Sook Ching war crimes trials program, Oct. 28, 2021

ASIAN LEGAL HISTORY SEMINAR SERIES

Revisiting the ‘Sook Ching’ war crimes trials: community demands and the doing of justice

Speaker: Dr. Cheah W. L. (National University of Singapore)
Respondent: Dr. Kwong Chi Man (Hong Kong Baptist University)

In the immediate aftermath of WWII, the British military conducted hundreds of war crimes trials across Southeast Asia. Altogether 306 trials involving 920 defendants were held in Singapore, Malaya, Hong Kong, Burma, and Borneo. The informal and expedited nature of these military trials sets them apart from the Tokyo and Nuremberg trials as well as more legalistic contemporary international criminal law trials. Their implementation was facilitated by their informal and non-legalistic nature as many British trial personnel did not hold legal qualifications. Unlike present-day war crimes trials, these trials did not have law-making or expository ambitions. This presentation focuses on a set of trials referred to as the ‘Sook Ching’ trials, which dealt with the arbitrary massacre of Chinese residents suspected of being ‘hostile’ elements by Japanese soldiers across Southeast Asia during WWII. The ‘Sook Ching’ trials were subject to close public scrutiny, and the atrocities prosecuted continue to prominently feature in Southeast Asian intergenerational wartime memories. Like other British military trials in the region, these ‘Sook Ching’ trials were conducted pursuant to British military law which incorporated the laws of war. However, there was little discussion about positive law and its content in these trials. Instead of relying on specific legal provisions, trial actors examined questions of harm and responsibility by referring to moral and common-sense ideas. Trial transcripts and military records also show British military personnel struggling to accommodate the harsh demands of Chinese community leaders. This talk explores the tensions that arose as trial organisers sought to deal with the demands of victim communities. The talk will also discuss the public outreach and education efforts of the Singapore War Crimes Trials Project: https://www.singaporewarcrimestrials.com/
 
Date: Thursday 28th October, 2021
Time: 3:30-5:00
Please register: https://forms.gle/GchrDBkMD8m7scDh7  

Conveners
Dr. Michael Ng
Dr. Alastair McClure

All Welcome
Registration Required
Enquiries amcclure@hku.hk   or michaeln@hku.hk