Academic Programs From
Case Western Reserve University

Bringing a diverse range of academic perspectives on local, national, and global issues to audiences around the world.

Case Western Reserve University

frame image
frame image

Programs for the Topic ‘International Law’


Friday, February 4th, 2011


Katyn: Justice Delayed or Justice Denied? Panel Three – Part B

Panel Chair

Michael Scharf, Director, Frederick K. Cox International Law Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Panelists

Hon. David Crane, Founding Chief Prosecutor; Special Court for Sierra Leone

Maria Szonert-Binienda, Esq., President, Libra Institute, Inc.

Hon. Stephen Rapp, U.S. Ambassador-at-large for War Crimes Issues

William A. Schabas, Director, Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway

Friday February 4, 2011, 8:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m.

Sponsored by the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law

The topic of panel three is was Katyn a genocide?

The Katyn massacre of 1940 involved murders at the Katyn forest and in other locations throughout the Soviet Union of over 22,000 Polish officers, prisoners of war, and members of the Polish leading elite, by a single shot to the back of each of their heads. For 50 years, this massacre was subject to a massive cover up. Initially the Soviet Union blamed the Nazis for the murders, saying that the killings took place in 1941 when the territory was in German hands. It was not until 1990 that the Russian government admitted that the executions actually took place in 1940 and were carried out by the Soviet secret police. In 1990, Russian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation into the massacre, but the case was terminated in 2004, its findings were classified as top secret, and it appeared that the tragedy would once again be subject to “historical amnesia.”

The objective of the Katyn Symposium is to bring together leading international experts in jurisprudence, international criminal law, and the Katyn crime, as well as representatives from Poland and Russia, to discuss the events in a neutral setting. A diverse group of highly qualified scholars will present Polish, Russian and third party expert views on the KatyƱ murders in four panel sessions, followed by a round-table discussion.

Continue Reading – Katyn: Justice Delayed or Justice Denied? Panel Three — Part B