Documenting International Justice:
My Summer Working on a Human Rights Film
This summer I had the opportunity to approach human rights work from an unusual perspective: I worked on a documentary film entitled “Choir from the Mass Graves” with Canadian producer Judy Jackson.
The film is a feature documentary about war crimes and the re-emergence of international justice. It asserts that the bold vision of international justice espoused by the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials faded over 50 years ago with their conclusion. For almost half a century, dictators committed war crimes and gross human rights abuses with impunity, while the world stood by, paralysed by Cold War politics. The documentary traces the re-birth of the international justice movement in the 1990’s from the Ad Hoc tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, to the arrest of General Pinochet in London, to the establishment of the International Criminal Court in 2002. It also examines Canada’s leadership role in promoting international human rights and establishing international legal institutions.
What makes this film particularly compelling is its narrative format. It interweaves three individual victim stories with broader themes of justice. Each case study is filmed as a detective story, allowing the survivor’s experience to be shared, and aiding in their search for the truth. By tracing the killers’ orders through the chain of “command responsibility,” the “intellectual authors” of the crimes are eventually identified. Moreover, by choosing representative victims from different parts of the globe, the documentary aims to compare and contrast the relative effectiveness of various models of international justice emerging throughout the world.
My work on the film focused on the Sierra Leone situation in particular. I researched the history of the country from colonial times to the present and examined the causes of the civil war and the personalities involved. The prolonged war saw the perpetration of widespread war crimes, including mass amputations and unprecedented enslavement and military conscription of children. After the cessation of hostilities, the local and world communities demanded that perpetrators of these crimes be brought to justice.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone was established to try the people who bear the greatest responsibility for the crimes committed. It is a unique hybrid court, combining national and international (UN) administration. As well, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was created to establish the historical record and facilitate healing in the war-ravaged country. I examined the unique legal structure and powers of these two institutions, and the ways in which they interacted with each other. It was particularly interesting to research the practicalities of their day-to-day operations (which are critical when filming a documentary) and the reactions of Sierra Leoneans to these institutions of justice. The assistance of two other U of T IHRP students who spent their summer in Sierra Leone interning at the Special Court and the TRC was very helpful.
Because filmmaking is a very practical endeavour, I also had the opportunity to do work other than legal and background research. I found leads for potential individual stories, and established contact with local agencies that agreed to lend their assistance when filming begins on location.
After working on this project, I believe that filmmaking is an unconventional, yet very valuable way of contributing to the advancement of international human rights. Especially during this critical period of development for international legal institutions, it is crucial to educate the public and create support for international human rights law.
The film will air in early 2005 on the History Channel.
Michael Vital