scholarly journals Issuing Several Pardons, President Trump Intervenes in Proceedings of U.S. Troops Charged or Convicted of Acts Amounting to War Crimes

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-312
Keyword(s):  
War Crimes ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The Military ◽  
The U.S

On November 15, 2019, President Trump pardoned or otherwise removed punishments for three members of the military—Lieutenant Clint Lorance, Major Mathew Golsteyn, and Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher—who had been found to commit, or had allegedly committed, criminal acts abroad that amounted to war crimes. These actions follow Trump's May 2019 pardon of First Lieutenant Michael Behenna, who had been found guilty of murdering a detainee in Iraq. These intrusions into military proceedings were an unusual use of the president's pardon power and have raised concerns about the U.S. commitment to international humanitarian law.

scholarly journals Features of detection and obtaining evidence of war crimes committed in the context of international armed conflict

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (69) ◽  
pp. 74-90
Author(s):  
Ihor Tataryn ◽  
Yuliia Komissarchuk ◽  
Yurii Dmytryk ◽  
Mariia Maistrenko ◽  
Olha Rymarchuk
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Scientific Article ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Military Conflict ◽  
Support Organization ◽  
International Obligations ◽  
The Military

The scientific article is devoted to a comprehensive understanding of international legal, procedural, and organizational problems of investigation of war crimes committed during the military conflict in the south and east of Ukraine. It develops the author's concept of investigation of war crimes committed during the armed conflict, scientifically substantiated theoretical provisions and specific patterns that are manifested in the field of legal support, organization of investigation, collection of evidence, methods of investigation of crimes of this type. It is concluded that there is a need to specify the components of war crimes in national legislation. Recommendations for further improvement of criminal and criminal procedure legislation of Ukraine in order to fulfill the state's international obligations in the field of international humanitarian law are given.

The Application of International Humanitarian Law by the Israel Defense Forces

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amichai Cohen ◽  
Eyal Ben-Ari
Keyword(s):  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Advocate General ◽  
The Past ◽  
Junior Officers ◽  
Military Commanders ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
Israel Defense Forces ◽  
The Military

This chapter describes how increased juridification and demands to apply international humanitarian law (IHL) have influenced the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The authors analyze the IDF’s compliance with IHL and other legal frameworks through a multilevel and multidimensional model of military compliance describing the law and external institutions involved in applying it. The past decades have seen the relatively autonomous sphere of the military increasingly come under judicial overview. Judicial and international pressures have also increased the role of the operational legal advisors. The chapter ends by discussing the ceremonies intended to promote compliance with IHL involving soldiers and junior officers. It is based on interviews (with Israeli academic experts, members of nongovernmental organizations [NGOs], and military commanders), off-the-record conversations with members of the IDF’s Military Advocate General, and newspaper articles, reports of NGOs, and secondary material.

Bridging the Accountability Gap

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 567-597
Author(s):  
Hannes Jöbstl
Keyword(s):  
War Crimes ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Penal Sanctions ◽  
Accountability Gap ◽  
Alternative Solutions

Abstract During non-international armed conflict, war crimes often go unpunished in areas where state authorities are unable to enforce the law. While states are under a customary law obligation to investigate and prosecute war crimes committed on their territory or by their nationals, the Customary International Humanitarian Law Study of the International Committee of the Red Cross has not found that this obligation extends to armed non-state actors (ANSAs). Nevertheless, command responsibility requires the individual commander to punish their forces in case war crimes have been committed and a growing amount of state practice demanding similar commitments — both legally and politically — from these actors as such can be observed over the past two decades. Indeed, ANSAs routinely impose penal sanctions onto their subordinates and often establish judicial structures in order to do so. This article argues that whereas ANSAs should be under some form of obligation to ensure accountability, alternative solutions to makeshift courts and penal proceedings might be better suited to prevent impunity and maintain fair trial guarantees.

scholarly journals SYRIA – “THE WAR WITH MULTIPLE PROXIES”. VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-178
Author(s):  
Daniela Vetina Ene
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil War ◽  
International Conflict ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Amnesty International ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
The Arab Spring

The civil war in Syria, triggered by the pro-democracy demonstrations of the "Arab Spring", was a complicated combination of religious, cultural and ethnic-identity contradictions. The non-international conflict was turned into a "battlefield" for foreign powers, which led to the transformation of a civil war into a "war with multiple proxies". The United Nations' efforts to mediate the conflict, based on a six-point plan, remained in the draft phase. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have denounced flagrant violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by the al-Assad regime, which has widely used non-discriminatory weapons banned in violation of the Geneva Conventions, 1949. The Bashār al-Assad regime is accused by the international community of being guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but attempts to incriminate it have failed.

The liability of civilians under international humanitarian law's war crimes provisions

2002 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 344-359
Author(s):  
Roberta Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Conflicts ◽  
Suicide Bombers ◽  
Fourth Part

Contemporary international conflicts are witnessing an increasing involvement of civilians — such as, for example, suicide bombers — in the conduct of hostilities. Unlike regular soldiers, however, whose job it is to fight, civilians are not allowed to participate in combat and may be tried under ordinary criminal law for such activity. The question that this paper will attempt to answer is whether in the case where their engagement may lead to gross violations of humanitarian principles, they may be additionally subject to war crimes proceedings pursuant to international humanitarian law (IHL).In order to assess the applicability of the war crimes' regime to civilians, this paper will be structured as follows. Part 2 will define who is a civilian. Part 3 will examine the position of international jurisprudence and doctrine on the question whether civilians may also be liable for war crimes and under what conditions. The fourth part will draw the conclusions.

L'operazione militare di Israele contro Gaza e il diritto internazionale umanitario

2009 ◽  
pp. 309-318
Author(s):  
Gabriella Venturini
Keyword(s):  
International Institutions ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
The Military

- The Israeli armed action in the Gaza Strip between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009 has prompted vehement protests of the public, especially in the Arab Countries and in Europe. The reaction of international institutions has varied. While the UN Human Rights Council strongly censured Israel, placing light blame on the rocket attacks made from Gaza against Israeli towns, the UN Security Council was much more measured in itsresponde. Generally speaking, ius in bello (or International Humanitarian Law, IHL) was not extensively addressed by the international institutions, which instead focused their debates on the legitimacy of the use of force. For different reasons, neither Israel nor Hamas is bound by the most relevant IHL Conventions on the conduct of hostilities during armed conflict. The broad rules of customary international law prove barely adequate to restrain the use of means and methods of combat in asymmetrical conflicts. Although the victims may have recourse to domestic (Israeli) jurisdiction to redress their losses, the military action in Gaza will have long lasting negative consequences in the troubled area of Palestine.

Building a Case against the War Criminals

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean Aszkielowicz
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Second World War ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
World War ◽  
War Criminals ◽  
Post War ◽  
Second World

Long before the Second World War ended, the Allies were planning to prosecute Axis war criminals, including both those in positions of leadership and the perpetrators of individual crimes. There was no standing war crimes court at the end of the Second World War, however, and the post-war trials were a watershed in international law. For the trials at Nuremberg and Tokyo, Allied planners drew on the development of international humanitarian law and international agreements signed by the combatants over the decades preceding the war. The vast majority of war criminals who were prosecuted did not face the court at Nuremberg or Tokyo: they appeared before national military tribunals which were conducted according to each prosecuting country’s war crimes law. The Australian War Crimes Act passed through the parliament in October 1945, shortly before trials began.

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