The U.S government assesses that Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Here’s what to know about what war crimes are and how perpetrators are prosecuted.The modern framework for assessing war crimes was born out of the Nuremberg trials after World War II, in which Nazi Party officials, military officers and German elites were tried on charges including crimes against humanity. The international community sought to set guardrails that would minimize the horror of future conflicts.
War crimes include the deliberate targeting of civilians; attacks that cause disproportionate civilian casualties given the military objective; and attacks on hospitals, schools, historic monuments and other key civilian sites. Plenty of horrific acts of violence resulting in civilian deaths would not meet the definition.Zelensky also alleged last week that Russia’s launch of a projectile that caused a fire at a nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine was a “war crime.
Cluster munitions, which scatter bomblets indiscriminately and leave unexploded duds that pose dangers to civilians after the conflict, are banned by many nations — but not Russia and Ukraine. Russia’s alleged use of those weapons in Ukraine, as well as “vacuum weapons,” isn’t automatically illegal, Schabas said. That determination depends on whether Russia took steps to avoid harming civilians.
There’s also a separate legal category of crimes against humanity, which includes mass murder, enslavement and torture.International law around conflict governs more than just combat.
A preliminary investigation found “reasonable basis to believe crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court had been committed” and “identified potential cases that would be admissible,” Khan said in a
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