War crime/Related Articles

See also changes related to War crime, or pages that link to War crime or to this page or whose text contains "War crime".

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Parent topics

• Just war theory [r]: The branch of ethics concerned with the basis for starting, conducting, and terminating wars ^[e]
• Hostis humani generis [r]: A legal principle that certain acts, such as piracy, slavery and genocide, puts one outside the norms of civilization and makes one an "enemy of all mankind", subject to early forms of universal jurisdiction or summary action ^[e]

Subtopics

Historical and current sources

• Lieber Code [r]: First formal set of criteria for individual compliance with the laws of war, issued by the U.S. Army in 1863 ^[e]
• Hague Conventions [r]: The first set of international agreements on the laws and conduct of war, generated by conferences in 1899 and 1907 ^[e]
• Treaty providing for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy [r]: (Kellogg-Briand Pact) An international agreement, first signed in 1928 and eventually agreed-to by a large number of the world's nations at the time, which rejected the use of war to settle disputes; it had no notable effect on world events ^[e]
• Geneva Conventions [r]: For international law, the principal group of treaties addressing humanitarian aspects of war ^[e]

Case law

Concepts

• Command responsibility [r]: A doctrine, in international law, that a commander is ultimately responsible for war crimes by subordinates, even if the commander was unaware of the acts or may have taken steps to prevent the acts ^[e]
• Military necessity [r]: In U.S. and NATO usage, the position that a belligerent has the right to apply any measures which are required to bring about the successful conclusion of a military operation and which are not forbidden by the laws of war. ^[e]
• Tu quoque defense [r]: Add brief definition or description

Courts

• Nuremberg Trials [r]: Conducted by the four major Allied powers in Europe, this proceeding tried the designated Major War Criminals of Nazi Germany, as well as determining whether certain Nazi organizations were to be considered as criminal conspiracies to which membership was a crime ^[e]
• Nuremberg Military Tribunals [r]: A set of twelve trials of officials of Nazi Germany, conducted by the United States in its zone of occupation of Germany, following the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg) ^[e]
• International Military Tribunal for the Far East [r]: Add brief definition or description

Illegal orders

• Barbarossa Jurisdiction Order [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Commando Order [r]: An order from Adolf Hitler, later the basis for a number of war crimes prosecution, which condemned uniformed special operations personnel operating behind enemy lines ^[e]
• Commissar Order [r]: A decree, signed by Adolf Hitler on June 6, 1941, specifying the treatment, often summary execution, of Soviet political officers captured by German forces in the Soviet Union ^[e]
• Night and Fog Decree [r]: A 1941 Nazi order calling for the extrajudicial detention, either followed by summary capital punishment or secret imprisonent in Germany, of civilians judged to be resisting German military occupation ^[e]

Cases

• In re Yamashita [r]: An unsuccessful appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, by Japanese General Tomiyuki Yamashita, challenging the legitimacy of the military commission that tried him ^[e]

Current courts

• International Criminal Court [r]: A permanent tribunal, established by treaty among over 120 nations but not part of the United Nations, for trying individuals for crimes against humanity; a number of major countries do not accept its authority ^[e]
  • International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [r]: Add brief definition or description
  • International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [r]: Created by the United Nations Security Council, an international humanitarian law tribunal established to try Rwandan citizens for 1994 violence in Rwanda and neighboring countries, principally between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups ^[e]