Punishing Evildoers

The justice industry is thriving. After Nuremberg, almost a half-century passed before tribunals were established for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. But today survivors of atrocities are quick to say that their tormentors belong in The Hague, even if many don't know where The Hague is. The works below show the possibilities -- and limits -- of justice. Since atrocities keep occurring, and the world's major powers do little to stop them, we must continue strengthening national and international tools for accountability.

BOOKS Hannah Arendt's "Eichmann in Jerusalem" remains an essential text on the motivations of evildoers. Gary J. Bass's "Stay the Hand of

Vengeance" offers the most readable history yet of war crimes tribunals. And Martha Minow's

"Between Vengeance and Forgiveness"

examines tools for moving from repression to

coexistence. In "On Trial," Victoria K. Holt explores the testy relationship between the United States and the International Criminal Court.

P HOTOGRAPHS War photographers have become curators of devastation. Gary Knight's "Evidence: The Case Against Milosevic" bolsters the case against the Serb leader. Ron Haviv's "Blood and Honey: A Balkan War Journal" and Gilles Peress's "The Silence" depict the human face of war. Susan Meiselas's "Kurdistan: In the Shadow of

History" includes gripping photos of Saddam Hussein's onslaught against the Kurds.

WEB SITES The Nuremberg Trials Project at

Harvard Law School ( http://nuremberg.law.harvard.edu ) is building a digital archive of documents on Nuremberg and trials of Nazi leaders. The sites of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia ( http://www.un.org/icty ) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ( http://www.un.org/ictr ) provide streaming video of the trials.

RESEARCH/ADVOCACY The Documentation

Center of Cambodia ( http://www.dccam.org ) documents atrocities of the Khmer Rouge era. " War Crimes Prosecution Watch" is a free biweekly e-newsletter with analysis on the investigation and prosecution of war crimes worldwide.

Samantha Power, a professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Governent, is author of " 'A Problem From Hell': America and the Age of Genocide" (Basic Books).