War crime Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==History== {{See also|List of war crimes}} [[File:Chinese killed by Japanese Army in a ditch, Hsuchow.jpg|thumb|A ditch full of the bodies of Chinese civilians killed by [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese soldiers]] in [[Suzhou]], China, 1938]] ===Early examples=== In 1474, the first trial for a war crime was that of [[Peter von Hagenbach]], realised by an [[ad hoc]] tribunal of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], for his [[command responsibility]] for the actions of his soldiers, because "he, as a knight, was deemed to have a duty to prevent" criminal behaviour by a military force. Despite having argued that he had obeyed [[superior orders]], von Hagenbach was convicted, [[Capital punishment|condemned to death]], and beheaded.<ref name="Greppi">[http://www.icrc.ch/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/57JQ2X The evolution of individual criminal responsibility under international law] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090910200939/http://www.icrc.ch/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/57JQ2X |date=10 September 2009 }} By Edoardo Greppi, Associate Professor of International Law at the University of Turin, Italy, International Committee of the Red Cross No. 835, pp. 531β553, 30 October 1999.</ref><ref name="Grant">[http://www.law.harvard.edu/alumni/bulletin/2006/spring/gallery.phpExhibit highlights the first international war crimes tribunal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403141758/http://www.law.harvard.edu/alumni/bulletin/2006/spring/gallery.phpExhibit |date=April 3, 2022 }} by Linda Grant, Harvard Law Bulletin.</ref> ===Hague Conventions=== {{Main|Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907}} 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]]. ===Lieber Code=== {{Main|Lieber Code}} The Lieber Code was written early in the [[American Civil War]] and President [[Abraham Lincoln]] issued as General Order 100 on April 24, 1863, just months after the military [[execution]]s at [[Mankato, Minnesota]]. General Order 100, ''Instructions for the Government of the Armies of the United States in the Field'' (Lieber Code) was written by [[Francis Lieber|Franz Lieber]], a German [[lawyer]], political [[philosopher]], and veteran of the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. Lincoln made the Code [[military law]] for all [[Rules of war|wartime conduct]] of the [[Union Army]]. It defined [[command responsibility]] for war crimes and [[crimes against humanity]] as well as stated the military responsibilities of the Union soldier fighting the [[Confederate States of America]].<ref>{{cite book |year=1863 |title=Instructions for the Government of the Armies of the United States in the Field |author=Francis Lieber, LL.D. and revised by a Board of Officers |edition= 1st |publisher=D. Van Nostrand |publication-date=1863 |publication-place=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/governarmies00unitrich|access-date=23 August 2015 |via= Internet Archive}}</ref> ===Geneva Conventions=== {{Main|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. 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 several states continuously engaged in armed conflicts, namely the United States, Israel, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, and others. Accordingly, states retain different codes and values about wartime conduct. Some signatories have routinely violated the Geneva Conventions in a way that either uses the ambiguities of law or political maneuvering to sidestep the laws' formalities and principles. The first three conventions have been revised and expanded, with the fourth one added in 1949: * The [[First Geneva Convention]] ''for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field'' was adopted in 1864 and then significantly revised and replaced by the 1906 version,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/INTRO/180?OpenDocument |title=Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field. Geneva, 6 July 1906 |publisher=[[International Committee of the Red Cross]] |access-date=July 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222210023/http://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/INTRO/180?OpenDocument |archive-date=February 22, 2014 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref> the [[Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field (1929)|1929 version]], and later the First Geneva Convention of 1949.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cil.nus.edu.sg/1949/1949-geneva-convention-i-for-the-amelioration-of-the-condition-of-the-wounded-and-sick-in-armed-forces-in-the-field/|title=1949 Geneva Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field β Centre for International Law|work=nus.edu.sg|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221161712/http://cil.nus.edu.sg/1949/1949-geneva-convention-i-for-the-amelioration-of-the-condition-of-the-wounded-and-sick-in-armed-forces-in-the-field/|archive-date=February 21, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref> * The [[Second Geneva Convention]] ''for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea'' was adopted in 1906<ref>{{cite book |title=The International Committee of the Red Cross: A Neutral Humanitarian Actor |url=https://archive.org/details/internationalcom00rief |url-access=limited |date=June 17, 2007 |author=David P. Forsythe |page=[https://archive.org/details/internationalcom00rief/page/n59 43] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-34151-6 }}</ref> and then significantly revised and replaced by the Second Geneva Convention of 1949. * The [[Third Geneva Convention]] ''relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War'' [[Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War (1929)|was adopted in 1929]] and then significantly revised and replaced by the Third Geneva Convention of 1949. * The [[Fourth Geneva Convention]] ''relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War'' was first adopted in 1949, based on parts of the 1907 [[Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)|Hague Convention IV]]. [[File:Destroyed house in the south of Sanaa 12-6-2015-3.jpg|thumb|[[Human Rights Watch|HRW]] wrote that the [[Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen|Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen]] that began on March 26, 2015, involved airstrikes in apparent violation of the laws of war.<ref>"[http://www.dw.com/en/human-rights-watch-saudi-stikes-in-yemen-violated-international-law/a-18554746 Human Rights Watch: Saudi strikes in Yemen violated international law] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722074552/http://www.dw.com/en/human-rights-watch-saudi-stikes-in-yemen-violated-international-law/a-18554746 |date=July 22, 2015 }}". [[Deutsche Welle]]. June 30, 2015.</ref>]] 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 trials=== {{Main|Leipzig war crimes trials}} Just after WWI, world governments started to try and systematically create a code for how war crimes would be defined. Their first outline of a law was "''Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field"''βalso known as the "Lieber Code."<ref>{{Citation|last1=Day|first1=L. Edward|title=War Atrocities|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412950619.n482|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Murder and Violent Crime|location=Thousand Oaks, CA|publisher=Sage Publications, Inc.|access-date=2021-10-12|last2=Vandiver|first2=Margaret|year=2003|doi=10.4135/9781412950619.n482|isbn=978-0761924371|archive-date=April 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403141742/https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/violentcrime/n482.xml|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 === {{Main|London Charter of the International Military Tribunal|Nuremberg trials}} The modern concept of war crime was further developed under the auspices of the [[Nuremberg trials]] based on the definition in the [[London Charter of the International Military Tribunal|London Charter]] that was published on August 8, 1945 (see [[Nuremberg principles]]). Along with war crimes the charter also defined [[Crime against peace|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 === {{Main|International Military Tribunal for the Far East}} 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]]. === Formation of the International Criminal Court === [[File:My Lai massacre.jpg|thumb|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]] (ICC), 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 if they are accused of committing crimes in the territory of one of the state parties.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 1998|url=http://legal.un.org/icc/STATUTE/99_corr/cstatute.htm|publisher=UN Treaty Organization|access-date=October 13, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019222421/http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/99_corr/cstatute.htm|archive-date=October 19, 2013|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The ICC only has jurisdiction over these crimes when they are "part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/romefra.htm |title=Rome Statute, Part II, Article 8 |publisher=[[United Nations Office of Legal Affairs]] |access-date=October 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019222329/http://legal.un.org/icc/statute/romefra.htm |archive-date=October 19, 2013 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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