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! === 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. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page