There’s a parenthetical statement in there, Your Honors will note.
“But it is argued that the Hague Convention does not apply in this case, because of the ‘general participation’ clause of article 2 of the Hague Convention of 1907. * * *.
“In the opinion of the Tribunal it is not necessary to decide this question. The rules of land warfare expressed in the Convention undoubtedly represented an advance over existing international law at the time of their adoption. But the Convention expressly stated that it was an attempt ‘to revise the general laws and customs of war’, which it thus recognized to be then existing, but by 1939 these rules laid down in the Convention were recognized by all civilized nations, and were regarded as being declaratory of the laws and customs of war which are referred to in Article 6 (b) of the Charter.
“A further submission was made that Germany was no longer bound by the Rules of Land Warfare in many of the territories occupied during the war, because Germany had completely subjugated those countries and incorporated them into the German Reich, a fact which gave Germany authority to deal with the occupied countries as though they were a part of Germany. * * *. The doctrine was never considered to be applicable so long as there was an army in the field attempting to restore the occupied countries to their true owners, and in this case, therefore, the doctrine could not apply to any territories occupied after 1 September 1939. As to the war crimes committed in Bohemia and Moravia, it is a sufficient answer that these territories were never added to the Reich, but a mere protectorate was established over them.
“* * * but from the beginning of the war in 1939 war crimes were committed on a vast scale, which were also crimes against humanity; and insofar as the inhumane acts charged in the indictment, and committed after the beginning of the war, did not constitute war crimes, they were all committed in execution of, or in connection with, the aggressive war, and therefore constituted crimes against humanity.”[43]
It is proper to point out also, that in order to establish the guilt of any of these defendants for crimes against humanity, it is not necessary that they themselves shall be indicted for or convicted of a crime against peace; that is, the waging of aggressive war, which the IMT held began on 1 September 1939.
In the trial before the IMT the record discloses that seven defendants were convicted of crimes against humanity, who either were not indicted for, or were found not guilty of, participation in a conspiracy to commit crimes against peace or of the commission of a crime against peace.
We want to discuss briefly the substantive law under which we try this case.
Law No. 10, article II, paragraph 2 is part of the substantive law under which this indictment is brought. An effective presentation of the meaning and effect of this paragraph is aided by presenting those parts of it which are relevant to this case verbatim at this time:
“Any person without regard to nationality or the capacity in which he acted is deemed to have committed a crime as defined in paragraph 1 of this article, if he was (a) a principal, or (b) was an accessory to the commission of any such crime or ordered or abetted the same or (c) took a consenting part therein or (d) was connected with plans or enterprises involving its commission or (e) was a member of any organization or group connected with the commission of any such crime or * * *.”[44]