SCHINDLERS LIST and PUBILC INTERNATIONAL LAW

The movie, Schindlers List, inculcates different public international law

issues that is worthy of discussion in modern times and has in fact become the
very core why international laws, conventions and treaties were perfected to
avoid the deaths and atrocities in the Holocaust to ever transpire again.
GENOCIDE. The movie revolves around the adversities of Jews and how
they were regarded as an inferior race by the Nazis. This resulted to mass killings
regardless of status in society, gender, age, physique as long as youre a Jew,
then youre doomed to die. The UN Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide is the governing rule on crimes like this.
FAIR TRIAL & DUE PROCESS. Summary executions were prevalent in the
movie. Justice were at the hands of the Nazis, courts were inexistent for Jews and
decisions were made based on the whims of the enemies. Although due process
per se is not a codified rule all nations must adhere to, it is part of the general
principles of law which constitutes customary international law being recognized
by civilized nations.
UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE. The unlikely hero of the movie, Oscar
Schindler, was also guilty of unfair labor practice. His decision to hire Jews due to
lower wages and no benefits compared to hiring Germans was in contrary to the
basic principle of labor Equal pay for equal work. A hint of child labor was also
evident in the film. The International Labor Organization (ILO) Declaration on
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work adopted ... the elimination of forced
or compulsory labour, the abolition of child labour and the elimination of
discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
STATELESSNESS. Jews were stripped of their German nationality during
the Holocaust period which rendered them as stateless persons or refugees in
their own country. German Jews who worked and fought for the German
government were not spared and suffered the same treatment. The 1954
Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention
on the Reduction of Statelessness are the key international conventions
addressing statelessness.
VARIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES. Other international law dilemmas and
human rights issues depicted in the movie includes torture, slavery, right to travel
and the right to freely practice religion, among others. Most of these is covered in
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Undeniably, the Holocaust as portrayed in the movie Schindlers List is one
of the darkest times in human history.