October 9, 2007
by Steve Osborn

At the close of World War Two, the Nuremberg Tribunals were held, to hold the Nazis accountable for their war crimes and genocidal policies. They were held by the international community, led by the United States of America.

Out of the Tribunals came the Nuremberg Principles. The world was a happy place at that time, for under the Nuremberg Principles, war had become a criminal act, along with torture, slavery, and many other evils. Perpetrators were liable to criminal prosecution in an International Court of Law for perpetrating wars and the other evils outlined in the Principles.

To jog the memory, here are the Principles.

The Nuremberg Principles

Principle I. Any person who commits an act which constitutes a crime under international law is responsible therefore and liable to punishment.

Principle II. The fact that internal law does not impose a penalty for an act which constitutes a crime under international law does not relieve the person who committed the act from responsibility under international law.

Principle III. The fact that a person who committed an act which constitutes a crime under international law acted as Head of State or responsible government official does not relieve him from responsibility under international law.

Principle IV. The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him.

Principle V. Any person charged with a crime under international law has the right to a fair trial on the facts and law.

Principle VI. The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law:

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(a) Crimes against peace:

(i) Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances;

(ii) Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned under (i).

(b) War Crimes:

Violations of the laws or customs of war which include, but are not limited to, murder, ill-treatment or deportation of slave-labour or for any other purpose of the civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity.

(c) Crimes against humanity:

Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhumane acts done against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds, when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried on in execution of or in connection with any crime against peace or any war crime.

Principle VII. Complicity in the commission of a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity as set forth in Principle VI is a crime under international law.

There you have it, short and sweet. A blueprint for living on a humane planet. We had the UN as a forum to mediate disputes and the Nuremberg Principles to clearly delineate what illegal and aggressive behavior was.

Is there anything in the above that our alleged leaders do not or cannot understand? Does might override all international ideas of justice? Are the only people to make the rules henceforth to be the overgrown schoolyard bullies that seem to infest our government, and other of the more powerful governments in the world?

We the People of the United States and We the People of the World should be hammering our alleged representatives with the Nuremberg Principles and demanding that justice be done!

What is happening today is the same thing as if in the thirties, Al Capone, the gangster, had told the Attorney General's Office. "You can't try me or hold me in check! I don't recognize your courts." That wouldn't have worked. He was tried, convicted, and sent to prison, for no man is above the law.

Hopefully that will be recognized about our rogue government. They are not above the law, nor are they above the Constitution which they are trying to supersede. They must be deposed and tried for their acts. Impeachment is one avenue, a reconvened Nuremberg Tribunal is another, but one way or the other, it is way overdue.

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Stephen M. Osborn [send him email] is a freelance writer living on Camano Island in the Pacific Northwest. He is an "Atomic Vet." (Operation Redwing, Bikini Atoll 1956, ) who has been very active working and writing for nuclear disarmament and world peace. He is a retired Fire Battalion Chief, lifelong sailor, writer, poet, philosopher, historian and former newspaper columnist.