger
man standards. The few sentences
meted out were for only few months,
and there is doubt that even these nomi-
nal sentences ever were served
The most notorious case to come be-
fore the court was presented by the
French Government. 1t charged that
certain German officers In charge of
prison camps had killed hundreds of the
sick and wounded, many of them being
shot by the officer in charge. There
were numerous counts in the indictment,
but the officer was acquitted on all ex-
cept one. He was sentenced to two
years on manslaughter charge, but was
showered with flowers when he left the
court room, and the French mission at
tending the hearing was booed without
reprimand from the court The French
also presented many other cases involv-
ing prison camps and hospitals, evidence
not being refuted that careless and in
human treatment had caused the deaths
of thousands. mot guilty" was the ver-
dict in every case.
The Belgian Government presented
numerous cases where all the rules of
war were grossly violated. In one case
German officer was accused of arrest
ing Belgian children and using violence
to force them to admit they had sabo-
tagged telephone lines. The officer adj
mitted the charge, but the court exon
Grated him because his action was not
contrary to the German standard of con.