Did you know that just like any crime, war crimes for the most part are determined by law, specifically international humanitarian laws? Also, you should not be surprised that for a crime to be war crime it needs to occur in an armed conflict. Moreover, it needs to be intentional. Not surprisingly, the big disagreement on war crimes almost always occurs depending on which side of the conflict you are on. So, this article will look at what are war crimes, who determines what is a war crime, and a list of 10 types of war crimes.
War Crimes – A Short History and Definition.
Armed conflicts between nations are chaotic, nasty affairs outside the normal rules of laws. In ancient times, Cicero said, “In times of war, the law falls silent.” Until recent times war crimes were at best a “Victor’s Justice“, Specifically, this is where whoever won the war would put on trial the people whose country had lost the war. Moreover, the concept of war crimes is a recent phenomenon. A short definition of a war crime is
“serious violation of international humanitarian law and occurs in the state of armed conflict”.
What’s more, war crimes are not just derived from International laws. This is because any Government can singularly enact laws that define what are war crimes, their penalties, and how to prosecute them.
Who Determines What Are War Crimes?
International humanitarian laws against war crimes started with the Hague Conventions in 1899 and 1907. After World War II starting in 1949, several Geneva Conventions were adopted by United Nations (UN) members in regard to war crimes. Usually, temporary International criminal tribunals were established to prosecute war crimes for a specific war or conflict (ex. Nuremberg, Yugoslavia, Rwanda). More recently, the Rome Statute established a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC). At the same time, not all nations are party to these statutes. Indeed, there is no one single document that codifies all war crimes. See UN’s War Crimes for more information on who and what International statutes govern war crimes.
A List of 10 War Crimes.
As there are a wide range of international and nation-specific laws governing war crimes, an authoritative list of war crimes is difficult to formulate. At the same time, most authorities do agree that war crimes only occur during armed conflict. Also, for a tribunal to convict someone of a war crime, intent must be proven. To list, below are commonly accepted war crimes.
- Murder of Civilians / Genocide
- Deportation / Ethnic Cleansing
- Slave Labor
- Hostage Taking / Unlawful Confinement
- Murder / Ill Treatment of Prisoners of War
- Torture or Inhuman Treatment / Mutilation
- Plunder of Property
- Attacks Against Non-Military Targets to Include Peacekeepers or Humanitarian Aid Groups
- Systematic Rape and Sexual Enslavement
- Conscripting Children Under the Age of 15
See Legal Information Institute’s War Crimes for definition and listing of war crimes as well as BBC’s Ethics Guide on War Crime for a comprehensive listing of war crimes.
For more from Unvarnished Facts, see the latest articles on Conflict, Bias, and Helping People.
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