Post-trial

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean Aszkielowicz
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
International Community ◽  
Japanese Government ◽  
Peace Treaty ◽  
Australian Government ◽  
War Criminals ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post Trial

Australia’s trials ended in April 1951, and just a few months later in September, the San Francisco Peace Treaty signalled that the Occupation would end the following year and Japan would return to the international community. A nationwide petition movement in Japan began calling for the repatriation of war criminals who had been convicted by Allied courts and resided in overseas prisons, such as some of those convicted by Australia who were now imprisoned on Manus Island. Meanwhile, other war criminals who were convicted by Australian courts resided in Sugamo Prison in Tokyo, and the Japanese government was bound by Article 11 of the peace treaty to keep them in prison until the convicting country allowed their release. Article 11 was not enough to reassure the Australian government that the Japanese would respect the decisions handed down in its war crimes courts, however, and this made the government anxious over repatriating the war criminals on Manus. In Japan, the petition movement began to pressure the Japanese government and the Australian embassy for the return of these prisoners.

Japan and Australia, 1944–1946

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean Aszkielowicz
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Australian Government ◽  
World War ◽  
The Public ◽  
Major Player ◽  
War Criminals ◽  
The Government ◽  
Second World

When the Second World War ended, the Australian government sought to establish the country as a major player in regional diplomacy. An early focus of Australia’s new and energetic foreign policy agenda was regional security, and in particular, bringing Japan to account for the war. After some early frustrations with its major allies, the Australian government was given several key roles in the Occupation of Japan. The Occupation began with the goals of democratizing and reforming Japan, and prosecuting war criminals was a key part of this early agenda. Meanwhile in Australia, the public demanded the government begin a resolute process of bringing war criminals to justice.

A New Direction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean Aszkielowicz
Keyword(s):  
Australian Government ◽  
New Era ◽  
Cautious Approach ◽  
Political Ties ◽  
War Criminals ◽  
The Government ◽  
To Receive

In 1954, the Australian government moved on from its cautious approach to Japan, and charted a new course in Australia-Japan relations, where the government would do all that it could to develop close political ties with Japan. War criminals though, remained an important issue in Japan and after they were repatriated the Australian government began to receive calls from Japan for their release. Even with Australia-Japan relations moving towards a new era though, the government was reluctant to simply release the war criminals. Instead the government sought a legal solution where the prisoners could be released on parole or have their sentences reduced. The conditions for the reduction of sentences became ever more lenient and in 1957, all remaining war criminals convicted by Australian courts were released.

Far Eastern Commission

1951 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 834-836
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
The United States ◽  
Peace Treaty ◽  
Japanese People ◽  
Final Draft ◽  
Japanese Military ◽  
Host Government ◽  
The Government ◽  
Far Eastern

Japanese Peace Treaty: In response to invitations sent by the United States, as the host government, delegates from 51 nations met at San Francisco from September 4 to 8, 1951 for the purpose of concluding and signing a peace treaty with Japan. Copies of a final draft treaty had been circulated to all members on August 13, as well as two draft declarations by the government of Japan and a draft protocol which was to be open to signature at any time. Further revisions, which had been incorporated in this final draft after comments had been received from participating countries on the July 3 and July 20 drafts, included insertions and substitutions dealing with the Allied Powers recognition of the full sovereignty of the Japanese people over Japan and its territorial waters; the disposition of property of Japan and Japanese nationals; the return of Japanese military forces to their homes; the payment of reparations; and acts and omissions of the period of occupation. Among the delegates at the conference, press reports stated, were representatives from the Indo-Chinese states, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, which had made official requests to participate in the conference — requests which had been strongly supported by France.

Bosnia's War Criminals: Getting Away with Murder

2001 ◽  
Vol 100 (644) ◽  
pp. 120-123
Keyword(s):  
Significant Influence ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
International Community ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
War Criminals

Many of those accused of war crimes [in Bosnia] have successfully diverted the international community's attention from their wartime activities while maintaining significant influence in their local communities. An often-complacent international community and a politically cautious SFOR aid them in this endeavor.

International Law as Memorial Sites: The “Comfort Women” Lawsuits Revisited

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-187
Author(s):  
Kohki Abe
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Peace Treaty ◽  
Comfort Women ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Japanese Military ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government ◽  
Memorial Sites

Abstract This article revisits the legal and philosophical frontiers passionately explored in the “comfort women” lawsuits in Japan. The epoch-making judicial battle challenging the legality and legitimacy of Japanese military sexual slavery has created an innovative space for combining justice and history. Of enormous practical import are a series of lower court judgments that determined the wrongfulness of Japan’s shameful involvement in the heinous abusive practices during the wartime period. Invoking the nebulous concept of the “Framework” of the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951, the Supreme Court rendered a decision in 2007 to procedurally shut the door to the war reparation claims. The decision, however, may not be sustained from the perspective of contemporary international law that is increasingly infused with the quality of trans-temporal justice. The author argues that the Government of Japan should discharge its responsibility by faithfully adopting measures required under international law, an act powerfully called for in the “Age of Apology” and within a new global paradigm against violence against women.

Leading through Chaos in a Neocolonial Context

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-42
Author(s):  
Laura Colket
Keyword(s):  
International Community ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
Personal Stories ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Foreign Governments ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post Disaster

Academic and public discourses often oversimplify the complex historical, social, and discursive forces that have created the current realities in Haiti. These discourses ignore or distort the role that foreign governments and international agencies have played and continue to play in the creation of the Haitian state. They portray the Haitian government as singular and static, corrupt and incapable, and fail to acknowledge changes in leadership and the diversity of individuals who exist within the government. This “single story” about Haiti privileges the international community and overlooks the stories from Haitians who are working to rebuild and reimagine their own country. This article examines the personal stories of Haitians in order to better understand the nature of Haitian leadership in a neocolonial, post-disaster context.

scholarly journals A forced migration from Myanmar to Bangladesh and beyond: humanitarian response to Rohingya refugee crisis

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Malang Faye
Keyword(s):  
Forced Migration ◽  
International Community ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Humanitarian Response ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
Mass Killings

AbstractIt is widely agreed that the Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar are currently named as the most persecuted minority in the world. The racial prosecution is triggered by the decades of longstanding insurgency between the Government of Myanmar and the Rohingya Muslims over the issues of religious and ethnic discrepancy. This article presents the measures taken by the international community to stop these mass killings. The article offers critical insights into strategies used by Myanmar’s government to suppress the Rohingyas. This study highlights the rights violation and humanitarian struggle faced by the Rohingya people and the humanitarian response to the crises by the international community.

Realising Ainu indigenous rights: a commentary on Hiroshi Maruyama's ‘Japan's post-war Ainu policy. Why the Japanese Government has not recognised Ainu indigenous rights?’

Polar Record ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naohiro Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Japanese Government ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
United Nations Declaration

ABSTRACTThis commentary reviews Maruyama's article ‘Japan's post-war Ainu policy: why the Japanese Government has not recognised Ainu indigenous rights?’ (Maruyama 2013a), published in this journal. Maruyama criticises the government for its reluctance to enact a new Ainu law to guarantee indigenous rights, even after Japan's ratification of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). However, in actuality, the government is searching for the foundation of new Ainu policies in the existing legal frameworks and trying to guarantee some elements of indigenous rights. Japan's case suggests the possibility of realising indigenous rights without the enactment of a specific law.

An Age-Old Question: Optical (A)llusions, (In)Decency, and (In)Justice in the Trial of Japanese War Criminals

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
James Burnham Sedgwick
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Logic ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
International Justice ◽  
World War ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
War Criminals ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Aesthetic

Abstract Timing complicates all dimensions of post conflict redress. Moving too fast suggests prejudice. Going too slow delays accountability and closure. This paper challenges the temporal logic of international justice. The prosecution of aged defendants created aesthetical dilemmas for war crimes operations in post-World War ii Asia. The unsettling optical allusions of frail perpetrators in court — shadows of their former selves — left many observers conflicted: it looked indecent, it felt unjust and underwhelming. The unseemly punishment of weak defendants undercut prosecution attempts to brand perpetrators as monsters. Disappointed reporters and trial authorities fixated on the shabby dress, waning physique, and benign senescence of once-sinister villains. Few questioned the accused’s guilt. Many felt unnerved by the optics. Ultimately, this paper shows how the staging and performance of justice impacts a court’s effectiveness. Unrelenting accountability, bringing all war criminals to justice, feels right. Yet, the aesthetic complications of prosecuting aged accused may not be worth it.

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