List of war crimes
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This article attempts to summarise incidents which may be perceived as either War Crimes, Crimes Against Peace, or Crimes against Humanity.
To an extent, the definition of a "War Crime" varies depending on who writes the history book, and when. There will always be debate over what was a war crime, and what was not.
For example, was the mass deployment of land mines in Asia a war crime, or a military measure? Was 9/11 a war crime, or terrorism? Were incursions into South America or manouvering to destabilise other states a war crime, or just national policy? What about state repression (eg China/USSR/Africa/Chile) which imposed internal state police, sanctioned torture, terrorised large numbers of people, but for the most part stopped short of mass summary killing?
The following summary should therefore not be taken as a guide to what is or is not a war crime. Inclusion of an incident in the list does not mean that a war crime was committed, exclusion does not mean that no war crime took place.
Criteria for inclusion
- Anything that significant numbers of people think of as a war crime, is valid for inclusion. No judgement is rendered by listing an incident.
- No incident prior to 1864, the signing of the first Geneva Convention on the Laws of War is included, since before that no internationally recognised criteria were available. War crimes as a special legal category have been established firmly by the 1945 Nuremberg Trials, where main German culprits were prosecuted for the war crimes during WWII.
- For the purposes of this list, the incident must have been made with the aim of summarily or recklessly killing or injuring a defined group of civilians as a matter of concerted policy. (Thus terrorism and simple human rights violations such as torture, death and state terror, whether internal or external, are generally excluded)
- The matter concerned must be significant enough to warrant inclusion in the main list - minor incidents should be added to the "Other" section.
Format
- Name of Incident and Responsible Party in sub-subtitle (this does not signify that a war crime was necessarily committed)
- Basis (or Facts) of Case
- Estimated Deaths
- Resolution (ie, was there any comeback)
- Any other discussion/notes
Alleged and Actual Incidents
Military Campaign in Ethiopia and Somalia (Italy)
- Massive use of poisons
- Top commanding officer Gen. Badoglio indicted but never tried in court
World War II (Nazi Party)
- 1939-1945
- Invasion of neighbouring countries, genocide (specifically, the Holocaust).
- ?? million (principally Jews)
- Tribunal set up by allies, 24 indictments, 10 death sentences.
World War II (Italy, kingdom and Italian Social Republic
- 1939-1945
- War crimes in the Balkans, in France, Italy and on the Eastern Front
Vietnam War (United States & North Vietnam)
- 1968, My Lai massacre
- 1968, Massacre at Hue
>Use of Chemical Weapons - banned under the 1925 Geneva Protocol
>Use of Ordnance against Civilian Populations
>Initiation of the Vietnam War and its extension to Laos and Cambodia violated the Nurmeberg Principles (A Crime Against Peace) and article 51 of the UN Charter.
Invasion of Kuwait (Iraq)
- 1990
- Invasion of neighbour, looting, killing of civilians
- X dead/raped, country devastated, resources wantonly destroyed
- Operation Desert Storm (USA and a broad alliance) in 1991 removed Iraq from Kuwait, destroyed its military capability; Iraq subsequently punished by UN sanctions, military quarantine, and periodic bombardment.
Halabja, Killing of Kurds (Iraq)
- 1988
- Gassing of Kurdish population by Iraq, use of mustard gas, nerve agents (sarin, tabun, VX) and possibly cyanide
- 12,000 dead (est)
- Leader of Iraq at the time (Saddam Hussain) on trial for war crimes and genocide as at 2004
Rwanda, Massacre of Tutsi Tribes (Hutu Government)
- 1994
- "Hutu Power" extremists led major campaigns against Tutsis and moderate Hutus, resulting in 800,000 deaths and the worst organized killing since the Holocaust.
- Tensions reached a breaking point after an airplane crash killed Hutu President Juvénal Habyarimana and his Burundian counterpart Cyprien Ntaryamira.
- Most were hacked to death manually by weapons such as machetes.
- Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana was assassinated after jumping over a fence to escape advancing gangs.
- Many officials were responsible for gathering people in central locations such as churches in order for the killing to be more efficient.
- The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has indicted several former officials and well-known figures, including Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, a former Seventh-day Adventist pastor. Former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda is the highest-ranking official actually convicted so far.
Serbia/Bosnia (Former Yugoslavia, aggravated by religious tension)