Public LectureCrime and Responsibility: War, Indiscriminate Bombing and Mass KillingSpeaker: Professor Yuki Tanaka, Organised by Japanese for Peace (JfP) with the Medical Association for Prevention of War Date: Wednesday, 5 September 2007, 7:00 pm -8.30pm Venue: Frederick Wood Jones lecture theatre, Level 3 (one floor above
ground floor), Medical Building, University of Melbourne, Free entry Prof. Tanaka recently coordinated the International Peoples' Tribunal on the Dropping of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This lecture examines the criminality of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the responsibility of a group of American political and military leaders who were closely involved in the decision-making and executing the order to drop the bombs. The criminality is examined in accordance with international law effective at the time that the bombs were dropped and in the light of the Charter of the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal. The lecture also examines the history and present situation of indiscriminate aerial bombing of civilian populations. It examines how the use of this tactic started, what kind of military logic was used to justify it, and why it is still being widely sanctioned despite the fact that large numbers of civilians are repeatedly victimized in various war-torn regions of the world. It further explores how we should utilize the result of the International Peoplesユ Tribunal of Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to increase understanding of the fact that killing civilians is a crime against humanity regardless of the asserted military justification. His recent works include: *Japan's Comfort Women: Sexual Slavery and Prostitution during World War II and the US Occupation (Foreword by Susan Brownmiller), 2002. *Hidden Horrors: Japanese War Crimes in World War II (with Foreword by John Dower), 1996. *Hiroshima: A Tragedy Never To Be Repeated, 1998. JfP (www.jfp.org.au) Enquiries：info@jfp.org.au |