You're listening to season nine of Mobile Suit Breakdown, a weekly podcast covering the entirety of Sci-fi mega franchise Mobile Suit Gundam, researching its influences, examining its themes, and discussing how each piece of the Gundam canon fits within the changing context in Japan and the world from 1979 to today.
U. This is episode 9.8. Your fave is a War Criminal, Part One, and we are your hosts. I'm Tom, Gundam fan and dusting off my old law books for this very special episode.
And I'm Nina. And while I won't tell you the exact date, I will say that we celebrated our wedding anniversary this week, and it feels appropriate that we spent the day much the same way we spent our first meeting talking about nerd stuff.
Nerd.
Mobile Soup Breakdown is made possible by 712 paying subscribers. Thank you all for keeping us genki, and special thanks to new patron John J. And to those of you who rejoined or increased your pledges this past week. One of this year's Pin promo extras arrived this week, and it looks great. The other is expected to arrive at the end of this month or very beginning of October. As for regular merch for our Mr. Mie and Lieutenant Matilda Tier patrons, I'm afraid the holdup is me. These boxes always include a piece of original art. In the past, I've done Calligraphy Watercolors and Prints, and this year's art needs a couple more tweaks before it's ready. Once that's done, we will be able to unveil all the merch box contents and start mailing them out. If you subscribe at one of the tiers I mentioned, now is a good time to make sure your mailing address is up to date on Patreon exclusive merch is one of the many benefits of becoming a paid subscriber. Depending on the tier, subscribers also get access to episodes one week before they go public, bonus content, access to a patron only discord, and more. For full details and to subscribe today, visit gundampodcast.com slash patreon. And now Tom's research on war crimes in first.
Gundam character might be a war Criminal If you're even a little bit plugged into the online Gundam fandom, you have probably seen people throwing around the term war criminal to describe Gundam characters, sometimes as a joke, sometimes seriously. But these claims almost never identify the specific alleged war crimes or the facts and circumstances giving rise to those allegations. Then recently, as part of Mobile Suit Breakdown season eight, nina and I watched the animated adaptations of the Shima Garahao focused radio drama Mayfly of Space. Mayfly makes a few references to war crimes committed by Xeon forces during the one year war. In particular, there is a news broadcast announcing that Shima's fellow Granada Marine and drinking buddy Gail Hunt has been convicted and sentenced to death as a Class B war criminal. The term Class B war criminal is a reference to the system used to classify alleged war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, better known as the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal. They divided the alleged crimes into three classes A, B and C. Class A was for those high level imperial officials accused of planning, instigating and executing the Empire's wars of conquest. The Tribunal classified these as crimes against peace. The Class B offenses were ordinary war crimes, that is to say, breaches of the laws of war as they were understood at the time. While Class C was for crimes against humanity, around 5000 people, mostly low ranking officers, were convicted of Class B and C offenses, and more than 900 of them were executed. Over in Europe, the Nuremberg Trials used a similar tripartite classification scheme, but the lettered A, B and C designations were unique to the Tokyo Tribunal, so there's no doubt about the reference that mayfly of space is trying to make. That got me wondering about other war crimes in Gundam. Did Haro do crimes? Does Bright Noah belong in the dock at the Space Hague? And just who is the greatest monster of the one year war? To answer those questions, I'm going to go through the three first Gundam compilation movies mobile Suit, Gundam, Soldiers of Sorrow, and Encounters in Space to separate the really criminal actions from the merely dubious. Because there are so many potential war crimes, I'm going to need to break this into two separate podcasts. This week I will cover the first movie, and next week I'll cover the remaining two. Before I begin, a disclaimer is in order. While I am a retired lawyer, and while my practice did at times deal with international law and crimes of an international character, I never dealt with war crimes, and none of what I'm about to say should be construed as legal advice. If you find yourself in a situation where you need legal advice about war crimes, you should talk to a qualified practicing lawyer. Which, just to be absolutely clear, I am not unspoken. Thank goodness for my definition of war crimes. I will be adopting that used by the International Criminal Court in the Hague and set forth in the Rome Statute of 1998. Article Eight. Section Two of the Rome Statute defines war crimes as a any of eight specified grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 b any of 26 specified serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict, and c a subset of those that are applicable in conflicts, quote, not of an international character. For our purposes, we only need to focus on Sections A and B of Article Eight throughout this piece. Whenever you hear me refer to section A, four or B eight, you should just assume that I mean, article eight, section A, subsection four and so on. I do expect that the definition of war crimes used in the universal century probably does not strictly match the one we use today. But since Gundam's owners have not seen fit to publish a treatise on the jurisdiction and practices of the Interside Criminal Court in the Space Hague. I think this is the best resource available. The Geneva Conventions mentioned in section A deserve a special note here. They are a set of seven treaties, four main conventions, and three supplementary protocols that set forth special rules for times of armed conflict meant to protect those not taking part in the hostilities. The four conventions have been ratified by 196 states, including all 193 members of the United Nations, making them among the most broadly accepted treaties in human history. The First Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field was held in 1864, and it resulted in a treaty between twelve European states agreeing to certain protections for soldiers rendered unable to fight by wounds or illness, as well as the civilians caring for them. This first Convention was repeatedly revised and expanded in the ensuing years, with major revisions following each of the world wars, ultimately resulting in the four Geneva Conventions of 1949. The first covers the treatment of sick and wounded soldiers. The second adapts those same protections to the specific context of naval warfare. The third governs treatment of prisoners of war, and the fourth protects noncombatant civilians caught up in the war. Each Convention specifies a subset of prohibited actions that rise to the level of grave breaches, what we call war crimes. Determining whether an alleged war crime is actually a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions frequently turns on whether the victim is or is not a protected person within the terms of the Conventions. The first conventions. Article 13, for example, extends its protection to wounded and sick persons if they are either members of armed forces involved in the conflict, members of militia or volunteer resistance organizations operating within their own territory, and behaving like a formal military civilians accompanying the armed forces, such as war correspondents or supply contractors, the crews of civilian aircraft and ships or the inhabitants of nonoccupied territory, who, upon the approach of the enemy, take up arms and carry them openly according to the customary laws of war, but who have not had time to organize themselves into formal military units. Interestingly and important for later. The Fourth Convention, the one that protects civilians during war, limits many, but not all, of its protections to persons who are, at a given moment, subject to the power of a party, to the conflict of which they are not nationals. Meaning that there are certain things a state can do to its own citizens that would be war crimes if done to the enemy. Underlying all of these treaties is the philosophical idea that war is a legitimate exercise of a state's sovereignty, fought between soldiers acting as agents of the belligerent states in order to achieve concrete political ends. That war is not personal. It is not a brutal struggle of two peoples with triumph for the victors and annihilation for the losers. Enemy soldiers are fellow professionals engaged in what the Prussian General Karl von Klausvitz called the continuation of policy by other means. As such, they are entitled to be treated with dignity and consideration should they be rendered unable to fight or otherwise fall into your hands, and you hope that they will extend the same courtesy to you should the situation be reversed. In this view, civilians who do not take part in the fighting are not really parties to the war, and so they should be protected from its horrors as much as possible. The Fourth Convention says it thus protected persons are entitled in all circumstances to respect for their persons, their honor, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs. They shall at all times be humanely treated and shall be protected especially against all acts of violence or threats thereof, and against insults and public curiosity. Besides the eight grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, the Rome Statute also criminalizes serious violations of the laws and customs of international armed conflict. This list is longer and broader, covering victims who might not qualify as protected persons under the Conventions, and codifying both long established military custom, like respect for the flag of truce, as well as new prohibitions inspired by the fresh horrors of modern industrial warfare, such as a ban on the use of poison gas. Thus, while the poison gas attacks on civilian colonies depicted in Mayfly of Space don't actually appear in First Gundam, I can still tell you by way of example, that they amount to war crimes. Under Article Eight, section Two, subsection A, one willful killing of protected persons a three willfully causing great suffering to protected persons b one, attacking civilians b four, causing excessive incidental civilian death b Five, attacking undefended places b 17 employing poison and B 18 employing deadly asphyxiating or toxic gas. Given the operation's nature and its objectives, it also seems likely that someone in a position of command gave orders that there should be no survivors, which would be the war crime of denying quarter. Section B Twelve getting into the Movies Properly now, the first thing we see at the beginning of movie one is the colony Drop, aka Operation British. The movie doesn't tell us much about it, but we know from other later sources that the colony was meant to strike Federation military headquarters in Jabaro, and that the devastation it caused to the rest of the world was incidental to that purpose. Here's where things get a bit tricky. It is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions to commit extensive destruction or appropriation of protected property which a civilian colony would be, unless the appropriation or destruction is justified by military necessity. That's section A Four it is also a serious violation of the customary laws of war to conduct an attack knowing that there will be incidental harm to civilians or the environment if that harm is disproportionate to the legitimate military advantage to be gained. That's section B four.
So many very subjective terms that's the.
Law destroying the enemy high Command is a legitimate military objective and one that offers very significant military advantages. Xeon High Command seems to think that this one blow will be enough to end the war, and we know from external sources again, that it very nearly did. But on the other hand, is it necessary enough? Is it advantageous enough? Does that military objective justify an attack that caused the deaths of billions of noncombatants? No, of course it doesn't. And I'll defer to the movie itself here when it calls these actions atrocities that horrified all of humanity. Operation British was a war crime. It was also a crime against humanity. But that is a different question for a different day. Things get a lot more personal when slender denim jeans reconnoiter and then attack the side Seven colony cylinder where most of our heroes still civilians at this point live. I was careful to note here that Denim and Jean are never shown intentionally attacking civilians or civilian structures. They start their mission by observing that there are precious few civilians visible in the colony. The Zaku pilots concentrate their attacks on the Federation military facility and its defenders. Now, at about 11 minutes, a stray shot from one of the Zakus does kill a group of civilians. But watching the scene, it seems that the pilot was attacking legitimate military targets and did not know that the civilians were there when he opened fire. Since Gene did not know that he was attacking protected persons and did not intend to attack them, and since the incidental risk of civilian harm does not seem clearly excessive when compared to the military advantage to be gained, from destroying the Federation's experimental mobile suit development facility. Especially given that Gene has already observed the streets are empty and most civilians are already in their shelters. Gene is not a war criminal.
Is Gene Somebody's favorite? Is Jean your favorite nina?
If there's one thing I've learned from making this podcast, it's that everybody is somebody's fave. On the Federation side, we have to ask whether Federation High Command intended to use the presence of civilians inside Seven to shield the Operation V facilities from attack. Essentially, were they using protected civilians as human shields to defend an otherwise legitimate military target? This is complicated by the unique nature of the space colony. If you put a military base inside a colony, it does not matter how far away from the civilian population it is, any attack on the base will necessarily endanger the other inhabitants of the colony, because any damage to a colony imperils all of its inhabitants. This is the kind of thing that I would expect to see addressed in Universal Century jurisprudence. In the absence of a clear rule one way or the other, I'm going to look for evidence of intent. Did the federal forces intend to use the civilians as human shields in this case? I think the Federation is in the clear based on a passing comment made by Frabo to Hayato about how their families were made to relocate away from the side seven base when it was built. That does not look like the behavior of an army trying to hide behind the civilian population. Speaking of the civilian population, let's now look at Amuro's actions during the attack on side seven. After commandeering the Gundam, he attacks the two Zakus. He kills Jean, while the latter attempts to retreat and unwittingly triggers an explosion that seriously damages the colony. There's no prohibition against attacking retreating enemies. It would be a different matter had Jean offered his surrender. Amuro's reaction to the explosion plainly shows that he was not aware it could do that. No war crimes detected here. After the initial attack ends, the Federal forces enlist a number of civilian children from side seven to participate in the fighting. Some, like Mirai, Hayato and FRA, are quick to volunteer, while others need to be compelled to fight through threats or, as in the cases of Amaro and Kai, through violence. This incident potentially implicates several sections of the Rome Statute, specifically sections two A five and two B 15 which both address the war crime of compelling participation in military operations, as well as two B 26 covering the conscription or enlistment or use in active combat of children. People frequently cite this as evidence that Bright Noah is a war criminal, but that doesn't stand up to analysis. The prohibition on compelling participation in military operations only applies if a hostile power forces someone to fight against their own side. Since the civilians in question are, with one exception, Federation nationals, it is not a war crime under the Rome Statute. To conscript them. Whether it's legal or not is a matter for the Federation's own internal domestic law. The exception I mentioned is, of course, Artesia Somdaikun, aka Salem, Mass. Native of side three. If she were coerced by act or threat to take part in military operations against Xeon, then that could be a war crime. Fortunately for Bright and Captain Paolo, this is a non issue. Sela did not need to be coerced to join the federal forces. She did so eagerly and of her own volition. As for the conscription of civilian children and their subsequent active participation in combat well, that would be a war crime under the Rome Statute if any of them were under the age of 15. So conscripting 15 year old Amuro to pilot the Gundam at the start of the movie not a war crime. Enlisting 14 year old Judo Ashta to pilot the Zeta Gundam at the beginning of Double Zeta. Definite war crime. Among the White base crew, only the orphan trio of Kika, Cats and Lets fits this description. And at least at this point in the story, they are still just more refugees along for the ride. Having the kids deliver food and water to other refugees shouldn't count as using them actively in hostilities. Here is an interesting detail, though. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, the parties to the conflict are obliged to ensure that children under 15, orphaned or separated from their families as a result of the war are transferred into the protection of a neutral power for the duration of the conflict. Furthermore, children under twelve should be given some kind of badge or other marking to identify them as such. Fortunately for Frabo, her refusal to send the children off to side six wearing adorable little homemade I'm baby buttons, does not amount to a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and does not make her a war criminal. Things are relatively straightforward during the White base's return to Earth and the running battle they fight against Garmazabi across North America. The movie version makes big cuts to the story here, and in doing so it removes at least one unambiguous war crime shah asnabal's point blank murder of three refugees. In episode eleven of the series, things get dicey again at around 1 hour and 40 minutes when Amara returns to his hometown to find it devastated by a Xeon air raid and overrun by ill disciplined Federation soldiers. First, he visits his childhood home and finds it occupied by a squad of soldiers, who, having busted open the liquor cabinet and drunk its contents, are now making Mary in the trashed living room. If these were Xeon soldiers in occupied territory, this would be the war crime of unlawful appropriation of protected Property, Section Two A Four. But even though they are Federation soldiers operating in Federation territory, appropriating the property of a Federation citizen, they are still committing the war crime of pillage under the broader provisions of Section Two B 16. Later, Amaro sees a pair of soldiers humiliating a civilian vendor for sport using the old oh, I dropped my money, you pick it up trick. This could potentially implicate Section Two B 21, which forbids soldiers from humiliating, degrading or otherwise violating the dignity of another person during an international armed conflict, provided that the severity of the humiliation was of such a degree as to be generally recognized as an outrage upon personal dignity. That's very subjective in this case, I don't believe the humiliation in question rises to that fairly severe level, but it is a cruel, humiliating thing to do to a person that you're supposed to be protecting. Later still, Amuro visits a refugee camp where his mother is volunteering. The camp is located near a Zeon base, and those soldiers conduct regular inspections. Amuro's visit is interrupted by one such inspection, and he hides himself among the refugees, concealing his uniform with a blanket and pretending to be sick. Unfortunately, a noise from his communicator draws the enemy soldier's attention. On the verge of being discovered, Amuro shoots one soldier while still concealed by the blanket and the other one flees. This looks bad for Amuro. By pretending to be a sick refugee, Amuro has invited the Xeon soldiers to believe that he is entitled to protection under the laws of war. As an incapacitated noncombatant. Having invited their confidants, he then betrays it and kills one of them. This is textbook perfidy and a violation of section Two B Eleven of the Rome Statute. Amaro's lawyer at the Space Hag might argue that he did not initiate the deception intending to kill anyone. But that's a losing argument. He did intend to deceive them to exploit the laws of war to his own improper benefit and ultimately to betray their trust, exploiting it to make good his escape. What's more, the killing here was not accidental and it was done while he was still concealed. At some point, Amuro decided to commit this profidious crime and then he carried out that intention. Amuro Rey is a war criminal. In light of this, I would like to suggest a change to the movie's script. After the shooting, Amuro's mother scolds him and says it's not right to point guns at people. This line should be removed and replaced by a more accurate one. If I may suggest, she should say it's not right to invite the confidence or belief of one or more persons that you are entitled to protection under the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict. And then to make use of that confidence in the treacherous killing or injuring of said person or persons. It just rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it? But there is a twist to all of this. Amaro would, assuming that the procedural rules don't change between now and UC 79, be the beneficiary of a loophole in the Rome Statute. Being either 15 or 16 years old, he has a birthday. During the course of the show, he is considered old enough to fight. But because he is younger than 18, the International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction over his alleged war crimes. The idea is that children acting as soldiers are primarily victims, not perpetrators, and that they need rehabilitation more than punishment. Hopefully, once this blasted war is over, Amuro will finally get the intensive therapy he needs to become a stable, happy, well adjusted adult. But that's where we'll end for today, with Amuro Rey confirmed to be a perfidious war criminal. Did I miss anything? Do you think my reasoning is off? Want to hear me do this kind of analysis for later shows? Send us an email at hosts@gundampodcast.com and I might address your points next week or in a future episode.
Next time on Episode 9.9 your Fave is a War criminal. Part Two Tom continues his analysis through the second and third for Scundam compilation movies. Until then, stay genki, folks, and don't.
Do any war crimes.
I guess unless you're under 18. You could cut that if you want.
I just think it's kind of funny.
That the whole, like under 18 walks away queen apparently applies to war crimes also. But that makes sense depending on how you define child. We do not consider children as culpable for their actions as we do adults.
It's just funny that there's this category where no one can be punished for using you in the war and you can't be punished for the things that you do in the war. Yeah, which this looks like moral hazard. This looks like a situation where armies are incentivized to recruit as many 16 year olds as possible, and having the.
16 year olds do all the worst.
Stuff as long as they're put into situations where you, the commanding officer, could not possibly know that they were doing it or stop them. Because you do have a command responsibility to prevent the people under your authority from doing war crimes.
But see, now I'm just imagining like roving bands of 16 year olds committing the most horrific actions imaginable to just like an entire war of Lord of the Flies esque activity.
Mobile Suit Breakdown is written, recorded and produced by us, Tom and Nina in scenic New York City within the ancestral and unceded land of the Lenape people and made possible by listeners like you. The opening track is Wasp by Misha Dioxen. The closing music is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio you can find links to the sources for our research, the music used in the episode, additional information about the Lenape people and more in the show notes and on our website Gundampodcast.com. You can get in touch with us on Twitter or Instagram at gundampodcast or by email to hosts@gundampodcast.com and thank you for listening.
Exclusive merch is one of many benefits of becoming a paid subscriber.
Sorry, I got the nerves. I'm sorry.
Just going to give you a minute.
I'm good. I'm fine.
Pull yourself together, man.
Sam. Sam.