War crime

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A war crime is a punishable offense, under international (criminal) law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. Every violation of the law of war in an inter-state conflict is a war crime, while violations in internal conflicts don't necessarily amount to war crimes.

War crimes include violations of established protections of the laws of war, but also include failures to adhere to norms of procedure and rules of battle, such as attacking those displaying a flag of truce, or using that same flag as a ruse of war to mount an attack.

It comprises such acts as mistreatment of prisoners of war or civilians. War crimes are sometimes part of instances of mass murder and genocide though these crimes are more broadly covered under international humanitarian law described as crimes against humanity.

War crimes are significant in international humanitarian law because it is an area where international tribunals such as the Nuremberg Trials have been convened. Recent examples are the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which were established by the UN Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

On July 1, 2002 the International Criminal Court, a treaty based court located in The Hague, came into being for the prosecution of war crimes committed on or after that date. However, several nations, most notably the United States, China, and Israel, have criticized the court, refused to participate in it or permit the court to have jurisdiction over their citizens.

To date, the former heads of state and heads of government that have been charged with war crimes include Karl Dönitz of Germany, ex Prime Minister Hideki Tojo of Japan and former Liberian President Charles Taylor. Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is currently on trial accused of committing War Crimes as is former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević.

Justice is not always served, when it comes to war crimes. The guilty are not always punished, nor even brought to court. Sometimes what is referred to as winners' justice prevails. Criticisms of the United States using atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II which killed over 100,000 civilians each have not led to a court case. Politically weak peoples such as those of East Timor also have not been able to bring charges against Indonesian leaders whom militarily occupied their country for 24 years which caused an estimated killing of 1/3 of the population.

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