محاكمة هوارد ليفي العسكرية

📅 آخر تحديث: ٢٥ يوليو ٢٠٢٦
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الموسوعة الحرة

عُقدت محاكمة الكابتن هوارد ليفي العسكرية عام 1967. هوارد ليفي ( مواليد 10 أبريل 1937) طبيب سابق في الجيش الأمريكي، وكان من أوائل المعارضين لحرب فيتنام . [ 2 ] في عام 1967، حوكم عسكريًا في فورت جاكسون ، كارولاينا الجنوبية، لرفضه أمرًا بتدريب مسعفي القوات الخاصة (القبعات الخضراء) في طريقهم إلى فيتنام. قال: "اتضح لي أن الجيش [كان يستخدم المسعفين] لكسب تأييد سكان القرى الفيتنامية، بينما كان في الوقت نفسه يحرقها في عمليات بحث وتدمير." [ 3 ] كان يعتبر القوات الخاصة (القبعات الخضراء) "قتلة الفلاحين وقاتلي النساء والأطفال". [ 4 ]

الحياة المبكرة والتعليم

نشأ هوارد ب. ليفي في بروكلين ، نيويورك، وهو ابن بائع متجول. التحق بمدرسة نيو أوتريخت الثانوية ثم بجامعة نيويورك . تلقى تدريبه الطبي في كلية الطب بجامعة ولاية نيويورك داونستيت (1961) وتدرب في مركز مايمونيدس الطبي . تم تعيينه ضابط احتياط في سلاح الخدمات الطبية بالجيش عام 1962، ولكن تم تأجيل خدمته حتى نهاية فترة إقامته الطبية في يوليو 1965، حيث تم إرساله مباشرة إلى فورت جاكسون. [ 5 ]

المحاكمة العسكرية، والدفاع في محاكمات نورمبرغ، والاستئنافات

من الجوانب اللافتة في هذه القضية أن محامي ليفي، تشارلز مورغان الابن ، استند إلى دفاع نورمبرغ ، مدعيًا أن القوات الأمريكية ترتكب جرائم حرب في فيتنام، وأن للجنود الأمريكيين الحق في رفض الأوامر المتعلقة بالخدمة في فيتنام. [ 6 ] وقد قضت محاكمات نورمبرغ لقادة النازيين، التي جرت بعد الحرب العالمية الثانية ، بأن الجنود المتورطين في جرائم حرب يمكن محاسبتهم حتى لو كانوا يتلقون أوامر من رؤسائهم. [ 7 ] ومن الجوانب الأقل شهرة في القضية أن ليفي "حثّ المجندين السود على رفض الخدمة في فيتنام لأنهم يتعرضون للتمييز والحرمان من حريتهم في الولايات المتحدة، ويتعرضون للتمييز في فيتنام من خلال تكليفهم بجميع المهام الخطرة، ويتكبدون غالبية الخسائر." [ 8 ]

Levy's defense became national news and a cause célèbre among opponents of the Vietnam War because it was based on "both the illegality of the Vietnam War and the Nuremberg principle requiring non-participation in war crimes."[2] The military court disagreed, sentencing Levy to three years at Fort Leavenworth for "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman" and disloyal statements prejudicial to "good order and discipline."[8] The court did, however, admit evidence of war crimes into testimony. The presiding law officer, Colonel Earl V Brown, surprisingly, allowed both the Nuremberg Defense and testimony in private session that Green Berets were engaged in war crimes in Vietnam.[9] Despite this, because there was no testimony that Green Beret medics were involved in criminal activity or that their medical training was being used for such activity, the evidence was ruled irrelevant and, therefore, inadmissible in open court.[10] Levy described this experience years later: "We tried to put the war on trial, but the military court said the truth is no defense."[11]

Portrait of Levy by William Short from A Matter of Conscience, 1992

Levy was released after serving more than two years in prison, but his case continued on through the courts.[4] The first review by a Federal District Court affirmed his conviction. Then, in April 1973, The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed the decision on the grounds that the two key provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that led to the conviction "were so vague as to be unconstitutional."[12] The very next year, on June 19, 1974, in Parker v. Levy the Supreme Court reinstated Levy’s conviction with a controversial 5-3 decision.[13] Parker v. Levy remains the legal foundation for recognition of "military necessity" as "a weightier interest than First Amendment rights of individuals in the military." Justice William O. Douglas dissented, arguing that “Uttering one’s belief is sacrosanct under the First Amendment.”[8][13]:417 U.S. at 772 After hearing about the verdict, Levy was quoted as saying: "I was unjustly court‐martialed, unjustly sentenced, ...unjustly spent two and a half years in prison, and I believe the Supreme Court ruling was unjust.”[14]

Book About Prison Life

In 1970, Levy published Going to Jail: The Political Prisoner, with fellow prisoner David Miller, about their experiences in prison. Miller had been imprisoned for 22 months for burning his draft card in protest to the draft and the war in Vietnam. According to Levy, prison taught him "that individuals acting alone cannot hope to transform a society." He emerged from his cell determined "to radically alter American society."[15]

Later career and personal reflections

In 2002, The New York Times interviewed him and found he had "no regrets" over his actions, and that he still considered the Vietnam War "criminal, senseless mayhem." For many years he had been the director of dermatology at New York City's Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the Bronx. He was "still critical of America's use of military force, as in Afghanistan and possibly in Iraq." He also told the Times that "he felt an affinity with those Israeli army reservists who have said they would refuse to serve in the West Bank and Gaza Strip because of Israeli treatment of the Palestinians".[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑"The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War, A Political, Social, and Military History, Second Edition 2011". ABC-CLIO. p. 655.
  2. 12Cortright, David (2005). Soldiers In Revolt. Chicago: Haymarket Books. p. 52. ISBN 1931859272.
  3. ↑Carver, Ron; Cortright, David; Doherty, Barbara, eds. (2019). Waging Peace in Vietnam: U.S. Soldiers and Veterans Who Opposed the War. Oakland, CA: New Village Press. p. 15. ISBN 9781613321072.
  4. 12Reed, Roy. "Charles Morgan Jr., 78, Dies; Leading Civil Rights Lawyer", The New York Times, January 9, 2009. Accessed January 12, 2009.
  5. ↑Langer, Elinor (1967-06-09). "The Court-Martial of Captain Levy: Medical Ethics v. Military Law". Science. 156 (3780): 1346–1350. Bibcode:1967Sci...156.1346L. doi:10.1126/science.156.3780.1346. PMID 5610111. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  6. ↑Woodward, Beverly (2015). "Nuremberg Law and U.S. Courts". In Falk, Richard A. (ed.). The Vietnam War and International Law, Volume 3. Princeton University Press. pp. 477–486. ISBN 9781400868247.
  7. ↑Bigart, Homer. "Court Martial; Levy Pleads the 'Nuremberg Defense' Complexion Changes Defense Strategy Soldier's Rights", The New York Times, May 21, 1967. Accessed January 12, 2009.
  8. 123Richard Parker. "Parker v. Levy (1974)". The First Amendment Encyclopedia. Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  9. ↑Schoetz, David (26 January 2004). "Earl V. Brown, 86; colonel was chief military trial judge". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 2021-11-22. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  10. ↑D'Amato, Anthony A. (1995). "The War Crimes Defense". International Law and Political Reality. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 5. ISBN 9041100369.
  11. ↑Seidenberg, Willa; Short, William (1992-10-01). A Matter of Conscience: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War. Andover, MA: Addison Gallery of American Art. p. 18. ISBN 1879886324.
  12. ↑King Jr., Wayne (1973-04-19). "Levy, Antiwar Army Physician, Wins a Reversal of Conviction". The New York Times.
  13. 12Parker v. Levy, 417 U.S. 733 (1974). Archived from the original on 2025-07-17. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  14. ↑Weaver Jr., Warren (1974-06-20). "Justices Uphold Levy Conviction". The New York Times.
  15. ↑Levy, Howard; David, Miller (1970). Going to Jail: The Political Prisoner. New York, NY: Grove Press. p. vii. ISBN 0394475844.
  16. ↑Fried, Joseph P. (2002-07-21). "Following Up: A 60's Lightning Rod, Now on History TV". The New York Times.