Title: War crime Content: A war crime is a crime that happens in a war. There are international laws of war that say what people can do during wars and what they cannot do. A war crime breaks these rules. Today, these rules are international laws called the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Convention. ==Definition== To be a war crime, a crime must be part of a plan, or the crime has to be committed against many people and must be committed during a war. The idea of what a "war crime" is has changed over time. For example, during World War I, using poison gas in combat was not thought of as a war crime. Now it is. In 2002, the International Criminal Court (ICC) was created. Its goal is to look into and, if possible, punish people for war crimes. When the ICC was created, it came up with a longer list of war crimes. For example, its list was the first one to include types of sexual abuse like forcing women into sexual slavery.pp. 8–10 ==Types of war crimes== Here are some examples of crimes that the ICC lists as war crimes. === General war crimes === These are war crimes whether they are committed against enemy soldiers or civilians or neutral persons.Law of Armed Conflict: Neutrality * Torture * Causing "great suffering" (severe physical or mental pain) on purpose * Doing medical experiments on a person that will hurt them * Destroying or stealing property * Taking hostages * Using chemical weapons, biological weapons, or other weapons that are illegal under international law * Keeping a person in jail, sentencing them, or executing them without a trial * Willful attacks on neutral persons, property, or territory === Sexual war crimes === These are war crimes whether they are committed against enemy soldiers or civilians or neutral persons. * Rape * Sexual slavery * Forcing a person to be a prostitute * Forcing a woman to get pregnant * Forcing a person to get sterilized * Sexual violence (which includes all other types of sexual abuse and sexual assault) === War crimes against civilians === War crimes against civilians include: * Attacking civilians, killing them, or destroying their property * Making an attack that is obviously going to kill and injure many civilians * Forcing civilians to leave their home countries * Attacking places like religious buildings, schools, and hospitals, which have nothing to do with war * Starving civilians on purpose, as a way of making war * Forcing children to become soldiers * Mutilating a civilian (for example, by cutting off an arm or hurting them in other ways that will show forever) === War crimes against enemy soldiers === War crimes against enemy soldiers include: * Hurting or killing a person who is unable to fight (for example, because they are injured or sick) * Hurting or killing a person who has surrendered * Hurting or killing a person who is clearly a military medic or a chaplain * Tricking enemy soldiers by using a flag to signal a truce, then attacking * Using flags, insignia, or uniforms worn by enemy soldiers or the United Nations as a disguise while attacking * Killing prisoners of war === War crimes against neutral persons === War crimes against neutral persons include: * Hurting or killing a person who is a peacekeeper * Hurting or killing a person whose country is not participating in an armed conflict (for example, a neutral warship in belligerent waters) ==Examples of war crimes== This table shows some examples of war crimes.  ==Photo gallery== File:Ambassador Morgenthau's Story p314.jpg|Bodies of civilians murdered by the Turkish military during the Armenian Genocide File:Armenian genocide4.jpg|Starving children rescued during the Armenian Genocide File:Chinese_civilians_to_be_buried_alive.jpg|Japanese soldiers bury Chinese civilian prisoners alive during the Nanking Massacre File:Zniszczenia1939 0.jpg|Nazi bombing destroyed this Polish city, including civilian buildings, during the invasion of Poland File:Seamen at Kaneohe NAS decorate graves of Pearl Harbor victims.jpg|thumb|Seamen at Kaneohe Naval Air Station decorate the graves of their fellow neutral sailors killed at Pearl Harbor My Lai massacre.jpg|Bodies of civilians killed by U.S. soldiers during the My Lai Massacre File:Burningdwelling2.jpg|U.S. soldiers also burned down civilians' homes during the My Lai Massacre File:Halabja cemetery.jpg|A U.S. soldier stands in front of a mass grave for the victims of the Halabja gas attack in Iraq File:Refugee camp Chad.jpg|Refugee camp in Chad. Over 1.5 million people have had to leave their homes during the War in Darfur File:Darfur IDPs children sitting.jpg|A Sudanese family sitting in a refugee camp ICC member states.svg|Some countries (red on this map) have not agreed to be part of the ICC. This makes it harder for the ICC to punish war crimes in those countries ==Related pages== * Crimes against humanity * Geneva Conventions * Hague Convention * Command responsibility