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1.) War Crimes

Definition
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Article 8

War Crimes

1. The Court shall have jurisdiction in respect of war crimes in particular when committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes.
2. For the purpose of this Statute, ‘war crimes’ means:
* Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention:
* Wilful killing
* Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;
* Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;
* Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly;
* Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power;
* Wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial;
* Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement;
* Taking of hostages.
* Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict, within the established framework of international law, namely, any of the following acts:
* Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities;
* Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, objects which are not military objectives;
* Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict;
* Intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated;
* Attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objectives;
* Killing or wounding a combatant who, having laid down his arms or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at discretion;
* Making improper use of a flag of truce, of the flag or of the military insignia and uniform of the enemy or of the United Nations, as well as of the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions, resulting in death or serious personal injury;
* The transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory;
* Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives;
* Subjecting persons who are in the power of an adverse party to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are neither justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the person concerned nor carried out in his or her interest, and which cause death to or seriously endanger the health of such person or persons;
* Killing or wounding treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army;
* Declaring that no quarter will be given;
* Destroying or seizing the enemy's property unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war;
* Declaring abolished, suspended or inadmissible in a court of law the rights and actions of the nationals of the hostile party;
* Compelling the nationals of the hostile party to take part in the operations of war directed against their own country, even if they were in the belligerent's service before the commencement of the war;
* Pillaging a town or place, even when taken by assault;
* Employing poison or poisoned weapons;
* Employing asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and all analogous liquids, materials or devices;
* Employing bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with a hard envelope which does not entirely cover the core or is pierced with incisions;
* Employing weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare which are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering or which are inherently indiscriminate in violation of the international law of armed conflict, provided that such weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare are the subject of a comprehensive prohibition and are included in an annex to this Statute, by an amendment in accordance with the relevant provisions set forth in articles 121 and 123;
* Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;
* Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, as defined in article 7, paragraph 2 (f), enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions;
* Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations;
* Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, medical units and transport, and personnel using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in conformity with international law;
* Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions;
* Conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into the national armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities.
* In the case of an armed conflict not of an international character, serious violations of article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts committed against persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention or any other cause:
* Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
* Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;
* Taking of hostages;
* The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgement pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all judicial guarantees which are generally recognized as indispensable.
* Paragraph 2 (c) applies to armed conflicts not of an international character and thus does not apply to situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar nature.
* Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflicts not of an international character, within the established framework of international law, namely, any of the following acts:
* Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities;
* Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, medical units and transport, and personnel using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in conformity with international law;
* Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict;
* Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives;
* Pillaging a town or place, even when taken by assault;
* Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, as defined in article 7, paragraph 2 (f), enforced sterilization, and any other form of sexual violence also constituting a serious violation of article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions;
* Conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into armed forces or groups or using them to participate actively in hostilities;
* Ordering the displacement of the civilian population for reasons related to the conflict, unless the security of the civilians involved or imperative military reasons so demand;
* Killing or wounding treacherously a combatant adversary;
* Declaring that no quarter will be given;
* Subjecting persons who are in the power of another party to the conflict to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are neither justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the person concerned nor carried out in his or her interest, and which cause death to or seriously endanger the health of such person or persons;
* Destroying or seizing the property of an adversary unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of the conflict;

* f Paragraph 2 (e) applies to armed conflicts not of an international character and thus does not apply to situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar nature. It applies to armed conflicts that take place in the territory of a State when there is protracted armed conflict between governmental authorities and organized armed groups or between such groups.
1. Nothing in paragraph 2 (c) and (e) shall affect the responsibility of a Government to maintain or re-establish law and order in the State or to defend the unity and territorial integrity of the State, by all legitimate means.

SOURCE : https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/war-crimes.shtml#:~:text=War%20crimes%20are%20those%20violations,criminal%20responsibility%20under%20international%20law.


Elements of the Crime

War crimes are those violations of international humanitarian law (treaty or customary law) that incur individual criminal responsibility under international law. As a result, and in contrast to the crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity, war crimes must always take place in the context of an armed conflict, either international or non-international.

What constitutes a war crime may differ, depending on whether an armed conflict is international or non-international. For example, Article 8 of the Rome Statute categorises war crimes as follows:

* Grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, related to international armed conflict;
* Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict;
* Serious violations of Article 3 common to the four 1949 Geneva Conventions, related to armed conflict not of an international character;
* Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflict not of an international character

From a more substantive perspective, war crimes could be divided into: a) war crimes against persons requiring particular protection; b) war crimes against those providing humanitarian assistance and peacekeeping operations; c) war crimes against property and other rights; d) prohibited methods of warfare; and e) prohibited means of warfare.

War crimes contain two main elements:
1. A contextual element: “the conduct took place in the context of and was associated with an international/non-international armed conflict”;
2. A mental element: intent and knowledge both with regards to the individual act and the contextual element.

In contrast to genocide and crimes against humanity, war crimes can be committed against a diversity of victims, either combatants or non-combatants, depending on the type of crime. In international armed conflicts, victims include wounded and sick members of armed forces in the field and at sea, prisoners of war and civilian persons. In the case of non-international armed conflicts, protection is afforded to persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed ‘hors de combat’ by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause. In both types of conflicts protection is also afforded to medical and religious personnel, humanitarian workers and civil defence staff.


2.) war crime
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A war crime is a violation of the laws of war. The legal understanding of war crimes has been codified in several multilateral treaties, most notably the Geneva Conventions. More recently, the most comprehensive legal statement on war crimes was the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

To be liable for a war crime, the victim must be protected under the Geneva Conventions. GC I, II, and III apply to soldiers, while GC IV applies to civilians and "unlawful combatants."

The following acts are war crimes under Rome Statute Article 8:

* wilful killing;
* torture;
* biological experiments;
* mutiliation;
* unjustified destruction and appropriation of property;
* conscripting POWs;
* denying POWs a fair trial;
* unlawful deportation and transfer;
* unlawful confinement;
* taking of hostages;
* pillaging;
* intentional attacks against civilians;
* intentional attacks against non-military targets;
* intentional attacks against peacekeepers or humanitarian aid groups;
* killing or wounding combatants who have surrendered;
* employing poisoned weapons;
* rape;
* sexual slavery;
* enforced sterilization;
* forced pregnancy;
* conscripting children under the age of 15.

Prosecution for war crimes requires the existence of an armed conflict and that the perpetrator was aware of the conflict (ICC, Elements of Crimes, § 8).

In the context of command responsibility, the ICC will use an "overall control test," which requires that the defendant have "a role in organizing, coordinating or planning the military actions of the military group, in addition to financing, training and equipping the group or providing operational support to it" (ICC, Lubanga, Confirmation of Charges § 211).

* wex
* CIVICS
* military law
* wex definitions
* Keywords
* international criminal law


SOURCE : https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/war_crime



3.) 18 USC 2441: War crimes
Text contains those laws in effect on January 2, 2001

From Title 18-CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I-CRIMES
CHAPTER 118-WAR CRIMES
Jump To:

Source Credit
References In Text
Amendments
Short Title

SOURCE : https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-2000-title18-section2441&num=0&edition=2000

https://youtu.be/TKzRUr4YBgc?si=d-I_3R35rJEKcB1D

1.) Countries at Risk for Mass Killing 2022–23: New Early Warning Report

What is the Early Warning Project?

The Early Warning Project’s annual Statistical Risk Assessment was created by the Museum’s Simon-Skjodt Center and Dartmouth College’s Dickey Center for International Understanding to identify countries at risk for mass killing, raise warning signs, and encourage policy makers to take action to prevent mass atrocities.  

Based on publicly available data, researchers built a model that asks, in effect, which countries today look most like countries that have experienced mass killing in the past, in the two years before the violence began? This annual report is the cornerstone of the Early Warning Project, which was launched in 2015.

What did we find?

The Early Warning Project considers the top-30 countries to be high-risk. In the new assessment, nearly half of these countries are already experiencing a mass killing.

Consistent with other research, most high-risk countries have a history of mass killing and are currently experiencing an armed conflict.

At the same time, the composition of the high-risk group underscores that serious mass killing risks are not limited to a single region of the world or to highly authoritarian contexts. While 17 of the top-30 are in sub-Saharan Africa, 4 of the top-10 are in South and Southeast Asia, and another 6 of the top-30 are in the Middle East or North Africa.

Democracies, such as India and Indonesia, are represented in the high-risk group together with autocracies, such as Syria and China.

For more information on the risk factors and risk levels associated with any of the 160-plus countries included in this year’s assessment, visit the country pages on the Early Warning Project’s website. 

SOURCE : https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/blog/countries-at-risk-for-mass-killing-2022-23


2.) Ranking of All Countries
2022-23 Statistical Risk Assessment for Mass Killing

SOURCE : https://earlywarningproject.ushmm.org/storage/resources/2634/Early-Warning-Project-Statistical-Risk-Assessment-2022-23.pdf


3.) Modern Era Genocides

SOURCE : https://genocideeducation.org/resources/modern-era-genocides/


4.) 2023 Report to Congress on Section 5 of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-441) [as amended]

REPORT
AUGUST 2, 2023

Consistent with Section 5 of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-441) (the Elie Wiesel Act), the Department of State submits this annual report, on behalf of the President, on U.S. efforts to anticipate, prevent, and respond to atrocities.

The United States is committed to promoting respect for human rights globally and reaffirms atrocity prevention as a core national security interest. In July 2022, the United States released its first Strategy to Anticipate, Prevent, and Respond to Atrocities (SAPRA).

This report demonstrates the growing integration of U.S. strategies on gender, atrocity prevention, and conflict prevention and stabilization to prevent mass atrocities. Over the last year, the White House-led Atrocity Prevention Task Force (APTF) implemented the 2022 recommendations, which included SAPRA implementation, identifying pilot countries for priority prevention efforts, continuing to engage in ongoing atrocity contexts, and training Foreign Service officers assigned to countries experiencing or at risk of mass atrocities.

The APTF continued to consult with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society in connection with the implementation of the Elie Wiesel Act, while taking coordinated joint actions with likeminded partners to prevent and respond to atrocities. This report highlights some illustrative examples of U.S. efforts in atrocity prevention and response coordinated by the APTF from May 2022 to April 2023 and details contributions across U.S. government agencies.

* In June 2022, Attorney General Garland announced the creation of a new War Crimes Accountability Team, which is based in the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) within the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Criminal Division. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) International Human Rights Unit and the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) continue to work closely with HRSP in support of this initiative. DOJ’s International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) continues to train and mentor Ukrainian law enforcement in tactical and criminal investigative techniques, forensics, and evidence collection.

* USAID’s Human Rights in Action program significantly expanded its long-term efforts to document atrocities and abuses of human rights. Having supported the documentation of more than 30,000 instances of allegations of war crimes in Ukraine since February 2022, these efforts also focused on ensuring accountability, including through more than 70 impact litigation cases against the Russian Federation in international and regional courts. USAID’s Justice for All (J4A) program continues to support Ukraine’s legal system by building the capacity of judges, defense lawyers, and the judicial administration to adjudicate war crimes in domestic courts. J4A also contributed to drafting and advocacy efforts leading to the adoption of a UN resolution to establish a register and a claims commission for compensation for war victims.

SOURCE : https://www.state.gov/2023-report-to-congress-on-section-5-of-the-elie-wiesel-genocide-and-atrocities-prevention-act-of-2018-p-l-115-441-as-amended/