Image at right: Charles Taylor; the former president of the African state of Liberia, was charged with war crimes in his own country and in neighbouring Sierra Leone. In 2012, Taylor was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment, upheld on appeal. The presiding judge remarked that ''The accused has been found responsible for aiding and abetting as well as planning some of the most heinous and brutal crimes in recorded human history''. (More at)
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Background information
The information below is an abridged version of that published in the BBC 'Ethics guide'. The BBC's guide has been archived and is no longer updated. It can be accessed at
War crimes
At the heart of the concept of war crimes is the idea that individuals can be held criminally responsible for the actions of a country or its soldiers.
War crimes and crimes against humanity are among the gravest crimes in international law.
They are considered so serious that there is no period of limitation for such crimes - which means that those who commit them can be prosecuted and punished no matter how much time has elapsed since the crimes were committed.
Historical note
The concept of war crimes is a recent one. Before World War II, it was generally accepted that the horrors of war were part of the nature of war, and recorded examples of war crimes go back to Greek and Roman times.
Before the twentieth century armies frequently behaved brutally to enemy soldiers and non-combatants alike - and whether there was any punishment for this depended on who eventually won the war.
Commanders and politicians usually escaped any punishment for their role in war - or, if they lost, were summarily executed or imprisoned.
There was no structured approach to dealing with 'war crimes' nor any general agreement that political and military leaders should take criminal responsibility for the acts of their states or their troops.
Attitudes changed during World War II when the murder of several million people - mainly Jews - by Nazi Germany, and the mistreatment of both civilians and prisoners of war by the Japanese, prompted the Allied powers to prosecute the people they believed to be the perpetrators of these crimes.
These trials provide the main precedents for cases being heard by tribunals in this century, among them the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. From 2002, trials of individuals charged with war crimes have been conducted before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Victor's justice
People are usually only tried for war crimes if their country loses the war - a victorious nation rarely tries its own people for war crimes - with the result that war crimes trials can look like revenge trials and be seen as acts of injustice themselves.
But this is not always the case - several Americans were tried for war crimes committed in the Vietnam conflict, and the war crimes trials relating to conflict in the former Yugoslavia is likely to be a significant exception to this tradition.
What acts are war crimes?
War crimes are defined by the Geneva Conventions, the precedents of the Nuremberg Tribunals, an older area of law referred to as the Laws and Customs of War, and, in the case of the former Yugoslavia, the statutes of the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague (ICTY).
War crimes fall into four groups (if genocide is included)
1. Crimes against peace (Planning and preparing for an illegal war)
* planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances
* participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the above
2. War crimes (crimes committed during a war against non-combatants and captured combatants)
Violations of the laws or customs of war, including:
* Atrocities or offences against persons or property, constituting violations of the laws or customs of war
* murder, ill treatment or deportation to slave labour or for any other purpose of the civilian population in occupied territory
* murder or ill treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas
* killing of hostages
* torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments
* plunder of public or private property
* wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages
* devastation not justified by military necessity
3. Crimes against humanity
Atrocities and offences committed against any civilian population, before or during the war, including:
* murder
* extermination
* enslavement
* deportation
* mass systematic rape and sexual enslavement in a time of war
* other inhumane acts
* persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where perpetrated.
4. Genocide
Genocide is considered one of the most severe crimes against humanity. It means the deliberate attempt to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
The term was coined in 1943 by the Jewish-Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin who combined the Greek word 'genos' (race or tribe) with the Latin word 'cide' (to kill).
After witnessing the horrors of the Holocaust - in which every member of his family except his brother and himself was killed - Dr Lemkin campaigned to have genocide recognised as a crime under international law.
His efforts led to the adoption of the UN Convention on Genocide in December 1948, which came into force in January 1951.
Definition of genocide
Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such:
* 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
* forcibly transferring children of the group to another group
Individuals are chosen as victims purely, simply, and exclusively because they are members of the target group, and not because of anything an individual has done.
Genocide is a crime under international law even if it is not a crime in the country where it takes place, and incitement to commit genocide is also a crime.
Responsibility for such crimes
Leaders, organisers, instigators. and accomplices participating in the formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy to commit any of the crimes above are criminally responsible for everything done by anyone in carrying out such a plan.
Superior orders
The fact that a person was obeying an order of his government or of a superior does not free him from responsibility but can be considered and may reduce the appropriate punishment.
A very detailed list of crimes against humanity and war crimes can be found in articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which is online at the United Nations website.