Thread by @OPokalchuk

How to understand if a certain attack is a war crime?

I'm doing a thread to explain this and other related questions.

Welcome the Laws of War 101 👇

Armed conflicts are governed principally by international humanitarian law (IHL), which is also known as the laws of war. IHL is a set of rules – either codified in treaties or recognized through custom – that limits the permissible behavior of parties to a conflict.

Ever heard of the Geneva Conventions? Those are the core of IHL.

The primary aims of IHL are to minimize human suffering and to protect the civilian population and those former combatants who are no longer directly participating in hostilities, such as prisoners of war.

Serious violations of IHL are war crimes. Those include targeting civilians, murder, torture or other ill-treatment of civilians or prisoners of war.

Not all violations of IHL are war crimes though. But parties to a conflict still urged to adhere to principles of distinction and proportionality.

Principle of distinction: All sides must distinguish between military targets & civilians. Any deliberate attack on a civilian or civilian building (homes, hospitals, schools, gov't buildings) – is a war crime (providing the building hasn't been taken over for military use).

Principle of proportionality: It is prohibited to launch an attack which may be expected to cause loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, and/or damage to civilian objects which would be excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage.

International Criminal Court, various international tribunals and national courts (applying the principle of universal jurisdiction) may prosecute individuals suspected of committing war crimes.

Now, let's draw distinction between war crimes and crimes against humanity and genocide (that are not necessarily taking place in the context of war).

Genocide: acts committed with the intent to destroy, completely or partially, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Including killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group...

... deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Crimes against humanity: crimes committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population as part of a state or organisational policy during peace or war time.

Crimes against humanity include enforced disappearances, murder, enslavement, rape and deportation or forced transfer of population.

This thread got a lot of positive attention, so I decided to continue it and add some more interesting terms, explanations and links to useful resources.

Let's dig a bit deeper!

IHL distinguishes between international armed conflicts and non-international armed conflicts.

International armed conflict (IAC): A situation where there is resort to armed force between two or more States, regardless of the reason or the intensity of the conflict.

The occupation of a State (or its part) by a foreign army also amounts to an international armed conflict. Even if the army wasn't met with resistance, like it was in Crimea in 2014.

Non-international armed conflict (NIAC): A protracted armed confrontation occurring between governmental armed forces and the forces of one or more armed groups, or between such groups arising on the territory of a State.

In the case of a non-international armed conflict, the armed confrontation must reach a minimum level of intensity and the parties involved in the conflict must show a minimum level of organization.

This distinction may seem outdated. Conflicts of 21st century are having a more hybrid nature. Still, on a practical level this distinction works, as every situation within a conflict can be considered separately (either as IAC or NIAC).

Now, with this knowledge you can check out the Article 8 of the Rome Statute that lists various types of war crimes: icc-cpi.int/resource-libra…

Every crime consists of concrete elements that can be checked here: icc-cpi.int/nr/rdonlyres/3…

In this example, you can see how a war crime of attacking civilians is determined.

Here's also a useful thread on treatment of prisoners of war – those are too protected by the IHL.

We'll, no one can do it better than the Red Cross!

Adding another brilliant thread by @astroehlein on extensive destruction of property as a war crime.

Can nuclear plants be military targets? Is an attack on a nuclear plant a war crime? Here's an excellent thread 👇