In war, as in any situation fraught with conflicting interests, it can be difficult to separate the right from the wrong. For that reason, it is important for lawyers, commanders and politicians to carefully consider the terms they use and to pay attention to the implications of their choice of words.
A war crime is defined as any act committed during a war that violates the laws of war, which are contained in several international treaties and conventions. Individuals can be prosecuted for war crimes through the International Criminal Court at The Hague or ad hoc tribunals established by victorious nations. For example, the Nuremberg Trials and the International Military Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia were set up by the Allied powers after World War II.
War crimes can include many types of abuse, but in general they involve killing or injuring persons not involved in an armed conflict and destroying civilian property. In addition, the term covers a wide range of abuses, including the use of chemical weapons, murder of civilians and prisoners of war, the destruction of cities, bombing of religious and cultural sites, mutilation of corpses and other degrading treatment of captured persons, excessive fire upon surrender or capture of a place of assembly and the illegal recruitment of child soldiers.
These violations of international law can be committed by military, paramilitary or other armed forces operating overseas, but they can also be perpetrated by citizens of a state who are engaging in terrorist acts or other forms of human rights abuse abroad. In those instances, it is the responsibility of that nation to ensure its citizens are not engaged in war crimes abroad and do not bring them back into its borders.
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