Questions tagged [laws-of-war]
Questions concerning declaration of war, acceptance of surrender, the treatment of PoWs, military necessity, distinction (i.e. international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict, to distinguish between combatants and civilians), proportionality, and the prohibition of certain weapons. It is distinct from belligerents' domestic law, which may provide additional legal limits to the conduct or justification of war.
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Do violations of the rules of war by one side justify the other? [duplicate]
I recall reading, that Geneva conventions -- or some other international agreements regarding the rules of war -- had explicit text somewhere stating, that violations by one side do not allow the ...
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Why is Haji Najibullah's case being heard in federal court in the Southern District of NY?
I have read this article a few times and am unable to distill upon what basis that a civilian federal court has jurisdiction to hear this case.
As I understand things, the facts are as follows:
The ...
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I read Israel seeks advice for its military strikes, so if Israel is committing war crimes, then what does this mean?
Related: How is Israel's situation vs Hamas in Gaza/Palestine remarkable when it comes to evidence?
Re the ongoing Israel vs Hamas war, I've been reading about some principles of war / ...
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Where is the line between law enforcement and warfare wrt the Chemical Weapons Convention?
As I understand it chemical weapons such as tear gas are prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention but allowed in law enforcement, possibly by section 9 (d):
"Purposes Not Prohibited ...
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Does how state-like the Houthis are have any effect on the legality of their attacks on Red Sea shipping?
This question is prompted by comments on my previous question about the relevance of armed professionals on shipping alters their legal status:
It's not legal for terrorists to attack a merchant ship ...
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Does the presence of mercenaries like Ambrey Risk change the legality of Houthi attacks?
The M/T Pollux has been hit by a Houthi missile. Reuters is referencing Ambery Risk in their article. We do not know what role Ambery Risk played in this, but some ships are using armed ...
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Would it have been legal for Ukraine to target the Pollux?
The M/T Pollux has been hit by a Houthi missile. This has been described as "lawless" by the US State Dept.
The Houthis are describing this as a "British ship", and Reuters is ...
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Does offering a surrender you know will not be accepted count as a false surrender?
you're a captain on a ship that's taken heavy damage, so you decided to devise a plan, you order your crew off the ship, you surrender your damaged ship and her crew (which consists of just you) to ...
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Are there consistent precedents for “acts of war”?
I don’t know the details of how it happened, but I am pretty sure the assassination of Osama bin Laden required presidential authorization from Barack Obama (I don’t know why, though - if it were an ...
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Is a machine that automatically shoots back legal?
A major difficulty in modern warfare is that militants often shoot rockets from within a civilian area, then quickly go into underground tunnels. It is very difficult for the defenders to shoot back ...
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Is capital punishment for prisoners of war legal?
The Third Geneva Convention guarantees several human rights to prisoners of war. Suppose Country A captures prisoners of war, puts them to trial for a specific offense, gives them a good defense ...
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Is it legal to commit war crimes if the other party in a war commited a war crime first?
Generally, you are not allowed to hit someone with a baseball bat, but if you are robbed at gunpoint, in most jurisdictions that ban no longer applies because the other party has already committed a ...
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Is it war crime to drop drugs onto enemy's positions during warfare?
Is it war crime to drop drugs onto enemy's positions during warfare?
I think, this is not considered chemical warfare.
Of course, one can try to drop poition diguised as drugs, but this will be ...
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Is it always illegal to place troops and operate weapons in civilian-populated areas during a war?
Originally, I had this Q as part of another one on Skeptics, but mods there don't like legal questions (and deleted that part), so I'm asking that legal part here. It relates to this quote from ...
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Are war crimes eligible for private prosecution?
Is there any circumstance in which a private individual or organization could undertake a criminal prosecution for a violation of 18 U.S. Code § 2441 - War crimes?
Since the passage of the "...
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What is the status of civilians who are important to the war effort?
Suppose two countries are involved in an international armed conflict, say an officially declared war. For clarity, suppose the front line remains the internationally recognised border. On their own ...
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Is it legal for a party to an armed conflict to hold civilians just because they are on the wrong side of the front lines?
Human rights groups and trade unions believe that Israel is holding thousands of workers from Gaza in military facilities following the revocation of their permits to work in Israel.
We do not ...
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What services is it a war crime to cut off or eliminate access to?
Many news sources say cutting off a region from water, intentionally is a war crime.
This is rooted in proclimations like the INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS (ICRC),
In essence, water is a ...
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Is it legal for a US military servicemember to disobey a lawful order that they reasonably believed was unlawful?
In the US military (and I would assume all militaries?) a servicemember must obey an order from a superior officer if the order is lawful; however, if complying would require the commission of a crime,...
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What's counts as "taking active part in the hostilities" under the Geneva Convention?
The Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War states that
Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down ...
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What constitutes murder in war?
So, there is a man, Gibril Massaquoi, on trial in Finland for things he allegedly did during the Liberian Civil War. Among the charges is murder.
Here's the thing: in war, it is generally to be hoped ...
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Would it be legal for an American to hack Russian military infrastructure to aid Ukraine?
I am an American citizen located in the US. Suppose I wanted to hack Russian military infrastructure and disable it in order to aid Ukraine. Would this be legal?
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Does an act of Perfidy excuse no quarter?
Yesterday, Evilstan declared war on Ruritania. One of the Ruritanian units, let's call them the 1st Chasseurs manages to encircle a splinter troop of Evilstanian troops from the 2nd Armored Rifle ...
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What entity is legally obliged to compensate for damage accidentally inflicted at a non-belligerent state territory during military conflict?
The question is based on recent events:
Yesterday (15th Nov 2022) a supposedly stray missile hit Polish
territory, causing loss of life (2 fatalities) and property damage.
Poland is non-belligerent ...
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Were this character's actions legal in 'SAS: Rogue Heroes'?
In Episode 3 of "SAS: Rogue Heroes", L Detachment attack some Axis airfields in North Africa. The stated intent of the mission is to sabotage planes, trucks, etc., with explosives.
During ...
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When unmanned objects, such as satellites, are used for military purposes, do they become valid military targets according to international law?
In the current conflict in Ukraine there has been some speculation that Russia may try to knock out or disable satellites used in support of the Ukrainian army.
Notably, large civilian constellations ...
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Is a civilian protected by law of war if they may provide a vital information to their military and cannot be detained?
The general rule is that civilians are protected persons in military conflicts. But civilian casualties can be excused if associated with military necessity.
I can easily imagine a situation, in ...
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What are the boundaries of warfare in regards to targeting persons in command?
None of the targeted strikes against Russian commanders on the ground in Ukraine was decried as a war crime, so i guess targeting military people near the front that 'only' give orders instead of ...
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Why are Russian combatants in Ukraine considered soldiers rather than terrorists?
The question bothers me since February 2022. Why (legally) are Russian combatants in Ukraine considered soldiers (thus POWs when captured) rather than terrorists?
There is no formal declaration of ...
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Striking infrastructure sites, what would be considered as a war crime?
During the Russo-Ukrainian war I saw that strikes on Ukrainian power stations were labeled as war crimes. Is that so? After all, electricity is a blood of industry, by disabling it you may cripple ...
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Is there any framework for prosecuting environmental crimes as war crimes?
It is in the news that the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines is an environmental catastrophe. There are calls for this to be treated as a war crime:
Methane leaking from yet-to-be explained ...
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Can prisoners of war be exchanged against their will?
Assume the following situation:
You live under an authoritarian regime.
Your country is at war with another country, which has a far more favorable human rights record.
Your attitude of your regime ...
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What's the intent of the false flag law?
From International Committee of the Red Cross - Practice Relating to Rule 62. Improper Use of Flags or Military Emblems, Insignia or Uniforms of the Adversary:
According to custom, it is permissible ...
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Did Sokka commit the war crime of false flag? (ATLA S01E17)
Asked on Scifi SE initially.
Based on Avatar The Last Airbender S01E17, Sokka is ostensibly a war criminal, at least based on our laws. See eg here and here.
From International Committee of the Red ...
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Does John Demjanjuk ruling theoretically jeopardize members of the US armed forces residing on German soil as parts of a "mass murder machine"?
Does this decision/ruling mean that an American soldier can not safely cross German soil due to universal jurisdiction? Practically speaking given the international political dynamics I don't suppose ...
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Have any military personnel serving a democratic state been prosecuted according to the fourth Nuremberg principle (superior order)?
Has any military personnel servicing a democratic state been prosecuted according to the fourth Nuremberg principle (superior order)?
Democratic is of course a gray scale so give that condition the ...
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Would Ukraine humanitarian scammers be commiting war crimes?
A cambridge article has an abstract reading as
Impeding humanitarian access and the starving of civilians is prohibited under international humanitarian law in times of both international and non-...
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Has "ideological payment" or "emotional payment" qualified someone as a mercenary in a Western or international court of law?
According to a certain rendition of the Russian viewpoints:
The persons were motivated entirely by private gain, in this case the "feel-good" emotion that comes with killing Russians [...]
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Are Wagner militants considered combatants under the IHL?
Are Wagner militants fighting in Ukraine considered combatants under the international humanitarian law? Here's what the OSCE has to say
Members of private military and security companies such as the ...
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Is it a war crime or act of war for a noncombatant "neutral" third party in a war to share information with either of the warring factions?
There is some discussion from fringe Twitter users that Ukraine's artillery strike on a Russian forward command post that killed Russian senior leadership was a war crime, based on an entirely ...
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Do the laws of war cover misinformation and psychological warfare?
On April 22nd 2022, the state-owned Rossiya 1 TV channel (which is widely seen as a Kremlin mouthpiece) reported that British prime minister Boris Johnson had "threatened to carry out a nuclear ...
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is it necessary for India to have a war crimes act to prosecute war criminals in India too?
Many EU nations have a war crimes act in their countries to prosecute e g. Germany and the UK.
war crime act 1991
war crime act in india
Section 120A and 120B of IPC,1860 says that when two or more ...
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Is what Russia is doing in Ukraine in violation of the Russian Constitution?
A lot of what Russia is doing in Ukraine appears to be in violation of international laws. As the ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said "Ukraine is a crime scene" (Barrons).
I'm wondering if ...
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Would it be legal according to the laws of war if Ukrainian forces killed Putin in Moscow?
We know pretty well where Putin will be on May 9: He will be the guest of honor at the Moscow victory day parade. As president, he is the commander in chief of the Russian armed forces.
If the ...
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Is a resistance poisoning food a breach of the chemical weapons convention?
There are reports that Ukrainian civilians are poisoning Russian troops with pies. It may be worth noting that this tactic has a long history, and its use was honored by the Soviet Union when applied ...
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Are 'war crimes' written down in laws?
There's a lot of talk about 'war crimes' at the moment. I guess there must be a international 'war crimes act' that says what's illegal like you're not allowed to kill civilians or use chemical gas ...
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When is a war not illegal?
In conjunction with the Russo-Ukranian War, many newspapers call the war an illegal war.
I figured, any war would be illegal, since an attack on a sovereign nation seems to me the opposite of a legal ...
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2022: Is Ukraine at war with Russia?
What exactly needs to happen in order for these two countries to be at war? Is it enough that one of the two sides make a declaration of war?
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Can Russian TV personalities who knowingly lie about Ukrainians to promote violence be held accountable for the war crimes?
Can popular media personalities who promote violence be held accountable if their propaganda was acted upon? Could they be held accountable if they promoted violence on the behest of their government? ...
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Does the Geneva Convention apply to the party denying that the war is going on?
Suppose a country R invades another country U without declaring war and insists that the invasion is not a war, but a "special operation", aimed at liberating U's citizens from U's ...
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