International Citizens' Tribunals: Mobilizing Public Opinion to Advance Human Rights

Klinghoffer, A.

When faced with injustice what can a concerned citizen do? In 1933, when Hitler tried to blame Communists for setting the German parliament on fire, a group of European and American lawyers responded by staging a countertrial, which proved them innocent and eventually led to their release. A new unofficial way of advancing human rights was thus launched. This groundbreaking study narrates the history of such 'citizens tribunals' from this first astonishing success to the mixed record of subsequent efforts-including tribunals on the Moscow show trials, the American war in Vietnam, Japanese sexual slavery, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and the excesses of 'global capitalism'.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2002-04-15

Format: Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9780312293871

DOI: 10.1057/9780312299163

Dimensions: 216cm x140cm

Pages: 256