ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the implications of interpreters’ proximity to the primary speakers of communicative events in war and violent conflict. Drawing on the cases of interpreter defendants at British military trials against the Japanese and other historical and contemporary cases in hostilities, it presents various risks faced by interpreters embedded in military units due to their close proximity to the military employer and the parties with whom the employer interacts. Those interpreters are exposed to physical danger as they work with soldiers on the front line; they may be pressed into engaging in tasks beyond linguistic mediation, including violent and unlawful acts; they may be exposed as targets of attack since they are more recognisable as the interface between the parties; and they may be compelled to disclose the first-hand knowledge of events they witness up close for investigation and subsequent proceedings. In the context of war crimes, due to their proximity to the parties of a given encounter, interpreters may be pressed to take part in criminal acts, easily identified by the victims, called to testify as eyewitnesses of war crimes and ultimately prosecuted and convicted as war criminals.
