| Third Inter-Allied Conference Punishment for War Crimes | |
|---|---|
.jpg) St James' Palace, pictured in 2012 | |
| Host country |  United Kingdom |
| Date | 13 January 1942 |
| Cities | London |
| Venues | St James's Palace |
| Participants |  Belgian government in exile Czechoslovak provisional government-in-exile Greek government-in-exile Luxembourg government-in-exile Dutch government-in-exile Norwegian government-in-exile Polish government-in-exile Yugoslav government-in-exile Free French National Committee |
| Chair | Władysław Sikorski |
Punishment for War Crimes was the title of a declaration issued by the representatives of eight Alliedgovernments-in-exile and theFree French at the third Inter-Allied Conference atSt James's Palace inLondon,United Kingdom, on 13 January 1942. It has been described as the "first milestone" towards the creation of aninternational legal framework for the prosecution ofwar crimes inGerman-occupied Europe duringWorld War II.[1]
The declaration agreed at the meeting on 13 January 1942 was signed by theBelgian,Czechoslovak,Dutch,Greek,Luxembourg,Norwegian, andYugoslav governments in exile as well as theFree French National Committee. Representatives of the British government attended the meeting asobservers together with representatives fromCanada,Australia,New Zealand, andSouth Africa.[1] Although noting that the declaration was chiefly symbolic and could not be enforced, the historian Julia Eichenberg notes that "it was the first to formulate a new and jointly Allied attitude towards the prosecution of war crimes, setting them on the agenda of all further discussions between the Allied governments and making them central to all declared war aims and peace plans".[2]
The declaration did not make any specification about the "character, race, or religion of the victim" and made no reference to the persecution of specific minority groups such asJews.[3] It was only in December 1942 thatthe Holocaust was condemned in theJoint Declaration by Members of the United Nations.
The declaration was formally presented to the British, American, and Soviet governments as a diplomaticnote verbale. These felt obliged to respond with their own declarations affirming their desire to establish legal accountability for war crimes after the war.[4] The declaration contributed to the establishment of an Inter-Allied Commission on the Punishment of War Crimes under the auspices of theLondon International Assembly with Michał Potulicki as secretary-general which met regularly until it was superseded by theUnited Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC) in October 1943.[5] In conjunction with the Inter-Allied Information Committee, it published a number of studies on aspects of German policy in German-occupied Europe.[5]