In the context of war, a war crime is a punishable offense under International Law, for violations of the laws 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 are typically limited to the local jurisdiction. In essence, the term "war crime" represents the concept of an international jurisdiction as applicable to the most severe crimes, in areas where government is dysfunctional and society is in a state of turmoil.
The article "list of war crimes" summarizes war crimes committed since the Hague Conventions of 1907. In addition, those incidents which have been judged in a court of law to be Crimes Against Peace and Crimes against Humanity that have been committed since these crimes were first defined (in the London Charter, August 8, 1945) are also included.
The article "list of war criminals" is a list of war criminals as according to the conduct and rules of warfare as defined by the Nuremberg Trials following World War II as well as earlier agreements such as Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907, the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, and the Geneva Conventions of 1929 and 1949.
More on [ War crime ]
Genocide :: Twentieth Century
Human Rights and Liberties :: Issues

reviewed - A book review of Geoffrey Robertson's history of modern human rights and the progress towards enforceable international laws against war crimes.
Meta Description: [ The Struggle for Global Justice | lawyer and human rights campaigner Geoffrey Robertson combines a passion for justice, an honest acceptance of unpleasant realities, and skill in explaining complex legal issues... ]
American War Crimes - Collection of articles about the Vietnam War, Korea War, and Afghanistan War.
Meta Description: [ This site describes stuff about Islam and Muslims. ]
404
CBC News - War Crimes - Canadian Broadcast Company's site for war crimes in Yugoslavia, Bosnia, and Rwanda.
500
Coalition for International Justice - International, non-profit organization that supports international war crimes tribunals and justice initiatives.
Committee on Conscience - General and in-depth resources on genocide and related crimes against humanity.
Crimes of War Project - Dedicated to raising awareness of the laws of war and war crimes among the media, policy makers, human rights and humanitarian aid workers, and the general public.
Meta Description: [ The Crimes of War Project is a collaboration of journalists, lawyers and scholars dedicated to raising public awareness of the laws of war and their application to situations of conflict. Our goal is to promote understanding of international humanitarian law among journalists, policy-makers, and ... ]
Crying for Justice - A Houston Chronicle special report on the failure to bring to justice the perpetrators of several war crimes is Rwanda, South Africa, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
Encyclopedia.com: War Crimes - Short article about the definition of war crimes, and the prosecution of past war criminals.
Meta Description: [ war crimes in international law, violations of the laws of war (see war, laws of ). Those accused have been tried by their own military and civilian ]
From the Bloodbaths In East Timor to A Suicide in Alexandria - Article exposing evidence of U.S. intelligence passing information to Indonesian war criminals and supporting butchery.
Frontline: The Crime of Genocide - Gives a clinical definition of genocide and what makes it the worst crime against humanity.
Gardens of the Righteous Worldwide - International project aimed at highlighting the men and women who resisted crimes against humanity, inspired by Yad Vashem's Garden of the Righteous in Jerusalem. Events, background, and related links.
General William T. Sherman: Would the Georgia Campaigns of the First Commander of the Modern Era Comply with Current Law of War Standards? - From the Emory International Law Review 9.2, Fall 1995. Attempts to apply modern standards to Sherman's Atlanta Campaign in the U.S Civil War.
Genocidal Acts During the Twentieth Century - Chronological list with perpetrators and approximate number of victims.
Genocide Research Center - A nonprofit organization which concentrates on the study, detection, and prevention of genocides. With news, law, research, education, and links.
Meta Description: [ Het Centrum voor Holocaust en Genocide Educatie is een non-profit organisatie met als doel verschillende historische en actuele episodes van genocidaal geweld in de schijnwerpers te brengen. Via herdenking, educatie en onderzoek ijveren we ervoor het publieke bewustzijn van deze misdaden te verho... ]
Guardian Weblog Special: War crimes - Collection of news coverage from newspapers worldwide about war crimes tribunals from Nuremberg to the Hague.
Henry Kissinger War Crimes - Gives overview and references to several articles and essays advocating the indictment of Henry Kissenger for mass murders in Cambodia.
Human Rights Violations in Chechnya - Contains photos and archived reports from several human rights organizations on continuous killing where from 50,000 to 100,000 civilans have died or disappeared.
Meta Description: [ A website documenting war crimes in Chechnya. Reports from Chechnya with latest press releases. Analysis and news on Western policy in the Chechen Republic. ]
Human Rights Watch - Organization to protect rights of people around the world, to bring offenders to justice, prevent discrimination, uphold political freedom and to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime.
Meta Description: [ Home page for Human Rights Watch, an organization dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to bring offenders to justice, to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom and to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime. ... ]
Humanitarianism and War Project, Archives - Reviews the experience of the international community in responding to complex emergencies around the world, examines the interaction between humanitarian action and political-military forces. Sponsored by Feinstein International Famine Center at Tufts University and initiated by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.
Institute for International Criminal Investigations - IICI is an international organization of professional investigators, military officers, lawyers and academics dedicated to training and deploying professionals in the investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Institute for War and Peace Reporting - An award-winning educational and development charity founded in 1991, IWPR informs the international debate on conflict and supports the independent media in regions in transition. Long-time publisher of WarReport, IWPR produces several electronic reporting and monitoring services, all available via the Web or e-mail, in up to five languages.
Meta Description: [ Independent news from the Balkans, Caucasus and former Soviet Union, in several languages ]
International Criminal Tribunals: Handbook for Government Cooperation - An Amnesty International resource on improving laws and resources to combat war crimes.
Meta Description: [ This handbook is intended to assist governments to fulfill their obligations under international law to cooperate with the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. This document provides guidance and practical illustrations of ways to overcome legal and other types o... ]
500
International Forensic Centre of Excellence for the Investigation of Genocide - The Inforce Foundation investigates war crimes, crimes against humanity and extra-judicial killings. News and information on ongoing projects, lists of advisors and supporters, upcoming conferences and recommended reading.
Meta Description: [ The International Forensic Centre of Excellence for the Investigation of Genocide (the Inforce Foundation) is an independent, and impartial organisation that investigates war crimes, crimes against humanity and extra-judicial killings. A charity, our advisory boards include scientists, scene of c... ]
International Humanitarian Law - Information, treaties, and legal materials, from the International Committee of the Red Cross. Includes the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols.
Meta Description: [ Section explaining international humanitarian law (IHL), its role in the protection of victims of war and its relationship with the work of the ICRC. The main treaties are the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols ]
404
International Military Law - This Australian site explores and debates international law issues arising out of the increasing use of military personnel in circumstances below the threshold of armed conflict.
International Society for Military Law and the Law of War - Belgian based association to study military law and promote the law of armed conflict that respects human rights. In French and English.
Juozas Kisielaitis - Accused Nazi War Criminal - Background on accused Nazi war criminal Juozas Kisielaitis.
Kissinger, Manhattan's Milosevic - Opinion published in Village Voice Feature argues that the former U.S. secretary of state committed war crimes. By James Ridgeway with Ariston-Lizabeth Anderson and Sandra Bisin.
Meta Description: [ Thirty years ago, the Harrisburg 6 humorously suggested collaring Henry Kissinger for war crimes in Vietnam. In a special Mondo Washington, James Ridgeway investigates the possibility of making a citizen's arrest on Nixon's former secretary of state. ]
Law and War: A Doctrine of Deterrence - From UN Chronicle 35 (1998), by Anthony D'Amato.
No Peace Without Justice - Campaign of the Transnational Radical Party for the establishment of the ICC and support of the ad hoc international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
Non-Turkish Crimes Against Humanity - Conflicts happen around the world; Turkey is no exception. This site presents crimes, of equal if not greater magnitude to those committed in Turkey, all around the world.
Meta Description: [ Be Witness to Man's Inhumanity to Man ]
Prevent Genocide International - Global, Internet-based network of activists working to prevent the crime of genocide, providing information on international laws and penalties.
Meta Description: [ A global, Internet-based network of activists working to prevent the crime of genocide ]
Ramsey Clark, The War Criminal's Best Friend - Asserts the former U.S. attorney general has become the tool of left-wing cultists who defend Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein and Rwandan torturers as anti-imperialist heroes.
Meta Description: [ Ramsey Clark, the war criminal's best friend: The former U.S. attorney general has become the tool of left-wing cultists who defend Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein and Rwandan torturers as anti-imperialist heroes. ]
REDRESS - Seeking Reparation for Torture Survivors - Redress is a London based, internationally focused non-profit legal/human rights organisation to help torture survivors use available international, regional and national remedies to obtain reparation and to campaign for effective remedies where they do not exist.
Research Office for the War Crimes Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda - Provides legal support and assistance in prosecuting individuals responsible for serious crimes and atrocities committed in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. From the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, American University.
404
Sentencing By International Tribunals: A Human Rights Approach - Article in the Duke Journal of Comparative International Law on relevant provisions, sentencing, circumstances, and objectives.
Special Court - Includes background documents, news, and events on The Special Court for Sierra Leone to investigate and prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity there.
The Greek Murderers - Provides photos and background information on what it sees as a Turkish genocide by Greeks from 1919-1929.
Meta Description: [ This site is dedicated to all those who lost their lives in the massacres commited by Greeks in Anatolia, Balkans, Chios and Peloponnese ]
The Laws of War - A searchable database from the Avalon Project at Yale University on universally accepted means of conflict with historical treaties and agreements from the 18th to 21st century.
The Project on International Courts and Tribunals - Created by New York University and the University of London to address legal, institutional and financial issues on the increase of international courts and tribunals as well as their use.
Tolstoy Letters - Translated letters from Count Nikolai Tolstoy concerning his claims of war crimes by the British Government following the Second World War.
US: Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) - This section of CSCE (Helsinki Commission) is a part of the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. Government and monitors human rights in Europe. Hearings, resolutions in the US.
War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, Including Genocide - Principal legal instruments, form the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library.
War Crimes Resources at Questia - Features an online library of books and journals relating to war crimes around the globe.
Meta Description: [ Research war crimes at the Questia.com online library ]
| War Crimes Caught on Video | |
| Next Video | |