Corporate Complicity: From Nuremberg to Rangoon - An Examination of Forced Labor Cases and Their Impact on the Liability of Multinational Corporations

Part I of this article outlines various levels of corporate complicity as a way of understanding the spectrum of conduct for which MNCs have been criticized.This provides a necessary background for examining how courts have treated corporate actors with respect to their alleged involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity. This also helps to delineate where on this continuum MNC conduct should give rise to accomplice liability. Part II of this article examines the post-World War II trials of German and Japanese civilian businessmen for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The war crimes prosecutions provide an important starting point for developing amodem conception of corporate complicity. After the war, a group of major industrialists were prosecuted by the United States Military Tribunal (USMT) for their companies\u27 use of slave labor. Similarly, a group of Japanese mining officials were also prosecuted by a British military court concerning forced labor activities in Formosa. These cases establish that there can be legal consequences to cooperation between economic actors and repressive governments,including prosecution for international crimes. Part III focuses upon recent litigation brought by civilian victims internedin Nazi and Japanese concentration camps who were forced or slave laborers in mines, factories, and plants owned by private German and Japanese corporations. This section considers the significance of those cases for the future of international humanitarian law, as well as for the ATCA in the United States. Part IV examines the issue of corporate complicity from a contemporary perspective. In particular, Part IV analyzes a recent case brought in a federal district court against Unocal Corporation for alleged use of forced labor as part of its pipeline project in Burma. The Unocal case relies heavily on the trials ofthe industrialists by the USMT, as well as the modern forced labor cases. The case is notable because of two seemingly conflicting opinions. The first judge who presided in the case issued an opinion that established that Unocal, as an MNC, could be sued for violations of international law-specifically, for knowing of the Burmese military\u27s use of forced labor and for continuing to retain the military to provide security despite such knowledge. In a subsequent opinion, issued by a different judge, the case was dismissed. The court found that Unocal\u27s actions were not sufficient to create liability because Unocal had not affirmatively sought out forced labor for the pipeline. The two opinions provide conflicting accounts of what kind of MNC conduct is sufficient to trigger possible liability. Part V provides a critique of the most recent Unocaldecision. In particular, this section critiques the court\u27s approach to defining corporate complicity and argues for a different standard for MNCs that operate outside of a wartime context. Finally, Part VI argues that in light of recent litigation in the United States, there should be a further focus on criminal liability for MNCs in home states and also a renewed focus on how the International Criminal Court might deal with MNCs and legal persons. This section also notes that an expanded definition of corporate complicity should be included in international and national guidelines governing the conduct of MNCs as another way to deter MNCs from acting as accomplices

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN ARMED CONFLICT

Negli ultimi decenni \ue8 cresciuta una nuova consapevolezza rispetto alle atrocit\ue0 su scala globale che le donne subiscono nel corso dei conflitti armati. Tradizionalmente le donne non erano parte attiva in guerra, ovvero, secondo la maggior parte delle legislazioni nazionali, non avevano potere decisionale sulla guerra in quanto non potevano arruolarsi come combattenti n\ue9, tantomeno, rappresentare lo stato nelle alte cariche militari. Tuttavia, le donne hanno sempre sperimentato la guerra. In particolare, sono sempre state sottoposte a diverse forme di violenza durante i conflitti armati. Nonostante la gravit\ue0 delle offese subite, per secoli la realt\ue0 delle donne durante i conflitti armati \ue8 rimasta relativamente invisibile nelle legislazioni nazionali e nel diritto internazionale. I casi di violenza contro le donne in guerra sono stati considerati incidenti o inevitabili conseguenze del conflitto e i principali strumenti giuridici del diritto internazionale umanitario non facevano alcuna menzione della protezione del soggetto femminile. I pochi riferimenti espliciti allo stupro commesso in contesti di conflitto armato hanno qualificato tale atto come un crimine contro "l'onore" piuttosto che una violazione dell\u2019integrit\ue0 personale. Oggi il diritto internazionale umanitario (DIU), il diritto internazionale dei diritti umani e il diritto penale internazionale vietano qualsiasi forma di violenza sessuale connessa a situazioni di conflitto. Tuttavia, nonostante il processo di criminalizzazione di tali atti di violenza, le atrocit\ue0 contro le donne continuano ad essere diffuse negli attuali conflitti armati. Sulla base di quanto finora affermato, s\u2019intende strutturare il progetto in due parti. La tesi si compone di due parti. La parte I, che comprende i capitoli da uno a tre, fornisce il background teorico, esplorando la prospettiva di genere alla base delle critiche femministe al DIU, per poi passare all'analisi del quadro giuridico che regola la violenza contro le donne in tempo di guerra. La Parte II, capitoli quattro e cinque, si occupa della fase postbellica, ovvero del trattamento giuridico della violenza contro le donne con riferimento al problema delle riparazioni delle vittime. La scelta di strutturare la tesi in due parti, trattando argomenti apparentemente distanti tra loro, risponde alla necessit\ue0 di indagare fino a che punto il DIU accoglie o pu\uf2 accogliere un approccio gender-sensitive nella fase di ius in bello prima, ovvero la fase delle ostilit\ue0, e nella fase post bellum, cio\ue8 la fase successiva alla cessazione delle ostilit\ue0. Parte prima Al fine di fornire il quadro teorico entro cui opera l'interpretazione gender-sensitive dei trattati sul DIU, il primo capitolo esplora alcuni concetti chiave per un'analisi di genere delle norme del DIU e presenta le critiche femministe al regime di DIU. Si intende in tal modo ragionare sui limiti del DIU con riferimento alla protezione delle donne in contesti di conflitti armati e chiarire se queste debolezze possano essere eventualmente superate attraverso una rinnovata interpretazione delle stesse norme. In definitiva, l'obiettivo \ue8 posizionare questa tesi all'interno del pi\uf9 ampio dibattito della critica femminista al DIU. Il capitolo secondo tratta dell'analisi normativa del regime di DIU, ovvero le Convenzioni dell'Aia, le Convenzioni di Ginevra del 1949 e i Protocolli aggiuntivi del 1977, che disciplinano la vita delle donne civili in situazioni di conflitto armato. Il capitolo affronta la questione se sia possibile reinterpretare le norme esistenti in materia di DIU in un modo che possa rispondere adeguatamente ai problemi attuali che le donne affrontano in contesti di conflitto. A tal fine, \ue8 preferibile un "approccio pratico". Nell'analizzare il numero di norme designate a regolare la violenza contro le donne nei conflitti, le disposizioni vengono \u201cmesse alla prova\u201d attraverso l'uso di recenti casi concreti che mettono in discussione la portata della loro applicabilit\ue0 alle donne civili. Il modo in cui le disposizioni reagiscono allo \u201cstress\u201d interpretativo pu\uf2 influire sul livello di protezione giuridica di cui le donne possono beneficiare. L'indagine mira a stabilire la fattibilit\ue0 di reinterpretare alcune parti del DIU mediante un approccio pi\uf9 sensibile al genere. Nel terzo capitolo si richiama l'attenzione sull'esame dell'articolo 27 della IV Convenzione di Ginevra, relativo al divieto della violenza sessuale contro le donne nei conflitti armati. Due sono le ragioni principali che spingono a concentrarsi in modo preminente su questa disposizione. In primo luogo, l'articolo regola la forma pi\uf9 comune di violenza contro le donne commessa durante i conflitti armati, ovvero tutti gli atti che hanno una connotazione sessuale. Date le frequenti implicazioni di genere degli atti di violenza sessuale contro le donne, l'analisi dell'articolo pu\uf2 rivelare aspetti significativi sulla concezione delle donne nel DIU. In secondo luogo, le internazionaliste femministe hanno dimostrato i limiti della norma utilizzando una prospettiva di genere. Dunque, un'indagine sulla possibilit\ue0 di interpretare in chiave di genere la norma far\ue0 luce sulla questione circa la possibilit\ue0 che i limiti delle norme possano essere superati interpretativamente al fine di assicurare una migliore protezione alle donne dalla violenza sessuale legata al conflitto. Parte seconda Il capitolo quarto, il primo della Parte II, fa riferimento alla fase post bellum, analizzando in modo specifico il meccanismo di riparazione per le violazioni delle norme di DIU e strutturando una panoramica del quadro giuridico dell'obbligo dello Stato di riparare le violazioni delle disposizioni sul diritto internazionale umanitario. L'idea di fondo \ue8 che il sistema delle riparazioni non si basa su un approccio orientato alla vittima ed \ue8 stato riconosciuto che ci\uf2 incide in modo particolare sulle donne. Questa analisi costituisce il punto di partenza per il successivo esame della questione se, ed eventualmente come, la categoria di genere possa avere una rilevanza nella determinazione delle forme pi\uf9 appropriate di riparazione in casi di violenza contro le donne legata ai conflitti armati. Infine, il capitolo cinque analizza un caso specifico di violenza contro le donne durante un conflitto, vale a dire il caso delle "donne di conforto ", relativo alle migliaia di donne provenienti da Corea, Filippine, Indonesia e Cina costrette a un sistema di schiavit\uf9 sessuale nei bordelli militari istituiti dal governo giapponese per il \u201cristoro\u201d delle truppe nipponiche durante la seconda guerra mondiale. Il caso, uno dei pi\uf9 controversi casi di riparazione in corso per crimini contro le donne, offre non solo numerose questioni giuridiche, bens\uec anche un esempio paradigmatico per la discussione sulla rilevanza delle forme di riparazione rispetto al tipo di danno subito dalle vittime. In particolare, il caso delle "donne di conforto" mostra che il risarcimento in forma di compensazione finanziaria, la forma di riparazione attualmente privilegiata nel sistema di diritto internazionale, non sempre rappresenta la soluzione migliore per le vittime. Le donne sopravvissute sembrano infatti prediligere scuse ufficiali o la costruzione di monumenti commemorativi (come riportato dalle numerose statue di donne apparse, nonostante le proteste delle autorit\ue0 giapponesi, davanti all'ambasciata e ai consolati giapponesi in Corea del Sud). Ci\uf2 solleva la questione se, ed eventualmente come, una prospettiva orientata al genere possa influenzare la scelta nelle forme di riparazione per le vittime di violazioni del DIU

The political economy of gender interventions: Social forces, kinship, violence, and finance in post-conflict Timor-Leste

This thesis applies a structural feminist political economy analysis to explain the uneven outcomes from gender interventions promoting gender-equitable distribution of state resources, protection from gender-based violence, and women’s economic empowerment in post-conflict Timor-Leste. Scholars of the “local turn” in peacebuilding, which arose in response to peacebuilding’s failures in creating sustainable peace, have argued local cultures and institutions were more legitimate, authentic, and sustainable sites to build peace than international models. In contrast, I identify the emergence and continuity of an elite class coalition dominating the state, which relies upon a highly gendered allocation of resources and a concomitant shoring up of exploitative militarised and patriarchal gender relations. Hence, I argue the outcomes from gender interventions in post-conflict Timor-Leste have been shaped by the actions and interests of a dominant coalition of rural and Dili-based social forces, all members of the Liurai-Dato (King-Noble) class. I use qualitative data and extensive fieldwork to show how members of the Liurai-Dato class depend on gender and kinship for legitimacy, wealth, and continuity, which have mitigated against gender just outcomes for gender interventions. Not only did the interventions take place in this setting of elite dominance, peacebuilders made concessions to elites and violent men in order to keep the peace, a tendency amplified by local turn approaches. These approaches to security have reinforced the valorisation of armed masculinity, associated most strongly with the dominant class, which have in turn justified the unequal distribution of state petroleum resources. As well, gender relations construct social relations through kinship, accumulation through brideprice, and the political economy of domestic violence, rendering legal and political reforms ineffective. Lastly, peacebuilding programs sought to use microfinance to empower women and grow the economy, but its main beneficiaries were the Liurai-Dato class, repeating patterns of accumulation and rule-through-debt established during Indonesian-era microfinance

Who Upholds Your Human Rights When You are “Stateless?” Why Couldn’t the UN Protect the Rohingya’s Human Rights?

In 2017, genocide in Myanmar took place against the stateless minority Rohingya Muslims. Why couldn’t the UN protect the Rohingya’s human rights? The international community\u27s efforts to oppose these violations against the stateless people have been only passive. Then, who upholds your human rights when you are stateless? Using chronology, historical institutionalism, and process tracing analyses, this thesis (1) evaluates the UN’s legal regime’s systemic design and capabilities in protecting human rights; then (2) identifies the design flaws of our international human rights regime; and lastly, (3) develops a recommendation to protect all people, stateless or not. Based on both quantitative and qualitative data on established human rights institutions, documents, mechanisms and efforts, and the UN’s handling of Rohingya Genocide as a case study, this thesis argues that I will argue that the UN was unable to protect the Rohingya’s human rights because there is a set of flaws within its institutional systemic design, which limits its ability to intervene and address humanitarian crises. It identifies the four critical systemic design flaws which explain why the UN’s ability to protect all people is limited and inconsistent. Previously, scholars have suggested creating comprehensive refugee/stateless laws and making the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions legally binding as a solution. This thesis recommends an alternate solution: Project Global Citizenship. As a formerly undocumented immigrant, I continue to find this topic compelling for people of our generation to care and find justice for vulnerable people our governments have neglected

The American anti-colonial tradition and international accountability for dependent peoples: A study of the American role in the establishment of the League of Nations mandates system and the United Nations trusteeship system.

This thesis examines the American anti-colonial tradition's role in establishing the principle of international accountability for administering dependent peoples in the League of Nations mandates and the United Nations trusteeship systems. Where relevant, British ideas and schemes are compared with American ones in so far as this helps to understand the latter and where the final outcomes were based on Anglo-American compromises. It contributes to the literature on international relations in two main areas. First, it analyses the formulation, development and inter-relation of the American anticolonial tradition and international accountability. Second, it is the first study of the interplay of those two concepts within the context of differing Anglo-American views on creating the mandates and trusteeship systems. There are eight chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the main objectives and themes. Chapters 2 and 3, the conceptual heart of the thesis, examine imperial and colonial relationships, the American anti-colonial tradition, and international accountability for dependent peoples. Chapter 4 focuses on the interplay of those concepts and the American role in establishing the League mandates system. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 do the same regarding the United Nations trusteeship system. Chapter 7 also contains a postscript on trusteeship developments since 1945. Chapter 8 summarises the thesis' conclusions. Throughout, the methodological approach is analytical and historical rather than theoretical. The overall conclusion is that so long as the national interests of the United States were protected, the American anti-colonial tradition did play the major role in establishing the principle of international accountability within both the mandates and the trusteeship systems. The determination and anti-colonial sentiments of Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt were especially important. American policy was usually based on the right of all peoples to freedom; the practical application of this precept hastened the demise of Western European-style colonialism

The protection of war victims under international humanitarian law: a study of the US and UK occupation of Iraq

The international community has formulated special laws to protect human rights through the establishment of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and international courts like the International Criminal Court (ICC). The problem statement in this study is divided into three categories: violation of Human Rights Iraq by the US and UK; lack of enforcement by the ICC to prosecute the officials; and the inability of Iraqi victims to claim compensation of war. It is purpose of this study is to identify the weaknesses in IHL that prevents the prosecution of war criminals from the US and UK; identify the jurisdiction of the ICC on violations of human rights, and analyse the compensation system under IHL and the Rome Statute. This study contributes to the development of IHL by suggesting a better protection mechanism for civilians during wars and during occupation by foreign countries. The methodologies adopted are doctrinal and qualitative methodologies which are mainly library research and data collection from interviews of the experts and war victims. The findings of this study revealed that there are crimes against humanity committed by military personnel from the US and UK in Iraq. However, no compensations have been paid to the victims and the perpetrators of war crimes have never been tried in any court of law. The study suggests that provisions in IHL that confer rights on a state and its armed forces to cause damage to properties during times of war or occupation should be repealed. It is suggested that broad definition of victims in giving legal rights to compensation to natural and legal persons who have been directly or indirectly injured because of war should be amended. Finally, the study recommends the establishment of an independent and permanent committee in the United Nations to decide on compensation for victims of war and directly take compensation from guilty states. The UN should also mandate lawyers in occupied territories to investigate and submit reports on the loss of life and damage to people‘s properties due to unlawful acts during wa

Bowdoin College Catalogue (2010-2011)

https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/course-catalogues/1291/thumbnail.jp

The Australian Federal Police as an International Actor: Diplomacy by Default

Under traditional International relations theory, diplomacy relates to relations between sovereign nations. There have been two broad schools of thought on the dynamics behind these relations: the ‘realist’ school, which tends to consider power and conflict as the major lens through which such should be viewed, and the ‘idealist’ school which tended to focus on cooperation rather than conflict. Between these two extreme views, a third school, the English School of International Relations, also known as the British Institutionalists, provides somewhat of a compromise view, acknowledging the merit of both realism and idealism, by accepting that power remains an important element but also advocating that acceptance of common norms and institutions plays a significant role in determining relations, or the International Society between states. In 1977 Hedley Bull offered the following definition of International Society when he stated that International Society … exists when a group of states, conscious of certain common interests and common values, form a society in the sense that they conceive themselves to be bound by a common set of rules in their relations with one another, and share in the working of common institutions. This thesis is not specifically related to International Relations theory, which deals with inter-state relations. Whilst inter-state conflict and international relations remain important drivers of foreign and military policy, there is a growing recognition that it is intra-state conflict avoidance and post-conflict reconstruction which increasingly mitigate the risk to the safety, security, peace and prosperity of nations and regions. Much of this disquiet has its roots in maladministration, poor governance and a lack of justice. These are areas in which traditional approaches to foreign intervention via trade, aid and military force have limited effect, and in which effective consent-based policing and justice can play a significant part in building sustainable and peaceful outcomes. This thesis discusses the role played by a non-traditional actor in the international arena, the police, specifically the Australian Federal Police (AFP), in addressing some of these intra-state justice and governance issues in a constantly changing, unstable and unpredictable global and regional environment. The thesis is intended to outline the diversity and versatility of AFP activities and to contextualise them in terms of non-traditional New Diplomacy. The aspects of diplomacy of most significance relate to diplomatic qualities or traits of the individual police officer, diplomatic behaviours of these members, and diplomatic outcomes of their activities. As such the thesis does not relate directly to International Relations theory or to International Society, as espoused by Hedley Bull. There are, however, some interesting intersections which are worthy of note. There are some critics of the English School who argue that it is Eurocentric. Today’s International Relations originated in the 19th century when a number of European nations formed a club of ‘civilised’ states bound by international law, which expanded around the globe to involve all nations. This concept has been used to explain the lack of imperative for a supra-state or world government to maintain orderly inter-state relations, as the force which binds them is consent to agree to common interest and values within a global rules-based order. In terms of policing on an international scale, global government is simply too unwieldy. There are a number of global, consent-based institutions such as the United Nations and INTERPOL, which fulfil this requirement to a certain extent. The AFP has had long involvement with both of these global institutions, as well as several regional policing institutions. In terms of conflict-oriented ‘realism’ and cooperative ‘idealism’, policing walks both sides of the street. As this thesis will discuss, the whole posture of liberal-democratic policing is conflict prevention, and the means by which such police carry out their daily duties is by cooperation. This is the context in which replication or expansion of International Society should be considered in relation to the activities of the AFP internationally and regionally. This thesis is by definition Eurocentric, or more specifically Anglo-centric, due to the historical fact that the AFP draws all of its principles from Australia’s British antecedents and adheres to a largely ‘western’ or European notion of human rights values. This thesis explores the role of the AFP as an international actor. The thesis asserts that effective international policing has never been more important in linking the international with the domestic. The way the AFP operates in a landscape where traditional policing paradigms are rapidly changing, due to ever-changing, political, diplomatic, and transnational issues, is examined in the context of the ‘globalisation paradox’, of both needing and fearing, global governance simultaneously, as raised by Anne-Marie Slaughter in her book, A New World Order. The way the organisation has evolved from its origins, based on Western liberal-democratic policing values, approaches and skills, to an organisation involved in international policing and diplomacy at the highest levels, while still retaining its liberal-democratic credentials is explained. It is argued that in the contemporary international and Australian context, the AFP is an effective and experienced agency. It is further argued that this is a distinctive form of new diplomacy, appropriate to an increasingly globalised world. The AFP has established an extensive international network in more than 30 countries, has been a consistent contributor to national security, has participated in numerous international deployments over half a century, and continues to play a meaningful role in Australian foreign policy efforts. The thesis provides evidence to show how AFP officers exhibit diplomatic qualities similar to those listed by Daryl Copeland in his book Guerrilla Diplomacy , as well as those mentioned by Christopher Meyer in his book Getting Our Way. In all of its international endeavours, AFP members have demonstrated, in varying degrees, the three enduring elements of diplomacy as outlined by Jonsson and Hall in their book The Essence of Diplomacy. They have communicated and negotiated in some very challenging circumstances and they are representatives of the Australian Government and its humanitarian values. The AFP, as part of broader efforts with institutions such as the UN, have not so much sought a replication of international society, as mentioned by Jonsson and Hall, but have provided a supplement to international society, by effective networking, thereby addressing in large part, Slaughter’s ‘globalisation paradox’. It is not so much universal police homogeneity which is sought by such endeavours, as a balance between it, and the heterogeneity which is inevitably associated with cultures transitioning from custom and tradition, to 21st century expectations of nationhood. The way the AFP’s transnational operations, activities, and deployments, not only serve perceived national interests, but result in more effective regional governance, is identified as ‘diplomacy by default’, because formal Track I diplomacy is not their primary objective. It will be demonstrated how international diplomacy, while generally conducted with perceived national interests as its primary goal, has a secondary benefit, good international citizenship, and that the AFP has a credible history of serving both. It is argued that the AFP is well positioned within government, law and intelligence and security circles, in the Australian and international contexts, through an extensive liaison officer network in South-East Asia, the South-West Pacific as well as more broadly. It will be demonstrated how the AFP has shown itself as capable and ready to respond effectively to extant and emerging challenges, and as such, has earned a place in foreign policy discussions and considerations at the highest diplomatic levels, including the UN. The AFP provides a distinctive and direct link between the global, the regional, and the domestic, which matches the rapidly globalised community it represents. The thesis confirms that international policing acts as a distinctive aspect of Australian ‘firm’ diplomacy, and supplements the more traditional elements of international engagement, between the ‘soft’ or traditional diplomacy, and the ‘hard’ form of military intervention. The evidence provided shows how it is by this form of whole-of-government activity, inclusive of policing, that stability and security are enhanced, and peace and prosperity are encouraged. Overall, the thesis affirms the AFP as a transnational agency, which is well placed to link the international with the domestic, the contextual with the aspirational, and the theoretical with the practical, in a period of strategic uncertainty in international affairs at the dawn of the Third Millennium