This article lists and summarizes the war crimes that have violated the laws and customs of war since the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.
Since many war crimes are not prosecuted (due to lack of political will, lack of effective procedures, or other practical and political reasons),Comment by The Times, November 21, 2003 p. 17, in relation to Jean-Pierre Bemba of the Congo: "There was nothing funny about his soldiers' actions in Eastern Congo... Among the crimes alleged are mass murder, rape, and acts of cannibalism. Yet one senior UN diplomat has indicated privately that for the sake of peace, the investigation [by the International Criminal Court] into Bemba's responsibility may be sidelined. It isn't just in Congo that trade-offs are being made. [...] Skeptics point out that those who have stood trial so far have either been defeated in war or are retired and irrelevant. They insist there would be no chance of hauling powerful political figures in Washington and London before a court to answer for their actions..." historians and lawyers will frequently make a serious case in order to prove that war crimes occurred, even though the alleged perpetrators of these crimes were never formally prosecuted because investigations cleared them of all charges.
Under international law, war crimes were formally defined as crimes during international trials such as the Nuremberg Trials and the Tokyo Trials, in which Austrian, German and Japanese leaders were prosecuted for war crimes which were committed during World War II.
1899–1902 Second Boer War
The term "concentration camp" was used to describe camps operated by the British Empire in South Africa during the Second Boer War in the years 1900–1902. As Boer farms were destroyed by the British under their "scorched earth" policy, many tens of thousands of women and children were forcibly moved into the concentration camps. Over 26,000 Boer women and children were to perish in these concentration camps.
Six officers from the Bushveldt Carbineers were court-martialed for massacring POWs and civilians. Lieutenants Harry Morant, Peter Handcock, and George Witton were each found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. Morant and Handcock were executed, while Witton was reprieved and served a short prison sentence. Two of the other defendants, Major Robert Lenehan and Lieutenant Henry Picton, were found guilty of lesser charges. They were dismissed from the military and deported from South Africa after being found guilty of neglecting one's duty and manslaughter, respectively. The last defendant, Captain Alfred Taylor, was acquitted.
1899–1902 Philippine–American War
Reported American war crimes and atrocities during the Philippine–American War included the summary execution of civilians and prisoners, burning of villages, and torture. 298,000 Filipinos were also moved to concentration camps, where thousands died.
In November 1901, the Manila correspondent of the Philadelphia Ledger wrote: "The present war is no bloodless, opera bouffe engagement; our men have been relentless, have killed to exterminate men, women, children, prisoners and captives, active insurgents and suspected people from lads of ten up, the idea prevailing that the Filipino as such was little better than a dog".
In response to the Balangiga massacre, which wiped out a U.S. company garrisoning Samar town, U.S. Brigadier General Jacob H. Smith launched a retaliatory march across Samar with the instructions: "I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn, the more you kill and burn the better it will please me. I want all persons killed who are capable of bearing arms in actual hostilities against the United States".
1904–1908: Herero Wars
In August, German General Lothar von Trotha defeated the Ovaherero in the Battle of Waterberg and drove them into the desert of Omaheke, where most of them died of dehydration. In October, the Nama people also rebelled against the Germans, only to suffer a similar fate. Between 24,000 and 100,000 Hereros, 10,000 Nama and an unknown number of San died in the parallel Herero and Namaqua genocide. Once defeated, thousands of Hereros and Namas were also imprisoned in concentration camps, where the majority died of diseases, abuse, and exhaustion. German soldiers also regularly engaged in gang rapesDictionary of Genocide: M-Z Samuel Totten, Paul Robert Bartrop, Steven L. Jacobs, page 272, Greenwood 2007 before killing the women or leaving them in the desert to die; a number of Herero women were also forced into involuntary prostitution.Jan-Bart Gewald (1998) Herero heroes: a socio-political history of the Herero of Namibia, 1890-1923, James Currey, Oxford Peace and freedom, Volume 40, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, page 57, The Section, 1980
1912-1913: Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were marked by ethnic cleansing with all parties being responsible for grave atrocities against civilians and helped inspire later atrocities including war crimes during the 1990s Yugoslav Wars.
Massacres of Albanians in the Balkan Wars were perpetrated on several occasions by Serbian and Montenegrin armies and paramilitaries. According to contemporary accounts, between 20,000 and 25,000 Albanians were massacred in the Kosovo Vilayet during the first two to four months of the conflict; with at least 120,000 being killed in total. Most of the victims were children, women and the elderly. In addition to the massacres, some civilians had their tongues, lips, ears and noses severed.Philip J. Cohen, Islamic Studies Vol. 36, No. 2/3, Special Issue: Islam in the Balkans (1997), p. 4. Philip J. Cohen also cited Durham as saying that Serbian soldiers helped bury people alive in Kosovo. Yugoslavia from a Historical Perspective, a 2017 study published in Belgrade by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, said that villages were burned to ashes and Albanian Muslims forced to flee when Serbo-Montenegrin forces invaded Kosovo in 1912. Some chronicles cited decapitation as well as mutilation.
The Serbian army also brutally suppressed the Tikveš uprising and terrorized the Bulgarian population in the rebelling regions. According to some sources, 36 Bulgarian civilians were killed in Kavadarci, 230 in Negotino, and 40 in Vatasha.Гоцев, Димитър. Национално-освободителната борба в Македония 1912-1915, София 1981, с. 51 (Gotsev, Dimitar. The National Liberation Struggle in Macedonia, Sofia 1981, p. 51)
1914–1918: World War I
World War I was the first major international conflict to take place following the codification of war crimes at the Hague Convention of 1907, including derived war crimes, such as the use of poisons as weapons, as well as crimes against humanity, and derivative crimes against humanity, such as torture, and genocide. Before, the Second Boer War took place after the Hague Convention of 1899. The Second Boer War (1899 until 1902) is known for the first concentration camps (1900 until 1902) for civilians in the 20th century.
Armed conflictPerpetratorIncident Type of crimePersons responsibleNotesWorld War IGerman Empire (Imperial Germany)Rape of BelgiumWar crimesLeipzig war crimes trialsIn defiance of the 1907 Hague Convention on Land Warfare, the German occupiers engaged in mass atrocities against the civilian population of Belgium and looting and destruction of civilian property, in order to flush out the Belgian guerrilla fighters, or francs-tireurs, in the first two months of the war, after the German invasion of Belgium in August 1914.
As Belgium was officially neutral after hostilities in Europe broke out and Germany invaded the country without explicit warning, this act was also in breach of the treaty of 1839 and the 1907 Hague Convention on Opening of Hostilities.Robinson, James J., (September 1960). "Surprise Attack: Crime at Pearl Harbor and Now". ABA Journal 46(9), p. 978.Killings of Duala civilians during the Kamerun campaignWar crimes, Crime against humanityNo prosecutionsGerman forces ordered a scorched earth policy against the indigenous Duala people to repress an alleged "people's war." Numerous killings were committed by German forces including in Jabassi where a white commander reportedly gave the order to "kill every native they saw."Sexual violence toward Duala civilians during the Kamerun campaignWar crimes, Crime against humanityNo prosecutionsDuala women were victims of wartime sexual violence by the German forces.World War IAll major belligerentsEmployment of poison gasUse of poisons as weaponsNo prosecutionsPoison gas was introduced by Imperial Germany, and was subsequently used by all major belligerents in the war, in violation of the 1899 Hague Declaration Concerning Asphyxiating Gases and the 1907 Hague Convention on Land Warfare.World War IOttoman EmpireArmenian genocideFerguson, Niall. The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West. New York: Penguin Press, 2006 p. 177 War crimes, crimes against humanity, crime of genocide (extermination of Armenians in Western Armenia)The Turkish Courts-Martial of 1919–20 as well as the incomplete Malta Tribunals were trials of some of the perpetrators. Several key perpetrators of the genocide were assassinated by Armenian vigilantes as part of Operation Nemesis.The Young Turk regime ordered the wholesale extermination of Armenians living within Western Armenia. This was carried out by certain elements of their military forces, who either massacred Armenians outright, or deported them to Syria and then massacred them. Between 600,000 and 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
The Republic of Turkey, the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, does not accept the word genocide as an accurate description of the events surrounding this matter.Assyrian genocideWar crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, ethnic cleansingSeveral key perpetrators of the genocide were assassinated by Armenian vigilantes as part of Operation NemesisMass killing of Assyrian civilians by the Ottoman Empire's forces resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Turkey does not call the event genocide.Greek genocideWar crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, ethnic cleansingThe Turkish Courts-Martial of 1919–20 as well as the incomplete Malta Tribunals were trials of some of the perpetrators.