International War Crimes Tribunal

Two International War Crimes Tribunals were convened by the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, the first concerned with the Vietnam War and the second with repression in Latin America.

The first Tribunal was founded in 1966 by Bertrand Russell (1872-1970, an eminent British philosopher whose contributions to the understanding of the foundations of mathematics were crucial for twentith-century philosophy. Russell was awarded the Order of Merit in 1949 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. He was also well known for his social and political activism, having been imprisoned in 1918 for anti-war activity and in 1961 for his anti-nuclear weapons protests. His appeal in 1966 to convene an International War Crimes Tribunal to expose and condemn American actions in Vietnam was not a surprise, but was widely viewed with skepticism by the public and the press all over the world. Ralph Schoenmann, Russell’s secretary, was even accused of manipulating the 94-year-old philosopher.

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