Latest news with #PhilippeSands
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Book review: Horrific figures of history who refused to accept their crimes
One of the great puzzles that faced the prosecutors and jailors at the Nuremberg trials was the fact that none of the 24 defendants charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity could genuinely understand why they were in the dock. After the war, most Nazis refused to accept that they had done anything wrong. They really believed that they were fighting for the future of the human race and wanted to protect it from Jews and communists. Those on trial at Nuremberg were dismayed to find out that their attitude was not shared by their captors. The failure to accept guilt for war crimes and crimes against humanity has been a recurring theme in the work of the human rights lawyer Philippe Sands. His books East West Street about the lives of two Jewish lawyers who created the legal concepts of crimes against humanity and genocide, and The Ratline about a senior Nazi trying to evade capture in the aftermath of the holocaust and emigrate to South America, are masterly accounts of personal histories intertwined with deep treatises on both human existence and the human condition. His latest work, 38 Londres Street, brings his remarkable trilogy on this theme to an end. Author and human rights lawyer Philippe Sands details Pinochet's evasion from justice in '38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia'. It is the haunting parallel story of the Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet — whom many will have heard of — and Nazi war criminal Walther Rauff, whom few will know. Readers will have a gnawing feeling from the off that neither of these two reprehensible characters will face justice but the tale Sands weaves in this mammoth sweep of post-Second World War history, the geopolitics of the cold war, musings on impunity, and the intertwining fates of the infamous and the unknown, will have them turning the pages. Pinochet, who took power in Chile after the American-backed coup against Salvador Allende in 1973, always felt himself to be above the law. He had no regrets about any of his actions. He considered himself to be a soldier whose good deeds had saved Chile from communism, leftist agitators, and a Cuban future. 'I am an angel', was one of his favourite sayings and he truly believed it. He ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990 through a barbaric clampdown on anyone vaguely thought to be a leftist. Eighty thousand people were interned in Chile's prisons, countless thousands of people tortured, and more than 3,000 people executed — although many consider the figure to be far higher. In 1998, at the age of 82, he took a trip to London on a strangely vague mission to purchase weapons for his country, in which he still had a type of ambassadorial role, and to have a minor back operation. Some in his still vast entourage of hangers on advised him not to go given that a new Labour government was in power, and various human rights groups had tried to have him arrested in the past. He shrugged them off, had tea with Margaret Thatcher where he told her he loved London, and had his operation. But on the night of Friday, October 16, officers from Scotland Yard, accompanied by a translator, entered the London Clinic in Marylebone, woke the recuperating Pinochet, and arrested him on suspicion of murder, genocide, and terrorism on foot of an extradition request from Spain. Justice had come calling. Thatcher was outraged, proclaiming the arrest to be unlawful and inhumane, while the former Tory chancellor of the exchequer Norman Lamont wailed that Pinochet was a 'good, brave, and honourable soldier'. Another man who considered himself a good, brave, and honourable soldier was Walther Rauff. In reality, he was a vile Nazi war criminal who led a team that invented mobile gas chambers in which at least 97,000 Jews were murdered. A former SS commander who worked under the equally repulsive Reinhard Heydrich — one of the architects of the holocaust — Rauff used the ratline escape route for Nazi criminals from postwar Europe to South America and ended up firstly in Ecuador and then Chile. The link between Pinochet and Rauff is the 38 Londres Street of the title. It is an ordinary street in Santiago from which prisoners of the Pinochet regime were ferried into and out of number 38 to face illegal detention, torture, and death. The vans which deliver them are not the execution chambers of Rauff's SS career but rather those of the Pesquera Arauco fishing company, which remained under public control despite Pinochet's mania for privatising everything else in Chile. It was that privatisation zeal which won him Thatcher's approval. But in their own ways these are vans of death as well, delivering Pinochet's hated leftists to a grim fate. No one has ever been convicted for their part in the Pesquera Arauco death and torture drives. Justice never does come calling for Rauff. In a dispiriting twist, which won't ruin the book for readers, we learn that Rauff was recruited by the West German secret service, the BND — with the remit to spy on communists in Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. It turns out he wasn't much good at it, and when stories of his Nazi past ultimately leaked out, the West German state had no option but to pursue him. In February 1963, a court in Chile examined a seriously large amount of evidence against him in an extradition hearing. Rauff agreed to testify in writing on the construction of the gas vans, provided the court accepted that old Nazi canard that he was only obeying orders and could not possibly know what the vans would be used for. The court ultimately ruled that, notwithstanding his protestations, he had a major role in the construction, enhancement, and use of the gas vans. Luckily for Rauff, it also ruled he could not be extradited to West Germany on genocide charges because the crime was not part of Chile's criminal code at the time, but that he could for the murder of 97,000 Jews. A long legal battle only ended when the Supreme Court ruled these crimes were also outside Chile's statute of limitations. Rauff was free to stay. Given his status as a BND agent, the suspicion was the West Germans were not too upset at the verdict. Rauff lived out his days as the manager of a giant crab cannery in Patagonia, joining other Nazis with mundane jobs in South America — such as Josef Mengele who was first a carpenter and then a pharmaceutical salesman in Paraguay, and Adolf Eichmann who worked in administration for Mercedes Benz in Argentina. The dots between Pinochet and Rauff join up in places but do not reach the same end point. Rauff had links with Pinochet's secret police, the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional, but Sands — as one of the most eminent human rights lawyers of the age — can never fully connect these two conduits of evil. What he has done is produce a gripping history of a time, place, characters, and ideas intermixed with the universal maxim of bad people getting away with mass murder. The only consolation is that Sands and history has damned them. Read More Chile marks 50 years since coup that ushered in brutal military dictatorship
The Independent
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Chagossians want sovereignty deal to go ahead, says Mauritius legal adviser
Former residents of the Chagos Islands were consulted on the deal to hand over sovereignty of the archipelago, Mauritius's chief legal adviser has told peers. Philippe Sands KC, who has represented Mauritius in its legal battle with the UK since 2010, told a House of Lords committee he wanted to 'knock on the head this idea that all of the Chagossians were not involved' in negotiations over the deal. His comments came a day after a panel of UN experts urged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to abandon the agreement reached with Mauritius last month and negotiate a new one. The panel, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, said it was 'gravely concerned about the lack of meaningful participation of Chagossians in the processes that have led to the agreement'. The experts also criticised the continuing bar on Chagossians returning to Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands, because of the ongoing presence of a joint UK-US military base. On Wednesday, Mr Sands told the Lords International Relations and Defence Committee: 'To be clear, it is not the case that Chagossians had no role in the negotiations. 'I can tell you that Chagossians in Mauritius and Seychelles were deeply involved in consulting with successive prime ministers of Mauritius and they attended the hearings at the International Court of Justice.' He added: 'I want to really knock on the head this idea that all of the Chagossians were not involved in the various processes. That is simply not true. 'It is true, however, that the Chagossian community is divided and I respect that division.' Earlier, he had told the committee that, while some UK-based Chagossians wanted the islands to remain British territory, 'most in Mauritius and Seychelles have made very clear…that they wish this deal to go ahead'. The Chagossians were expelled from the islands between 1965 and 1973 to make way for the Diego Garcia base and have not been allowed to Mr Sands told peers the 'quid pro quo' for the military base remaining on Diego Garcia was Chagossians would be allowed to settle on the outer islands of the archipelago. The deal follows a 2019 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice saying the islands should be handed over to Mauritius. As well as establishing a £40 million fund for Chagossians, the UK has agreed to pay Mauritius at least £120 million a year for 99 years in order to lease back the Diego Garcia base – a total cost of at least £13 billion in cash terms. The deal also includes provisions preventing development on the rest of the archipelago without the UK's consent, which the Government has said will prevent countries such as China setting up their own facilities. The agreement has also been backed by the United States, the UN secretary general and the African Union, but heavily criticised by the Conservative Party as a 'surrender'. Mr Sands disagreed with that on Wednesday, saying the deal 'will enhance Britain's position in the world'. He said: 'I can tell you from personal experience, direct comments from countries, ambassadors, prime ministers, presidents around the world, this is seen as Britain back on the world (stage), acting honourably and decently, protecting its interests and safeguarding…the rule of law.'
Daily Mail
04-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
The mum of an ISIS 'Beatle'. Shamima Begum. Gerry Adams. 5 Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists. The Attorney General's defenders say he had no choice but to represent these enemies of Britain. But are they right?: DAN HODGES
A couple of weeks ago the liberal human rights lawyer Philippe Sands appeared at the Cambridge Festival to promote his book recalling the case of late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet's 1998 UK arrest. Opening his talk, Sands revealed to his audience how he had been asked to represent Pinochet, a sadistic torturer, in the impending court case. 'I explained to my wife, with some excitement, and she says to me, 'Will you do it?'' he recalled. 'Then she says to me, 'You can do it if you want to do it. But if you do it, I will divorce you tomorrow.''
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Author Philippe Sands was told it is ‘unacceptable' to read Russian writer Tolstoy amid Ukraine war
British-French author Philippe Sands has said he was told it is 'unacceptable' to read the work of Russian writer Leo Tolstoy amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Sands is a lawyer and the author of bestselling books including The Ratline and The Last Colony. In 2016, his memoir East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. The 64-year-old appeared on a panel at the 2025 Hay Festival, which has partnered with The Independent for a second year. He was joined by Swedish philanthropist Sigrid Rausing, academic Adam Rutherford, and The Independent's chief international correspondent Bel Trew. Responding to Rausing's concerns over 'how far Ukraine is going to go' in retaliating against the Russian invasion, Sands said: 'I've got no objection to that. I've got no objection to them targeting Russian bridges.' He continued: 'The issue I've found in Kyiv, and in other places in Ukraine, is I want to read a short story by Tolstoy and I'm told I can't do that because it's unacceptable.' Russian novelist Tolstoy, who died in 1910, was the author of seminal books including War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1878). The latter has been the subject of numerous film adaptations, including a critically acclaimed version starring Greta Garbo in 1935, and Joe Wright's 2012 adaptation starring Keira Knightley. 'It's an issue right now because [Ukrainians] are feeling very beleaguered,' said Sands. 'On the other hand, there are people who say, 'No, absolutely there are many good Russian writers, and many good Russian people...' so that is complex.' He added: 'But in terms of going into the Russian side, absolutely. [Ukraine have] got to defend themselves.' The discussion came in light of the news that at least seven people had been killed and dozens more injured when bridges collapsed in separate incidents across Russia. Moscow Railways initially blamed the collapse in the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, on 'illegal interference in the operation of transport', in a likely reference to Ukrainian saboteurs, but its Telegram post was later removed. Prominent Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, who uses the name War Gonzo, called it 'sabotage'. Neither report could be independently verified. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. A second bridge collapsed hours later when a freight train was crossing a bridge in the Kursk region early on Sunday (1 June), according to a local governor, causing a similar derailment. Russia's Investigative Committee said on Sunday that the two bridges had collapsed following explosions. In a third, separate incident, a prominent Ukrainian partisan group claimed responsibility for an attack on relay systems in the occupied Donetsk province, which brought a new Russian rail line to a standstill. Russia has been hit by dozens of sabotage attacks since Moscow launched its offensive against Ukraine in 2022, with many targeting its vast rail network. Kyiv said railways are targeted because they are used to transport troops and weapons for deployment in the war. You can follow updates on the Ukraine-Russia war in The Independent's live blog. Elsewhere during the panel, Sands, a visiting professor of law at Harvard Law School, said that reports of 'rampant antisemitism' at the prestigious university are 'complete nonsense'.
The Independent
01-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Professor Philippe Sands says reports of ‘rampant antisemitism' at Harvard university are ‘complete nonsense'
Philippe Sands has dismissed reports of 'rampant antisemitism ' at Harvard University, amid the conflict between the Trump administration and the Ivy League school. Donald Trump has slashed Harvard's federal funding, after accusing the institution of being too left-wing and of failing to combat antisemitism when pro-Palestinian protests have taken place on campuses. Sands, a lawyer, author and visiting professor at Harvard Law School, commented on the fallout during The Independent 's News Review event at the 2025 Hay Festival, telling the audience: 'The idea there is rampant antisemitism at Harvard is hopeless. It is just not the situation.' He added: 'As in any place in the world, there will be examples of antisemitism, no question at all, but the idea it is rampant and all over the place is complete nonsense.' Sands, along with philanthropist Sigrid Rausing and academic Adam Rutherford, were being interviewed by The Independent 's Chief International Correspondent Bel Trew. His comments came as part of a discussion on the Trump administration's attack on the US's oldest and wealthiest university. Earlier this month, it was announced that eight federal agencies would terminate a further $450m in grants to Harvard University, due to what officials have framed as inadequate responses to antisemitism on campus. Those funding cuts came after the administration axed $2.2bn in federal funding to the university, bringing the total financial penalty to around $2.65bn. 'Harvard's campus, once a symbol of academic prestige, has become a breeding ground for virtue signalling and discrimination,' read a statement from Trump administration's task force to combat antisemitism. 'This is not leadership; it is cowardice. And it's not academic freedom; it's institutional disenfranchisement.' This week, the Trump administration's antagonisation of the prestigious university escalated further, with the announcement that officials are set to start vetting the social media accounts of visa applicants who plan to attend, work at, or visit Harvard University for any signs of antisemitism. Harvard has become a punching bag for the administration, after its leadership refused the government's demands for an audit to determine the extent of its 'ideological capture by the radical left'. Trump's government is blocking Harvard from enrolling international students and is forcing currently enrolled foreign students to leave the university or risk losing their legal status in the US. The university is suing the US government over both the suspension of its federal funding and the cancellation of its permit to enrol foreign students.
