war crimes news stories on Newser

As Trial Begins, Mladic Taunts Survivors

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:26:46 CDT

The war crimes trial for Ratko Mladic opened today in the Hague, and the Bosnian Serb general once again made no attempt to appear sympathetic. He gave a thumbs-up and slowly clapped his hands sarcastically as the trial began, waving and smirking at the rows of survivors and relatives of...

Charles Taylor Guilty of War Crimes

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:33:18 CDT

In a historic ruling, an international court convicted former Liberian President Charles Taylor on Thursday of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity for supporting notoriously brutal rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone in return for blood diamonds. Taylor is the first head of state convicted by an international...

Nazi War Criminal John Demjanjuk Dead

John Johnson — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 07:32:09 CDT

The man at the center of what might have been the last Nazi war crimes trial is dead. German officials say John Demjanjuk, 91, died today in a nursing home, reports the Telegraph . Demjanjuk was a retired Ohio auto worker who was stripped of his US citizenship and convicted in...

Congo Warlord First to Be Convicted by World Court

Rob Quinn — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 02:33:00 CDT

The world's first permanent war crimes tribunal has recorded its first verdict, finding Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga guilty of recruiting child soldiers as young as 11 and sending them into battle. The International Criminal Court will sentence Lubanga, who led a militia during an ethnic conflict in the Democratic Republic...

US Drones Return to Hit Rescuers, Funerals

Matt Cantor — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:37:54 CST

A few days back, President Obama said that US drone attacks in Pakistan had "not caused a huge number of civilian casualties." But a Bureau of Investigative Journalism report finds that somewhere between 282 and 535 civilians, including 60 children, have been "credibly reported" killed in the campaign. Secondary strikes...

Cops Raid Homes of 6 Ex-SS Soldiers

Rob Quinn — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 01:27:20 CST

German police have raided the homes of six former SS soldiers suspected of having taken part in the worst massacre of civilians in Nazi-occupied France. A German war crimes prosecutor says the John Demjanjuk trial inspired him to reopen the investigation into the massacre of 642 men, women, and children...

'Kill Team' Soldier Gets 5 Years

Mark Russell — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:12:00 CST

A US Army sergeant was sentenced to five years in jail on Friday for his role in the infamous "Kill Team" of soldiers, who committed war crimes while serving in Afghanistan, reports the New York Daily News . David Bram, the eleventh soldier convicted of crimes related to the Kill Team,...

War Crimes Court's Next Target: NATO?

Matt Cantor — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:36:41 CST

Is the International Criminal Court's next target NATO? Some NATO officials fear an investigation is nigh, after the ICC's prosecutor said Libya war-crimes allegations would be reviewed "impartially and independently," NATO-affiliated diplomats tell the AP . But an examination of allegations won't necessarily lead to an investigation, and in an effort...

Amnesty International to Canada: Bust Bush

Rob Quinn — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:35:00 CDT

George W. Bush is visiting Canada next week and international law requires the country to arrest him for torture and war crimes ... according to Amnesty International. The group has sent a thousand-page memorandum to Canadian authorities explaining why the former president should be behind bars, Politico reports. Bush's own memoirs...