War Crimes

The violation of the laws and customs of war including murder, illtreatment of pows, plunder, and rape, among other crimes. country.

The violation of the laws and customs of war including murder, illtreatment of pows, plunder, and rape, among other crimes. country.

Definition of War Crimes

The Canada social science dictionary [1] provides the following meaning of War Crimes: During the Second World War Allied nations determined to prosecute German war criminals and defined ‘war crimes’ as plotting aggressive warfare and committing atrocities against any civilian population. This definition was used in the trials of war criminals which began in 1945. In recent years there have been suggestions that Canada (for its involvement in the fire bombing of German civilians) and the United States (for the dropping of atomic bombs on largely civilian inhabited cities) as well as other nations were also guilty of committing atrocities against civilians, but these nations were never brought to trial. In the 1990s the United Nations again initiated tribunals to prosecute war criminals in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda.

War Crimes: Resources

Notes and References

• Drislane, R., & Parkinson, G. (2016). (Concept of) War Crimes. Online dictionary of the social sciences. Open University of Canada