GS Paper 2:
Topics Covered: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
Context:
Germany, France and other countries have accused Russia of war crimes in the town of Bucha just outside Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.
What’s the issue?
The mayor of Bucha said on Saturday that 300 residents had been killed by Russian troops during a month-long occupation. Victims were seen by Reuters in a mass grave and lying in the streets.
What is a war crime?
The International Criminal Court in The Hague defines war crimes as “grave breaches” of the post-World War Two Geneva Conventions, agreements which lay out the international humanitarian laws to be followed in war time.
- Breaches include deliberately targeting civilians and attacking legitimate military targets where civilian casualties would be “excessive”.
Geneva Conventions:
The meaning of war crimes was clarified in the four 1949 Geneva Conventions.
- Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention defines war crimes as “wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person taking of hostages and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly”.
Procedure:
- The ICC will issue an arrest warrant if prosecutors can show “reasonable grounds to believe” war crimes were committed.
- To obtain a conviction, the prosecutor would have to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
- For most charges, that requires proving intent. One way to do this would be for a prosecutor to show there were no military targets in the area of an attack and that it was not an accident.
Convictions so far:
Since the ICC was formed, it has overseen 30 cases, some with multiple defendants, its website says. ICC judges have convicted five people of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and acquitted four others.
- Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was convicted in 2012.
- The court has issued arrest warrants for several defendants who remain at large, including Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army militia group in Uganda.
Insta Curious:
Did you know that neither Russia nor Ukraine is a member of the ICC and Moscow does not recognize the tribunal? But Ukraine has given its approval to examine alleged atrocities on its territory dating back to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- Definition of War Crimes as defined by Geneva Conventions.
- About ICC.
- Members and jurisdiction.
- Ukraine and Russia war.
Mains Link:
What constitutes a war crime? What are the international conventions in this regard.
Sources: the Hindu.
