War crime

A war crime is a crime that breaks international laws of war. These laws say what is allowed during war and what is not. Today, these international laws are the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Convention.

Definition
To be a war crime, a crime must be part of a plan or has to be committed against protected persons and must be committed during a war. 
International armed conflicts
In international armed conflicts, only prisoners of war, wounded and sick enemy fighters, shipwrecked survivors, and enemy civilians are protected persons. Nationals under their own authority as well as neutral civilians living in a belligerent state and allied citizens as long their states maintain diplomatic relations with a belligerent power are not protected persons under the law of war in the same conflicts.
Non-international armed conflicts
In non-international armed conflicts, persons not taking part in hostilities are protected regardless of nationality. The idea of what a "war crime" is has changed over time.  For example, in the 1940s, the strategic bombing during World War II was not a war crime. But if such a bombing were to be done today, it would be a war crime.

International Criminal Court
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.  Its list was the first 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 protected civilians or neutral persons.Law of Armed Conflict: Neutrality
 Torture
 Taking hostages
 Destroying or stealing property
 Willful attacks on neutral persons, property, or territory
 Doing medical experiments on a person that will hurt them
 Causing "great suffering" (severe physical or mental pain) on purpose
 Keeping a person in jail, sentencing them, or executing them without a trial
 Using chemical weapons, biological weapons, or other weapons that are illegal under international law

Sexual war crimes
These are war crimes whether they are committed against enemy soldiers or protected civilians or neutral persons.
 Rape
 Sexual slavery
 Forcing a person to get sterilized
 Forcing a woman to get pregnant
 Forcing a person to be a prostitute
 Sexual violence, including all other types of sexual abuse

 War crimes against protected civilians 
War crimes against protected civilians include:
 Forcing protected children to become soldiers
 Forcing protected civilians to leave their home countries
 Starving protected civilians on purpose, as a way of making war
 Attacking protected civilians, killing them, or destroying their property
 Making an attack that is obviously going to kill and injure many protected civilians
 Attacking places like religious buildings, schools, and hospitals, which have nothing to do with war
 Mutilating a protected civilian, e.g. 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:
 Killing prisoners of war
 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
 Hurting or killing a person who is unable to fight, e.g. because they are injured or sick
 Using flags, insignia, or uniforms worn by enemy soldiers or the United Nations as a disguise while attacking

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, e.g. a neutral warship in belligerent waters

Examples of war crimes

This table shows some examples of war crimes.

WARPERPETRATORIncident  Type of war crimesOrdered or Committed ByNotes World War I (1914-1918) All major belligerentsChemical weapons in World War IUse of chemical weaponsOrdered by all major belligerentsThroughout World War I, all major belligerents employed chemical weapons in combat in violation of the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, which prohibited the use of "poison or poisoned weapons" in international conflicts.Second Sino-Japanese War(1937-1945)Empire of JapanNanjing MassacreMass murder of civilians and prisoners of war; torture; rape; robbery; setting buildings on fireCommitted by the Imperial Japanese ArmyFor six weeks after invading and taking over Nanjing, China, Japanese soldiers committed war crimes.  About 200,000 people died or were killed. World War II (1939-1945) Nazi GermanyInvasion of PolandMass murder of civilians, including hospital patients; attacking refugees and civilian buildingsCommitted by the German Wehrmacht and Schutzstaffel (SS)The Nazis killed about 150,000–200,000 Polish civilians, including over 20,000 in mass executions by mobile death squads, and about 6,000 hospital patients.World War II (1939-1945) Empire of JapanAttack on Pearl HarborAttacking neutral territory and murder of neutral personsCommitted by the Imperial Japanese NavyOn December 7, 1941, Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft and submarines attacked a United States naval base at Pearl Harbor without a state of war and without explicit warning, killing 2,403 people, destroying 188 U.S. aircraft, and sinking eight battleships.World War II (1939-1945) United StatesBiscari massacreMurder of prisoners of warSergeant Horace T. West; Captain John T. ComptonDuring the Allied invasion of Sicily, American soldiers killed 76 Italian and German prisoners of war.  West was found guilty in an American court martial; Compton was found not guilty. Vietnam War (1955-1975)North VietnamMassacre at HuếMass murder, beatings, and torture of civilians Viet Cong and People's Army of VietnamThe Battle of Huế began on 31 January 1968, and lasted a total of 26 days. During the months and years that followed, dozens of mass graves were discovered in and around Huế. Victims included men, women, children, and infants killed under North Vietnamese occupation of Huế, South Vietnam. The estimated death toll was between 2,800 and 6,000 civilians and prisoners of war, or 5–10% of the total population of Huế. Victims were found bound, tortured, and sometimes buried alive. Many victims were also clubbed to death.Kendrick Oliver, The My Lai Massacre in American History and Memory (Manchester University Press, 2006), p. 27.Pierre Journod, "La France, les États-Unis et la guerre du Vietnam: l'année 1968", in Les relations franco-américaines au XX siècle, edited by Pierre Melandri and Serge Ricard (L'Harmattan, 2003), p. 176. The Troubles (1968-1998) United KingdomActions in Northern IrelandTorture; killing suspects (including a civilian) without trying to arrest them firstMembers of the British ArmyIn the 1970s, members of the British Army commonly used torture, including waterboarding, on prisoners in Northern Ireland.  They also started a "shoot to kill" policy, where they would shoot and kill suspects without trying to arrest them first.  The European Court of Human Rights ruled that this was illegal. Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) IraqIraqi chemical attacks against IranUse of chemical weaponsOrdered by Saddam Hussein; led by Alī Ḥassan al-Majīd ("Chemical Ali")Throughout the 1980s, Iraq used poison gases to attack Iran.  A Dutch war crimes tribunal also found a Dutch businessman guilty for selling Iraq chemical weapons.War in Uganda (1985  today) Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)Many eventsMass murder; kidnapping; forcing children to be soldiers and sex slaves; attacking civiliansLed by Joseph KonyThe LRA is a rebel group in Uganda, started in 1987.  Since 1987, the LRA has forced about 60,000  100,000 children to be soldiers, and about 2 million people in central Africa had to leave their homes.  In 2002, Kony ordered the LRA to start attacking civilians.  The ICC has indicted Kony for 21 different war crimes.  The Court has also indicted four other LRA leaders.War in Darfur (2003  today) SudanMany eventsMass murder of civilians; destroying civilian villages; rape; making civilians leave home; lootingLed by Omar al-Bashir; committed by Sudanese military, police, and militiaThe al-Bashir government has committed many crimes against people in Darfur who are not of the Arab, Muslim majority.  In 2014, the United Nations estimated that 300,000 had been killed and more than 1.5 million had been forced to leave their homes.  The ICC has indicted al-Bashir and five other leaders with war crimes.

Photo gallery

Related pages
 The Holocaust
 Bosnian genocide
 Hague Convention
 Rwandan genocide
 Geneva Conventions
 Cambodian genocide
 Command responsibility
 Crimes against humanity

References