War crime

A picture taken by the Polish Underground of Nazi

Secret Police rounding up Polish intelligentsia at
Palmiry near Warsaw in 1940 for mass execution
(German AB-Aktion in occupied Poland).
A war crime is an act that constitutes a
serious violation of the laws of war that
gives rise to individual criminal
responsibility.[1] Examples of war crimes
include intentionally killing civilians or
prisoners, torturing, destroying civilian
property, taking hostages, performing a
perfidy, raping, using child soldiers,
pillaging, declaring that no quarter will be
given, and seriously violating the principles
of distinction and proportionality, and
military necessity.

The concept of war crimes emerged at the

turn of the twentieth century when the
body of customary international law
applicable to warfare between sovereign
states was codified. Such codification
occurred at the national level, such as with
the publication of the Lieber Code in the
United States, and at the international level
with the adoption of the treaties during the
Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.
Moreover, trials in national courts during
this period further helped clarify the law.[1]
Following the end of World War II, major
developments in the law occurred.
Numerous trials of Axis war criminals
established the Nuremberg principles,
such as notion that war crimes constituted
crimes defined by international law.
Additionally, the Geneva Conventions in
1949 defined new war crimes and
established that states could exercise
universal jurisdiction over such crimes.[1]
In the late 20th century and early 21st
century, following the creation of several
international courts, additional categories
of war crimes applicable to armed
conflicts other than those between states,
such as civil wars, were defined.[1]

History
Suzhou, China, 1938. A ditch full of the bodies of
Chinese civilians, killed by Japanese soldiers.

Early examples …

The trial of Peter von Hagenbach by an ad

hoc tribunal of the Holy Roman Empire in
1474 was the first "international" war
crimes trial, and also of command
responsibility.[2][3] He was convicted and
beheaded for crimes that "he as a knight
was deemed to have a duty to prevent",
although he had argued that he was "just
following orders".

In 1865, Henry Wirz, a Confederate States

Army officer, was held accountable by a
military tribunal and hanged for the
appalling conditions at Andersonville
Prison, where many Union prisoners of war
died during the American Civil War.

Hague Conventions …

The Hague Conventions were international

treaties negotiated at the First and Second
Peace Conferences at The Hague,
Netherlands, in 1899 and 1907,
respectively, and were, along with the
Geneva Conventions, among the first
formal statements of the laws of war and
war crimes in the nascent body of secular
international law.

Geneva Conventions …

The Geneva Conventions are four related

treaties adopted and continuously
expanded from 1864 to 1949 that
represent a legal basis and framework for
the conduct of war under international law.
Every single member state of the United
Nations has currently ratified the
conventions, which are universally
accepted as customary international law,
applicable to every situation of armed
conflict in the world. However, the
Additional Protocols to the Geneva
Conventions adopted in 1977 containing
the most pertinent, detailed and
comprehensive protections of
international humanitarian law for persons
and objects in modern warfare are still not
ratified by a number of States continuously
engaged in armed conflicts, namely the
United States, Israel, India, Pakistan, Iraq,
Iran, and others. Accordingly, states retain
different codes and values with regard to
wartime conduct. Some signatories have
routinely violated the Geneva Conventions
in a way which either uses the ambiguities
of law or political maneuvering to sidestep
the laws' formalities and principles.

Three conventions were revised and

expanded with the fourth one added in
1949:

First Geneva Convention for the

Amelioration of the Condition of the
Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the
Field (Convention for the Amelioration of
the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in
Armed Forces in the Field was adopted in
1864, significantly revised and replaced
by the 1906 version,[4] the 1929 version,
and later the First Geneva Convention of
1949[5]).
Second Geneva Convention for the
Amelioration of the Condition of
Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked
Members of Armed Forces at Sea
(Convention for the Amelioration of the
Condition of Wounded, Sick and
Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces
at Sea was adopted in 1906,[6]
significantly revised and replaced by the
Second Geneva Convention of 1949).
Third Geneva Convention relative to the
Treatment of Prisoners of War
(Convention relative to the Treatment of
Prisoners of War was adopted in 1929,
significantly revised and replaced by the
Third Geneva Convention of 1949).

HRW wrote that the Saudi Arabian-led military

intervention in Yemen that began on March 26,
2015 had conducted airstrikes in apparent violation
of the laws of war.[7]

Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the

Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of
War (first adopted in 1949, based on
parts of the 1907 Hague Convention IV).
Two Additional Protocols were adopted in
1977 with the third one added in 2005,
completing and updating the Geneva
Conventions:

Protocol I (1977) relating to the

Protection of Victims of International
Armed Conflicts.
Protocol II (1977) relating to the
Protection of Victims of Non-International
Armed Conflicts.
Protocol III (2005) relating to the
Adoption of an Additional Distinctive
Emblem.

Leipzig War Crimes Trial …

A small number of German military
personnel of the First World War were tried
in 1921 by the German Supreme Court for
alleged war crimes.

London Charter / Nuremberg Trials

1945
…

The modern concept of war crime was

further developed under the auspices of
the Nuremberg Trials based on the
definition in the London Charter that was
published on August 8, 1945. (Also see
Nuremberg Principles.) Along with war
crimes the charter also defined crimes
against peace and crimes against
humanity, which are often committed
during wars and in concert with war
crimes.

International Military Tribunal for

the Far East 1946
…

Also known as the Tokyo Trial, the Tokyo

War Crimes Tribunal or simply as the
Tribunal, it was convened on May 3, 1946
to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan
for three types of crimes: "Class A" (crimes
against peace), "Class B" (war crimes), and
"Class C" (crimes against humanity),
committed during World War II.
International Criminal Court 2002 …

Bodies of some of the hundreds of Vietnamese

villagers who were killed by U.S. soldiers during the
My Lai Massacre.

On July 1, 2002, the International Criminal

Court, a treaty-based court located in The
Hague, came into being for the
prosecution of war crimes committed on
or after that date. Several nations, most
notably the United States, China, Russia,
and Israel, have criticized the court. The
United States still participates as an
observer. Article 12 of the Rome Statute
provides jurisdiction over the citizens of
non-contracting states in the event that
they are accused of committing crimes in
the territory of one of the state parties.[8]

War crimes are defined in the statute that

established the International Criminal
Court, which includes:

1. Grave breaches of the Geneva

Conventions, such as:
1. Willful killing, or causing great
suffering or serious injury to
body or health
2. Torture or inhumane
treatment
3. Unlawful wanton destruction
or appropriation of property
4. Forcing a prisoner of war to
serve in the forces of a hostile
power
5. Depriving a prisoner of war of
a fair trial
6. Unlawful deportation,
confinement or transfer
7. Taking hostages
8. Directing attacks against
civilians
 Bodo League massacre during the
Korean War in 1950

9. Directing attacks against

humanitarian workers or UN
peacekeepers
10. Killing a surrendered
combatant
11. Misusing a flag of truce
12. Settlement of occupied
territory
 13. Deportation of inhabitants of
occupied territory
14. Using poison weapons
15. Using civilians as shields
16. Using child soldiers
17. Firing upon a Combat Medic
with clear insignia.
2. The following acts as part of a non-
international conflict:
1. Murder, cruel or degrading
treatment and torture
2. Directing attacks against
civilians, humanitarian
workers or UN peacekeepers
3. The following acts as part of an
international conflict:

Civilians killed in shelling in eastern Ukraine.

According to the HRW report, "The use of
indiscriminate rockets in populated areas
violates international humanitarian law, or the
laws of war, and may amount to war crimes."[9]

1. Taking hostages
2. Summary execution
3. Pillage
4. Rape, sexual slavery, forced
prostitution or forced
 pregnancy

However the court only has jurisdiction

over these crimes where they are "part of a
plan or policy or as part of a large-scale
commission of such crimes".[10]

Saudi Arabian-led Military

Intervention in Yemen
…

The Saudi Arabian-led military intervention

in Yemen has been dubbed as the world’s
worst humanitarian crisis by the United
Nations.[11] The war of more than four
years has led Yemen to the brink of
extinction with millions of civilians facing
famine and starvation at the hands of
multiple warring parties; Houthi rebels,
Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab
Emirates.[12] A December 2019 report by
the Amnesty International followed six
months of research and documented the
lack of medical attention and neglect
faced by more than 4.5 million Yemenis,
disabled in the war.[13][14]

Prominent indictees

Heads of state and government …

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the
ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

To date, the present and former heads of

state and heads of government that have
been charged with war crimes include:

German Großadmiral and President Karl

Dönitz and Japanese Prime Ministers
and Generals Hideki Tōjō and Kuniaki
Koiso in the aftermath of World War II.
Former Serbian President Slobodan
Milošević was brought to trial charges
with, genocide, crimes against humanity,
and war crimes in three republics. The
tribunal found the prosecution had
according to its rules and procedures;
enough evidence was tailored, prior to
the defense presentation, that, "a
reasonable trier of fact, could conclude,
the accused was responsible for the
crimes charged." This pertaining to
superior responsibility, for the Bosnia
and Croatia indictment's, and individual
responsibility, for the Kosovo indictment.
No conviction was established however,
as he died in custody in 2006, before the
trial could be concluded.[15]
Former Liberian President Charles G.
Taylor was also brought to The Hague
charged with war crimes; his trial
stretched from 2007 to March 2011. He
was convicted in April 2012 of Aiding
and Abbetting and planning the
commission of Crimes against
Humanity, committed during the war
under individual and command
responsibility.[16]
Former Bosnian Serb President Radovan
Karadžić was arrested in Belgrade on
July 18, 2008 and brought before
Belgrade's War Crimes Court a few days
after. He was extradited to the
Netherlands, and is currently in The
Hague, in the custody of the
International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia. The trial began in
2010. On March 24, 2016, he was found
guilty of genocide in Srebrenica, war
crimes and crimes against humanity, 10
of the 11 charges in total, and
sentenced to 40 years'
imprisonment.[17][18] He was sentenced
to life on appeal.[19]
Omar al-Bashir, former head of state of
Sudan, is charged with three counts of
genocide, crimes against humanity and
other war crimes regarding the 2003–
War in the Darfur region of Sudan. The
first head of state charged with
genocide by the International Criminal
Court with current warrants of arrest
actions in Darfur.
2013 Shahbag protests demanding the death
penalty for the war criminals of the 1971
Bangladesh Liberation War

Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi

was indicted for allegedly ordering the
killings of protesters and civilians and
Crimes against Humanity, during the
2011 Libyan civil war, however he was
killed before he could stand trial in
October 2011.
Other prominent indictees …

Yoshijirō Umezu, a general in the

Imperial Japanese Army
Seishirō Itagaki, War minister of the
Empire of Japan
Hermann Göring, Commander in Chief
of the Luftwaffe.
Ernst Kaltenbrunner and Adolf
Eichmann, high-ranking members of the
SS.
Wilhelm Keitel, Generalfeldmarschall,
head of the Oberkommando der
Wehrmacht.
Erich Raeder, Großadmiral, Commander
in Chief of the Kriegsmarine.
Albert Speer, Minister of Armaments
and War Production in Nazi Germany
1942–45.
William Calley, former U.S. Army officer
found guilty of murder for his role in the
My Lai Massacre
Ali Hassan Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, more
commonly known by his nickname
"Chemical Ali", executed by post-
Ba'athist Iraq for his leadership of the
gassing of Kurdish villages during the
Iran-Iraq War; also governor of illegally
 occupied Kuwait during the First Gulf
War
Ratko Mladić, indicted for genocide
amongst other violations of
humanitarian law during the Bosnian
War; he was captured in Serbia in May
2011 and was extradited to face trial in
The Hague, wherein he was found guilty
and sentenced to life in prison.[20]
Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's
Resistance Army, guerrilla group which
used to operate in Uganda.

Definition
Aftermath of the Malmedy massacre (1944).

War crimes are serious violations of the

rules of customary and treaty law
concerning international humanitarian law
that have become accepted as criminal
offenses for which there is individual
responsibility.[21] Colloquial definitions of
war crime include violations of established
protections of the laws of war, but also
include failures to adhere to norms of
procedure and rules of battle, such as
attacking those displaying a peaceful flag
of truce, or using that same flag as a ruse
to mount an attack on enemy troops. The
use of chemical and biological weapons in
warfare are also prohibited by numerous
chemical arms control agreements and
the Biological Weapons Convention.
Wearing enemy uniforms or civilian
clothes to infiltrate enemy lines for
espionage or sabotage missions is a
legitimate ruse of war, though fighting in
combat or assassinating individuals
behind enemy lines while so disguised is
not, as it constitutes unlawful
perfidy.[22][23][24][25] Attacking enemy
troops while they are being deployed by
way of a parachute is not a war crime.[26]
However, Protocol I, Article 42 of the
Geneva Conventions explicitly forbids
attacking parachutists who eject from
disabled aircraft and surrendering
parachutists once landed.[27] Article 30 of
the 1907 Hague Convention IV – The Laws
and Customs of War on Land explicitly
prohibits belligerents to punish enemy
spies without previous trial.[28]

The rule of war, also known as the Law of

Armed Conflict, permit belligerents to
engage in combat. A war crime occurs
when superfluous injury or unnecessary
suffering is inflicted upon an enemy.[29]
War crimes also include such acts as
mistreatment of prisoners of war or
civilians. War crimes are sometimes part
of instances of mass murder and
genocide though these crimes are more
broadly covered under international
humanitarian law described as crimes
against humanity. In 2008, the U.N.
Security Council adopted Resolution 1820,
which noted that "rape and other forms of
sexual violence can constitute war crimes,
crimes against humanity or a constitutive
act with respect to genocide"; see also war
rape.[30] In 2016, the International Criminal
Court convicted someone of sexual
violence for the first time; specifically, they
added rape to a war crimes conviction of
Congo Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba
Gombo.[31]

Mass grave of Soviet POWs, killed by Germans. Some

3.3 million Soviet POWs died in Nazi custody.

War crimes also included deliberate

attacks on citizens and property of neutral
states, such as the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor. As the attack on Pearl
Harbor happened while the U.S. and Japan
were at peace and without a just cause for
self-defense, the attack was declared by
the Tokyo Trials to go beyond justification
of military necessity and therefore
constituted a war crime.[32][33][34]

War crimes are significant in international

humanitarian law[35] because it is an area
where international tribunals such as the
Nuremberg Trials and Tokyo Trials have
been convened. Recent examples are the
International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia and the International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which were
established by the UN Security Council
acting under Chapter VIII of the UN
Charter.

Under the Nuremberg Principles, war

crimes are different from crimes against
peace. Crimes against peace include
planning, preparing, initiating, or waging a
war of aggression, or a war in violation of
international treaties, agreements, or
assurances. Because the definition of a
state of "war" may be debated, the term
"war crime" itself has seen different usage
under different systems of international
and military law. It has some degree of
application outside of what some may
consider to be a state of "war", but in areas
where conflicts persist enough to
constitute social instability.

The legalities of war have sometimes been

accused of containing favoritism toward
the winners ("Victor's justice"),[36] as some
controversies have not been ruled as war
crimes. Some examples include the Allies'
destruction of Axis cities during World War
II, such as the firebombing of Dresden, the
Operation Meetinghouse raid on Tokyo (the
most destructive single bombing raid in
history), and the atomic bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[37] In regard to
the strategic bombing during World War II,
there was no international treaty or
instrument protecting a civilian population
specifically from attack by aircraft,[38]
therefore the aerial attacks on civilians
were not officially war crimes. The Allies at
the trials in Nuremberg and Tokyo never
prosecuted the Germans, including
Luftwaffe commander-in-chief Hermann
Göring, for the bombing raids on Warsaw,
Rotterdam, and British cities during the
Blitz as well as the indiscriminate attacks
on Allied cities with V-1 flying bombs and
V-2 rockets, nor the Japanese for the aerial
attacks on crowded Chinese cities.[39]
Although there are no treaties specific to
aerial warfare,[38] Protocol 1, Article 51 of
the Geneva Conventions explicitly
prohibits the bombardment of cities where
civilian population might be concentrated
regardless of any method.[27] (see Aerial
bombardment and international law).

Controversy arose when the Allies re-

designated German POWs (under the
protection of the 1929 Geneva Convention
on Prisoners of War) as Disarmed Enemy
Forces (allegedly unprotected by the 1929
Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War),
many of which then were used for forced
labor such as clearing minefields.[40] By
December 1945, six months after the war
had ended, it was estimated by French
authorities that 2,000 German prisoners
were still being killed or maimed each
month in mine-clearing accidents.[40] The
wording of the 1949 Third Geneva
Convention was intentionally altered from
that of the 1929 convention so that
soldiers who "fall into the power" following
surrender or mass capitulation of an
enemy are now protected as well as those
taken prisoner in the course of
fighting.[41][42]

Legality of Civilian Casualties

Under the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC),
the death of non-combatants isn't
necessarily a violation, there are many
things to take into account. Civilians
cannot be made the object of an attack,
but the death/injury of civilians while
conducting an attack on a military
objective are governed under principles
such as of proportionality and military
necessity and can be permissible. Military
necessity “permits the destruction of life
of … persons whose destruction is
incidentally unavoidable by the armed
conflicts of the war; ... it does not permit
the killing of innocent inhabitants for
purposes of revenge or the satisfaction of
a lust to kill. The destruction of property to
be lawful must be imperatively demanded
by the necessities of war"[43]
For example, conducting an operation on
ammunition depot or a terrorist training
camp would not be prohibited because a
farmer is plowing a field in the area, the
farmer is not the object of attack and the
operations would adhere to proportionality
and military necessity. On the other hand,
an extraordinary military advantage would
be necessary to justify an operation
posing risks of collateral death or injury to
thousands of civilians. In "grayer cases"
the legal question of whether the expected
incidental harm is excessive may be very
subjective. For this reason, States have
chosen to apply a “clearly excessive”
standard for determining whether a
criminal violation has occurred.[44]

When there is no justification for military

action, such as civilians being made the
object of attack, a proportionality analysis
is unnecessary to conclude that the attack
is unlawful.

International Criminal Tribunal for

the former Yugoslavia
…

For aerial strikes, pilots generally have to

rely on information supplied external
sources (Headquarters, ground troops)
that a specific position is in fact a military
target. In the case of former Yugoslavia,
NATO pilots hit a civilian object (United
States bombing of the Chinese embassy in
Belgrade) that was of no military
significance, but the pilots had no idea of
determining it aside from their orders. The
committee ruled that "the aircrew involved
in the attack should not be assigned any
responsibility for the fact they were given
the wrong target and that it is
inappropriate to attempt to assign criminal
responsibility for the incident to senior
leaders because they were provided with
wrong information by officials of another
agency.".[45] The report also notes that
"Much of the material submitted to the
OTP consisted of reports that civilians had
been killed, often inviting the conclusion to
be drawn that crimes had therefore been
committed. Collateral casualties to
civilians and collateral damage to civilian
objects can occur for a variety of reasons."
[45]

Rendulic Rule …

The Rendulic Rule is a standard by which

commanders are judged.

German General Lothar Rendulic was

charged for ordering extensive destruction
of civilian buildings and lands while
retreating a suspected enemy attack in
what is called scorched earth policy for
the military purpose of denying the use of
ground for the enemy. He overestimated
the perceived risk but argued that Hague
IV authorized the destruction because if
it's necessary to war. He was acquitted of
that charge.

Under the "Rendulic Rule" persons must

assess the military necessity of an action
based on the information available to them
at that time; they cannot be judged based
on information that subsequently comes
to light.[44]
See also

Country listings …

List of war crimes

1971 Bangladesh atrocities
Allied war crimes during World War II
British war crimes
German war crimes
Consequences of German Nazism
Holocaust
War crimes of the Wehrmacht
International Military Tribunal for the Far
East
 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant war
crimes findings
Italian war crimes
Japanese war crimes
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
Korean War crimes
Soviet war crimes
United States Senate Committee on the
Philippines
United States war crimes

Legal issues …

American Service-Members' Protection

Act
Command responsibility
 Law of war
Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts Project
(RULAC)
Russell Tribunal
Special Court for Sierra Leone
The International Criminal Court and the
2003 invasion of Iraq
War Crimes Law (Belgium)
War Crimes Act of 1996 – incorporation
of War Crimes into United States law

Miscellaneous …

Chronicles of Terror
Civilian internee
Commando order
Commissar order
Crimes against humanity
Crime against peace
Crime of aggression
Doctors' Trial
Forensic archaeology
Human shield
International Criminal Court
investigations
Katyn massacre
List of denaturalized former citizens of
the United States, including those
denaturalized for concealing
involvement in war crimes to obtain that
country's citizenship
Looting
Mass Atrocity crimes
Mass killing
Military use of children
Nazi human experimentation
NKVD prisoner massacres
No quarter
Nuremberg Principles
Perfidy
Razakars (Pakistan)
Satellite Sentinel Project
Srebrenica massacre
 State terrorism
Terror bombing
Transitional justice
Unlawful combatant
Wartime sexual violence
Winter Soldier Investigation

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historic ruling, international court cites
rape in war crimes conviction of ex-
Congo official" . Washington Post.
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War Crimes Trial: The Pursuit of
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2004). Understanding International
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Further reading
Robert Cryer (2007). An introduction to
international criminal law and procedure .
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-
0-521-87609-4.
Yôrām Dinstein (2004). The conduct of
hostilities under the law of international
armed conflict . Cambridge University
Press. ISBN 978-0-521-54227-2.
Retrieved November 14, 2010.
Hagopian, Patrick (2013). American
Immunity: War Crimes and the Limits of
International Law. Amherst, MA:
University of Massachusetts Press.
Horvitz, Leslie Alan; Catherwood,
Christopher (2011). Encyclopedia of War
Crimes & Genocide (Hardcover). 2
(Revised ed.). New York: Facts on File.
ISBN 978-0-8160-8083-0. ISBN 0-8160-
8083-6
 Malcolm N. Shaw (November 24, 2008).
International law . Cambridge University
Press. ISBN 978-0-521-72814-0.
Retrieved November 14, 2010.
Gary D. Solis (2010). The Law of Armed
Conflict: International Humanitarian Law
in War . Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 978-0-521-87088-7. Retrieved
November 14, 2010.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media

related to War crimes.
Wikiquote has quotations related to:
War crime

Australian Bunker And Military Museum

- abmm.org
"Amnesty International" . Amnesty
International. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
"International criminal jurisdiction" .
International Committee of the Red
Cross.
"Cambodia Tribunal Monitor" .
Northwestern University School of Law
Center for International Human Rights
and Documentation Center of
Cambodia. Retrieved December 17,
2008.
Burns, John (January 30, 2008).
"Quarter, Giving No" . Crimes of War
Project. Archived from the original on
December 31, 2008. Retrieved
December 17, 2008.
War Crimes: Responsibility and the
Psychology of Atrocity
Human Rights First; Command's
Responsibility: Detainee Deaths in U.S.
Custody in Iraq and Afghanistan
TheRule of Law in Armed Conflicts
Project
Iraqi Special Tribunal
Crimes of War Project
Rome Treaty of the International
Criminal Court
Special Court for Sierra Leone
UN International Criminal Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia
UN International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda
Ad-Hoc Court for East Timor
CBC Digital Archives -Fleeing Justice:
War Criminals in Canada
A Criminological Analysis of the
Invasion and Occupation of Iraq By
Ronald C. Kramer and Raymond J.
Michalowski
 Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes
Unpunished on YouTube
Investigating Human Rights – Reaching
Out to Diaspora Communities in U.S. for
War Crimes Tips (FBI)
[2] UK's Geneva Conventions
(Amendment) Act 1995 – which bans
War Crimes

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