Academics call for war trial records to be released

British and US researchers are campaigning to make public a UN archive documenting 10,000 cases against accused Second World War criminals. They range from Belgian charges against Adolf Hitler to the trial of a Japanese commander for inciting rape.

The researchers, including Briton Dan Plesch, argue that the files are historically valuable and might unearth legal precedents that could help bring some of today's war criminals to justice.