Writing History in International Criminal Trials

Richard Ashby Wilson is Gladstein Distinguished Chair of Human Rights, Professor of Anthropology and Law, and Director of the Human Rights Institute, at the University of Connecticut. He is the author of The Politics of Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa (2001) and editor or co-editor of six books, including Culture and Rights, Human Rights and the 'War on Terror' and Humanitarianism and Suffering. He has held a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities (2009–10) and has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Oslo, the New School for Social Research and the University of the Witwatersrand. Presently he serves as Chair of the State Advisory Committee for the US Civil Rights Commission.

• 1. Assessing court histories of mass crimes; 2. What does the 'international' actually mean for international criminal trials?; 3. Contrasting evidence: international and common law approaches to expert testimony; 4. Does history have any legal relevance in international criminal trials?; 5. From monumental history to micro-histories; 6. Exoneration and mitigation in defense histories; 7. Misjudging Rwandan society and history at the international criminal tribunal for Rwanda; 8. Permanent justice: the international criminal court; 9. Conclusion: new directions in international criminal trials.

"How well do international criminal courts craft historical understandings of genocide, massacre and other grave violations of human rights? And how well do recent efforts to highlight such traumatic history in international trials promote sound judicial outcomes? These questions not only torment survivors, but should preoccupy everyone concerned with the cause of international criminal justice. Bringing to these issues the skills of a legal anthropologist, a learned appreciation of international humanitarian law and a refined legal sensibility, Richard Wilson provides answers based on path breaking new research. The first full-dress examination of this topic, this is a splendid book that should dominate the discussion of this important topic." Michael R. MarrusChancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies, University of Toronto