Movies to Raise Awareness

Why does Hollywood succeed at raising awareness when the mainstream media fails? Drama captures one’s attention and emotions much more effectively than words on a page or a monotone newscaster. When an issue reaches the silver screen it can no longer be swept under the rug. Movies like Hotel Rwanda, The Last King of Scotland, and Blood Diamond have recently had this effect.

Charles Lindbergh once said, “How can there be writhing, mangled bodies? … It is like listening to a radio account of a battle on the other side of the earth. It is too far away, too separated to hold reality.” Lindbergh was speaking of the Holocaust, but his words hold true today. Many people hear reports of conflicts in Africa on the news and then forget about it twenty minutes later, it isn’t their country or their people so they are not interested. They are simply statistics scrolling past them on the bottom of the television screen. But, in movies the drama captivates and the tragedies can no longer be ignored.

Hotel Rwanda is probably the most important of the three aforementioned films because it made genocide real to the world. People began to remember the Rwandan Genocide and began to recognize the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. One of the things that made Hotel Rwanda great is that it is a true story of good prevailing against all odds. Moreover, the film captures the complexity of the conflict, the slaughter, the brutality, ethnic history, political stalemate, the press coverage, the hopelessness of the Red Cross, and the struggle to persevere. The story does not simply display the Rwandans as savages; it also displays the innocent and those who felt obligated to do the right thing.

The Last King of Scotland is a fictional account of Idi Amin’s regime in Uganda in the 1970’s. Though the story of the Scottish doctor is fictional the movie reveals many truths about Idi Amin and the stereotype harsh African dictator. Like Hotel Rwanda, The Last King of Scotland was made long after the events it portrays. The problem with this is that it allows some viewers to believe that the realities of these films are outdated. Although Blood Diamond is a work of fiction, it places the viewer in the present with the real issue of conflict diamonds. As a result of the movies message much more attention has been paid to conflict diamonds and other conflict minerals. Activists and authors have directed attention not only to conflict diamonds but to conflict minerals, such as columbite tantalite in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which is used in cell phones, laptops, and Sony Playstations (cf. “The Congo’s Resource Curse” in the archives).

Film is a valuable asset when raising awareness for a cause and it has been very effective in raising attention for Africa. However, serious movies about Africa come out bi-annually at the most (probably less frequently than James Bond movies). The effectiveness of these films are unquestionable but Hollywood should still do more to raise awareness for Africa. Many celebrities who are advocates for African causes should consider film as a means to make a difference. Perhaps Oprah should produce a movie about Africa or Angelina Jolie should seek out a role in a movie about Africa.

Images from Wikipedia

The Origins of International Justice

After World War II there were hundreds of Nazi war criminals who needed to be brought to justice for their participation in the Holocaust. When Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin met to discuss post-war Germany at a conference in Soviet controlled Tehran, Stalin called for the summary execution of 50,000 Germans after the Allied victory, which outraged Churchill who strongly believed in a judicial solution in post-war Germany. (Beschloss 26) As early as 1942, the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom expressed the need to bring these men to justice. Then in October 1943, Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill signed the Moscow Declaration, which outlined allied plans for trying Nazi war criminals ("International Military Tribunal at Nuremburg"). Under the Moscow Declaration, most war criminals would be tried in the countries in which they committed their crimes. Higher ranking Nazi war criminals, whose crimes were committed throughout Europe, would be tried by an Allied tribunal. This judicial system was a great victory for Churchill who often felt that he was the third wheel in these allied negotiations.
The twenty-one most culpable Nazi war criminals (excluding Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Josef Goebbels, who committed suicide before the war ended) were tried in Nuremburg by the International Military Tribunal (International Military Tribunal at Nuremburg). Of these twenty-one defendants, twelve were sentenced to death, three were sentenced to life in prison, four were given sentences ranging from ten to twenty years, and only three were acquitted (International Military Tribunal at Nuremburg). One hundred eighty-five other egregious war criminals were tried in a series of twelve trials, which are now known as the Subsequent Nuremburg Proceedings (International Military Tribunal at Nuremburg). However, the vast majority of Nazi war criminals were sent to the countries where their crimes were committed and tried by the laws of that country.
It was through the post war trials that the wide range of inconceivable crimes committed by the Nazis during the Holocaust was first fully exposed. Robert Jackson, chief American prosecutor for the Nuremburg trials, said, “unless record was made… future generations would not be able to believe how horrible the truth was.” (qtd. in “Evidence”) For instance, in concentration camps the bodies of the millions who died were thrown in mass graves, burned in ovens, and the Nazis used their hair to make cloth, bones to make soap, and skin to make parchment. (Night and Fog) But, for fear that future generations would not be able to comprehend the immeasurable atrocities of the Holocaust, the prosecutors at Nuremburg decided to base their case primarily on Nazi records rather than on testimony which could be interpreted as biased (Evidence from the Holocaust). This would not be possible in many ongoing ICC investigations, namely those in Sudan, where the government refuses to cooperate or in other instances such as the Rwandan Genocide, after which many government documents were destroyed. Additionally, mot third-world governments and officials were not as diligent with records as the Nazis were.
Perhaps what is more shocking than the atrocities committed during the Holocaust is the widespread involvement of the German people in carrying out the “Aryanization” of Germany during the Holocaust. Soldiers were not the only criminals, German industrialists funded concentration camps by producing their products at the camps, doctors at the camps tested poisons and drugs on their patients, and common men who were drafted into the SS, SA, and Gestapo became different men who seemingly had no regard for human life. In Ordinary Men, historian, Christopher Browning describes how the Reserve Police Battalion 101, which was filled mostly with husbands and fathers who were drafted into the police because they were too old to serve in the army, killed 1500 Jewish women, children, and elderly Jews; although they were all given the option to leave the battalion, but none of them left (1-3). Perhaps the most disturbing observation about the perpetrator of the Holocaust is that they were not all heartless murderers. Many were loving family men who were simply manipulated into executing the worst crime in history.
The relationship between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin was essential to how the allies would treat the Holocaust and post war Germany. Stalin once roared, “I propose a salute to the swiftest possible justice for all Germany’s war criminals- justice before a firing squad! … There must be at least fifty thousand.” (Beschloss 26) To this Churchill replied, “I will not be a party to any butchery in cold blood.” (Beschloss 27) The fact that justice prevailed over draconian slaughter is one of Churchill’s greatest achievements in allied policy.
The Nuremburg trials and other post war trials set a precedent for the current international justice system which is much improved but still very ineffective in preventing genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The main reason for the ineffectiveness of the International Criminal Court is that it lacks clout and military backing. In order for the ICC to be more effective the international community will have to establish when it is acceptable to infringe on national sovereignty, otherwise war criminals will not be brought to justice until their crimes have taken the lives of thousands while the world watches. Now as in World War II, criminals cannot be tried until they are defeated and the genocide has run its course. We cannot allow genocide to continue based on national sovereignty because genocide is never static. It spreads internationally: the Holocaust spread through most of Europe, the Rwandan genocide spread into the eastern Congolese provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, and the genocide in Darfur has spread into eastern Chad. It is important to note that the ICC has yet to indict anyone on charges of genocide, despite significant evidence of genocide in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Had Stalin’s draconian summary executions been allowed they would only have perpetuated violence. A judicial solution to matters of racial aggression is far more effective in stopping violence. For example, after the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, the defeated Hutus fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo where they have fallen into a disturbing pattern of violence with Tutsi rebel groups. However, after a warlord, such as Laurent Nkunda is arrested violence drops.
National Soveriegnty is of particular concern in Sudan, which is not a party to the ICC. In Sudan, which is not a member of the ICC, ICC is operating on a United Nations Security Council mandate. However, the Sudanese government, even before president Al-Bashir was indicted, refused to allow ICC inspectors into Sudan to investigate. It will be difficult to end the Genocide in Darfur and bring its perpetrators to justice until Sudan cooperates with other nations and international bodies such as the ICC, whether it be coerced or voluntary. A modern example of international cooperation working to ensure justice was when the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, who had previously been at odds for over a decade, worked together to capture Tutsi warlord Laurent Nkunda. Nkunda was the commander of the largest Tutsi rebel group in the Congo, the Tutsi National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) (Kahorha). Nkunda is being investigated by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity, although he has yet to be indicted, it is expected that the ICC will indict him in the future. Nkunda is suspected of committing war crimes including murder of noncombatants, rape, sexual slavery, and the use of child soldiers (Kahorha). The success of cooperation between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo demonstrates the need for international cooperation to stifle the spread of genocide.
After the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, which predated the ICC, the prosecution of war criminals was remarkably similar to the post World War II trials. The genocide itself eerily mirrored the Holocaust, methodical list of proscribed people were produced, ethnic identity cards became the equivalent of the yellow stars of the Holocaust, and Hutus employed a full spectrum of people in its plot: “doctors, nurses, teachers, priests, nuns, businessmen, government officials of every rank, even children.” (A Human Rights First report on the ICTR and National Trials) The most egregious offenders were tried by an ad hoc international tribunal, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which was established by a United Nations Security Council resolution. Other offenders were tried in Rwandan courts and due to the massive number of defendants some were even tried by local tribal committees. In addition, many soldiers were tried in military courts and in some cases jointly with civilians. (“A Human Rights First report on the ICTR and National Trials”)
Despite the pitfalls of the current international justice system, the ICC has established itself as a legitimate international body. Instead of the laws and definitions used in the Nuremburg trials, which were made ex post facto, current international law is clearly defined in the charter of the ICC and the Geneva Conventions. Additionally, one crucial article in the charter of the ICC reaffirms the ruling of the International Military Tribunal: that following the orders of a superior officer is not a sufficient defense. Moreover, the ICC is a permanent institution rather than an ad hoc military tribunal. Despite the progress it has made the ICC needs to establish more authority beyond simply issuing warrants.
The post war trials of Holocaust perpetrators are invaluable, because they documented the unimaginable atrocities of the Holocaust and laid the foundation for international justice. Much of what is known about the Holocaust was revealed in the post war trials. Furthermore, the men who participated in the Holocaust were brought to justice by fair trials rather than by summary execution. When the allies established the International Military Tribunal they laid the cornerstone for international justice prior to and including the ICC.


Bibliography

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“Congolese Rebel Leader Captured in Rwanda” National Public Radio. January 23, 2009. National Public Radio. May 3, 2009.
“Evidence from the Holocaust.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. March 11,
2009. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. April 21, 2009.


Goldston, Robert. The Life and Death of Nazi Germany. New York: Fawcett World
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“A Human Rights First report on the ICTR and National Trials” Human Rights First. July
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“International Military Tribunal at Nuremburg.” United States Holocaust Memorial
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Jacques Kahorha. “Nkunda Responds to Possible ICC Indictment” The Journal of Turkish Weekly. February 22, 2008. The Journal of Turkish Weekly. May 3, 2009.
Night and Fog [Nuit et Brouillard]. Written by Jean Cayrol. Dir. Alain Resnais. 1955.
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“Who Else was Brought to Trial? The Subsequent Nurmemburg Proceedings.” United
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Williams, Neville. The Hutchinson Chronology of World History: The Modern World: 1901-1998. Vol. 4. Oxford: Helicon Publishing Ltd. 1999.