War crimes
Topic: India's External Relations, 1947-1999: Non-alignment, Wars and Nuclear Policy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
War crimes are serious breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL), which is the set of rules that limits how wars may be fought. They include deliberately attacking civilians, killing or torturing prisoners, and an occupying power moving its own civilians into land it occupies (barred by Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, 1949). The rules apply to every side in a conflict, whatever the reason for the war. A just cause such as self-defence does not make unlawful methods lawful. Guilt is proved from the acts themselves. Unlike genocide, there is no need to show an intent to destroy a group.
Example
In 2024 the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory found that both Hamas and Israel had committed war crimes during the Gaza war that began on 7 October 2023. The Commission is a fact-finding body. A court such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) must decide individual guilt. India is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that set up the ICC.
Don't confuse with
- Genocide: this also needs proof of intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part (Article II, Genocide Convention, 1948). War crimes need no such intent.
- Crimes against humanity: these need a widespread or systematic attack on civilians and can happen even in peacetime. War crimes are tied to armed conflict.