Thinking Outside the Box

Last night I attended a great event titled In Search of Accountability: Justice after Nuremberg. The panel discussion, organized by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, focused on international justice and the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Michael Abramowitz, director of the Committee on Conscience at the museum, guided the discussion so that the three panelists would focus on the questions most significant to global justice: Are the mechanisms established in the first war crimes tribunals enough to deliver justice to perpetrators today? Since the Nuremberg trials, what new strategies have emerged?

With these questions in mind, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues David Scheffer suggested that world leaders today deal with increasingly complex issues and therefore need to think outside of the box. Scheffer blames the failure to prevent tragedies on “conventional thinking for an unconventional crisis”. His book titled All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crime Tribunals reveals the potential of the ICC as a deterrent of future crimes but more significant, an institution to punish criminal of mass atrocities.

Author William Shawcross, whose father participated in the Nuremberg trials as a leading investigator, elaborated on this forward-looking idea by mentioning the situation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a leader within Al-Qaeda and organizer of 9/11. He argues that evil takes many forms, so comparisons between Mohammed and past war criminals will not yield appropriate potential solutions. Shawcross stands by his views expressed in his latest book, Justice and the Enemy: From the Nuremberg Trials to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and affirmed his support last night for Guantanamo Bay. Detainees at Guantanamo have rights to appeal and counsel, as any American citizen would. The last panelist and Legal Advisor at the U.S. Department of State Harold Koh called the ICC a critical tool within the international community, which he believes the American government realizes by participating in ICC meetings. Koh mentions the transition of the U.S. attitude from hostility towards the ICC to participation. He calls on the power of American goodness to responsibly lead the world towards justice.

As Scheffer simply said, “leadership carries an obligation.” There is no doubt that the U.S. plays a significant role in world politics. Many Americans feel that our government engages in combat and forgoes peaceful solutions. Last night’s lectures served as a reminder that other paths exist to prevent mass atrocities and serve justice to victims everywhere.