The legitimacy of the war has sometimes been accused of curbing victor favoritism („victors` justice“),[32] as some controversies were not qualified as war crimes. Some examples include the destruction of Axis cities by the Allies during World War II, such as the firebombing of Dresden, Operation Meetinghouse attack on Tokyo (the most destructive bombing raid in history), and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. [33] With respect to strategic bombing during World War II, there was no international treaty or instrument specifically protecting civilians from air attacks,[34] so airstrikes on civilians were not officially war crimes. The Allies at the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials never prosecuted the Germans, including the Luftwaffe commander-in-chief, Hermann Goering, for the bombing of Warsaw, Rotterdam and British cities during the Blitzkrieg, as well as for the indiscriminate attacks on Allied cities with V-1 flying bombs and V-2 missiles. nor the Japanese for air raids on overcrowded Chinese cities. [35] Although there are no specific treaties for air warfare,[34] Protocol 1, Article 51 of the Geneva Conventions explicitly prohibits the bombing of cities where the civilian population could be concentrated, regardless of the method used. [23] (see Air Strikes and International Law). Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention defines war crimes as „wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including […] intentionally causing great suffering or serious bodily harm or the health, illicit transfer or placement of a protected person. hostage-taking, large-scale destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out illegally and without cause“. War crimes also included deliberate attacks on citizens and property of neutral states, such as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred while the United States and Japan were at peace and without just reason to defend themselves, the attack was declared by the Tokyo trials as going beyond the justification of military necessity and therefore constituted a war crime. [28] [29] [30] War crimes are important in international humanitarian law,[31] as international tribunals such as the Nuremberg trials and the Tokyo trials have been convened here. Recent examples include the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, established by the United Nations Security Council under Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations.
From the outset, war crimes trials were dismissed by critics simply as a „victors` tribunal“ because only people from defeated countries were prosecuted and because the accused were accused of acts that were allegedly not criminal at the time they were committed. In support of the trials, the Nuremberg Tribunal cited the Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928), which strictly prohibits war and makes war a crime for which individuals can be prosecuted. If successful, it would potentially place environmental destruction in the same legal category as war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Note: After World War II, the Charter of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg codified war crimes, including crimes against humanity, for the first time. The legal concept of war crimes also includes the crime of planning or conducting a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties. Current and former heads of state and government indicted for war crimes include: The concept of war crimes emerged at the turn of the century, when customary international law applicable to wars between sovereign states was codified. This codification took place at the national level, as with the publication of the Lieber Code in the United States, and at the international level with the adoption of treaties in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. In addition, proceedings before national courts during this period have contributed to clarifying the law. [1] After the end of World War II, there were major legislative developments. Many trials of Axis war criminals established the Nuremberg Principles, such as the idea that war crimes are crimes defined by international law.
In addition, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 defined new war crimes and stipulated that States could exercise universal jurisdiction over such crimes. [1] In the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In the nineteenth century, after the establishment of several international tribunals, other categories of war crimes were defined that are applicable to armed conflicts other than those between States, such as civil wars. [1] One concerns the nearly two dozen soldiers who formed the first platoon and endured a devastating mission that included casualties, carnage and a leader who ordered them to commit war crimes. On 1 July 2002, the International Criminal Court, a conventional tribunal based in The Hague, was established to prosecute war crimes committed from that date. Several countries, including the United States, China, Russia and Israel, have criticized the court. The United States continues to participate as an observer. Article 12 of the Rome Statute provides for jurisdiction over citizens of States not Parties when they are accused of having committed crimes in the territory of a State Party.
[8] Unlike genocide and crimes against humanity, war crimes must be committed in the context of armed conflict. The ICC has heard several war crimes cases. Jean-Pierre Bemba, for example, has been accused of war crimes for initiating mass rapes against civilians in the Central African Republic. In Ntaganda`s case, the ICC found that sexual crimes committed by members of a Congolese armed group against other members of the same group were war crimes. A small number of German World War I servicemen were indicted by the Supreme Court in 1921 for alleged war crimes. The International Criminal Court in The Hague prosecutes war crimes. The ICC works closely with the United Nations but is not part of the UN. War crimes can also be prosecuted before an international war crimes tribunal or a tribunal established by an official group of countries such as NATO. Also known as the Tokyo Trial, the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal or simply the Tribunal, it was convened on May 3, 1946 to convict the rulers of the Empire of Japan for three types of crimes: „Class A“ (crimes against peace), „Class B“ (war crimes) and „Class C“ (crimes against humanity) committed during World War II. Immediately after the First World War, the victorious Allied Powers convened a special commission on the responsibility of warwrights and on the enforcement of sentences. The Commission`s report recommended that war crimes trials be held before the victors` national courts and, if necessary, before an inter-allied tribunal.
The Allies drew up an initial list of about 900 suspected war criminals and submitted it to Germany. Although heads of state have traditionally enjoyed immunity from prosecution, the commission`s main target was German Kaiser Wilhelm II, whom most Allies (but not the United States) wanted to hold accountable for numerous violations of the laws of war.