Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 59 Part 2.djvu/873

 1556 INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS OTHER THAN TREATIES [59 STAT. Article 5. In case of need and depending on the number of the matters to be tried, other Tribunals may be set up; and the establishment, functions, and procedure of each Tribunal shall be identical, and shall begoverned by this Charter. II. JURISDICTION AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES. Article 6. The Tribunal established by the Agreement referred to in Article 1 hereof for the trial and punishment of the major war criminals of the European Axis countries shall have the power to try and punish per- sons who, acting in the interests of the European Axis countries, whether as individuals or as members of organisations, committed any of the following crimes. The following acts, or any of them, are crimes coming within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal for which there shall be individual re- sponsibility: (a) CRIMES AGAINST PEACE: namely, planning, preparation, initia- tion or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances, or participa- tion in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing; (b) WAR CRIMES: namely, violations of the laws or customs of war. Such violations shall include, but not be limited to, murder, ill-treatment or deporation to slave labour or for any other purpose of 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: namely, murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population, before or during the war; ['] or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds in execu- tion of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where perpetrated. Leaders, organisers, instigators and accomplices participating in the formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy to com- mit any of the foregoing crimes are responsible for all acts performed by any persons in execution of such plan. Article 7. The official position of defendants, whether as Heads of State or responsible officials in Government Departments, shall not be con- sidered as freeing them from responsibility or mitigating punishment. ' [The contracting governments signed a protocol at Berlin on Oct. 6,1945 (post, p. 1586) which provides that this semicolon in the English text should be changed to a comma.]

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