Prior to World War I, war crimes were generally accepted as the horrors that came along with the nature of war. The concept of war crimes developed towards the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. The Hague Conventions were adopted in 1899 and 1907 to focus on the prohibition of warring parties to use certain means and methods of warfare. Since the Hauge Conventions there have been other treaties that have been adopted, such as the four 1949 Geneva Conventions and two 1977 Additional Protocols.
Auschwtiz, Poland
By: Karsten Winegeart
The two 1977 Additional Protocols focus on the protection of person not taking part or no longer taking part in hostilities. Both Hauge Law and Geneva Law focus on violations of war crimes. However, there are many documents that governs and identifies war crimes, rather than one single governing document. Although war crime violations can be found in both the Hauge Law and Geneva law, other lists of war crimes can be found in international humanitarian law, intentional criminal law treaties, and international customary law.
