War-Crimes

War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict (Also known asInternational humanitarian law) giving rise to individual criminal responsibility. Examples of such conduct includes "murder, the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied territory to slave labor camps", "the murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war", the killing of prisoners, "thewanton destruction of cities, towns and villages, and any devastation not justified by military, or civilian necessity".[1]

Similar concepts, such as perfidy, have existed for many centuries as customs between civilized countries, but these customs were first codified as international law in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. The modern concept of a war crime was further developed underthe auspices of the Nuremberg Trials based on the definition in the London Charter that was published on August 8, 1945. (Also see Nuremberg Principles.) Along with war crimes the charter also defined crimes against peace and crimes against humanity, which are often committed during wars and in concert with war crimes.

Article 22 of the Hague IV ("Laws of War: Laws and Customs of War on Land(Hague IV); October 18, 1907") states that "The right of belligerents to adopt means of injuring the enemy is not unlimited"[2] and over the last century many other treaties have introduced positive laws that place constraints on belligerents (see International treaties on the laws of war). Some of the provisions, such as those in the Hague, the Geneva, and Genocide Conventions, are considered to bepart of customary international law, and are binding on all.[3][4] Others are only binding on individuals if the belligerent power to which they belong is a party to the treaty which introduced the constraint.

History

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Hsuchow, China, 1938. A ditch full of the bodies of Chinese civilians, killed byJapanese soldiers.[5]

[edit]Early example
The trial of Peter von Hagenbach byan ad hoc tribunal of the Holy Roman Empire in 1474, was the first “international” war crimes trial, and also of command responsibility. He was convicted and beheaded for crimes that "he as a knight was deemed to have a duty to prevent", although he had argued that he was only "following orders".

[edit]Hague Conventions
Main article: Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)

The Hague Conventionswere international treaties negotiated at the First and Second Peace Conferences at The Hague, Netherlands in 1899 and 1907, respectively, and were, along with the First and Second Geneva Conventions (1864 and 1909), among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the nascent body of secular international law.

[edit]Geneva Conventions
Main article: Geneva ConventionsThe Geneva Conventions are four related treaties adopted between 1864 and 1949 that represent a legal basis for International Law with regard to conduct of warfare. Not all nations are signatories to the GC, and as such retain different codes and values with regard to wartime conduct. Some signatories have routinely violated the Geneva Conventions in a way which either uses the ambiguities of lawor political maneuvering to sidestep the laws' formalities and principles.

All conventions were revised and expanded in 1949.

▪ First Geneva Convention "for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field" (first adopted in 1864, last revision in 1949).
▪ Second Geneva Convention "for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick andShipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea" (first adopted in 1906).
▪ Third Geneva Convention "relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War" (first adopted in 1929, last revision in 1949).
▪ Fourth Geneva Convention "relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War" (first adopted in 1949, based on parts of the 1907 Hague Convention IV).
[edit]Leipzig War Crimes Trial...