War Crimes
479 Articles
Letter to the Editor: Response to Luis Moreno Ocampo on Comparisons to Holocaust Denial
On Monday, Just Security posted a piece by former ICC Prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo. In his piece, Ocampo argued against a longstanding critique among African leaders, according…
From Brexit to African ICC Exit: A Dangerous Trend
Burundi, South Africa, and the Gambia are not violating international law merely by announcing their withdrawal from the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court.…
Beyond Gitmo: What is the US Going to Do About the Coming Wave of ISIL Detainees?
With the Mosul battle raging and the Raqqa offensive possibly weeks away, U.S. policymakers and government attorneys will be facing a familiar kind of problem: What is going to…
Who is Responsible for the Yemen Funeral Bombing, and How?
The aftermath of a bombing by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Photo: Almigdad Mojalli/IRIN The Saudi-led coalition has acknowledged, after initially denying, that it carried…
Human Shields in Mosul
Daesh’s inhumanity seems to know no bounds. For its latest depravity, the group has forcibly expelled hundreds of civilians from nearby villages and forced them to serve as…
Letter to the Editor: Bombing Hospitals: Why Bad Actors—Not the Laws of War—Are to Blame
In “Military Attacks on ‘Hospital Shield: The Law Itself is Partly to Blame,” the authors address the dangers of analogizing between human shields and hospitals,…
If US and UK Have Joined the Fighting in Yemen, What’s Their Duty to Investigate Alleged Saudi War Crimes?
Air strike in Sana’a, May 2015. Image by Ibrahem Qasim – Wikimedia If the United States and United Kingdom (have) become not just supporters of the Saudi-led coalition…
Military Attacks on “Hospitals Shields”: The Law Itself is Partly to Blame
The MSF Trauma Center in Kunduz, Afghanistan, following the US airstrike on the facility in October 2015. Image by Andrew Quilty. From the war in Afghanistan and the US-backed…
International Armed Conflict in Syria and the (Lack of) Official Immunity for War Crimes
Last week, I wrote two posts at Just Security (here and here) on one of the legal consequences that would follow if the situation in Syria is an “international armed conflict”…
Turkey’s US-Backed Operation in Syria Has Created an International Armed Conflict
Defense Secretary Ash Carter meets with Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işik during a U.N. Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting at Lancaster House in London, Sept. 8, 2016. DoD photo…
Full Text: Saudi-Led Coalition’s Statement of Explanation on Funeral Hall Bombing in Yemen
On Saturday, an investigation team with the Saudi-led coalition operations in Yemen released a statement explaining its findings of the reasons that led to the coalition’s…
How Retaking Mosul Could Spell Disaster for Civilians
After over two grueling years living under the control of the Islamic State (ISIS), Mosul’s 1.2 million civilians may suffer yet more abuse when the government tries to retake…