Housekeeping first..

Quality of online discussion groups

Next week Dr. Rachel Monaghan

Who coined the term crimes of

the powerful?

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4.

WEEK TWO: Defining State Crimes

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Poverty and Crime

Wealth and Crime

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Finish this quotation: When we study the

crimes of the powerful, the crme de la
crme of society begin to look rather more
like the....?

Which, according to research

evidence, has the more
significant relationship?
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David Whyte
Frank Pearse
Charles Tilly
Noam Chomsky

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WEEK ONE: Studying the Crimes of the

State: An Introduction

Keep copies of weekly newspapers for

submission in hard copy in week 12.

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Recap on reading from last couple

of weeks

Library class at 1.15 today

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Cathy Gormley-Heenan
School of Criminology, Politics & Social Policy
University of Ulster

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Week 3
War, Aggression and
State Crime

Who developed strain theory

as a concept in 1949?

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Motivation
Opportunity
Structures
Social Control
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David Whyte
Green & Ward
Kauzlarich,Mullins,
& Matthews

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What do Green & Ward consider to be

catalysts for action in analysing state
crimes...?

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Who has presented a complicity

continuum of state crime?
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Michel Foucault
Max Weber
Hobbes
David Whyte

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Robert Merton
David Whyte
Tim Newman
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1.

Who said that the state has a

monopoly on the legitimate use
of physical force?

Introduction

War of Aggression is known as Supreme Crime.

A supreme crime is the initiation of a war that is not in
self-defence but rather has the purpose of conquering
territories and peoples.
The term was introduced by Justice Robert H. Jackson,
chief prosecutor for the United States at the Nuremberg
Trials.
Ask yourself: What is a preventative war? Who has
engaged in such wars? Is preventative war a supreme
crime?

Some laws/ideas that you need to

know

Jus Ad Bellum
Jus in Bello
UN Charter
Nuremberg Charter
These are know as International Criminal Law
Note that debates exist over their universality and the
argument that international law is all about the political
legitimacy of white, western, liberal views.

Jus ad bellum (Just War)

These are the criteria that are consulted before

engaging in war, in order to determine whether
entering into war is justifiable. For example:
having just cause, being a last resort, being
declared by a proper authority, possessing right
intention, having a reasonable chance of
success, and the end being proportional to the
means used.

The UN Charter (1945)

Article 2 says (among other things):

All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful

means in such a manner that international peace and security,
and justice, are not endangered.

All Members shall refrain in their international relations from

the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or
political independence of any state, or in any other manner
inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.
UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, said that Iraq war was illegal
because it was not sanctioned by the UN security council or in
accordance with the UN's founding charter.

Nuremberg Charter - Principles

The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his

Government or of a superior does not relieve him from
responsibility under international law, provided a moral
choice was in fact possible to him.

Any person charged with a crime under international law

has the right to a fair trial on the facts and law.

Jus in bello (Justice in War)

Nuremberg Charter - Principles

Any person who commits an act which constitutes a crime

under international law is responsible therefor and liable to
punishment.

The fact that internal law does not impose a penalty for an act
which constitutes a crime under international law does not
relieve the person who committed the act from responsibility
under international law.

The fact that a person who committed an act which constitutes

a crime under international law acted as Head of State or
responsible government official does not relieve him from
responsibility under international law.

The main one is principle VI which identifies particular types of

crimes

War Crimes (Principle VI)

War crimes fall into three groups - or four if you

include genocide (as defined in the Nuremberg
Charter).

Crimes Against Peace

War Crimes
Crimes Against Humanity
Lets look at what each of these 3 entail

Complicity in the commission of a crime against peace, a

war crime, or a crime against humanity as set forth in
Principle VI is a crime under international law.

These are the laws which concern acceptable conduct

during war.
These are the laws which most international human
rights organisations will monitor.
Concerned with the protection of victims of armed
conflictdefined as the wounded, sick and/or
shipwrecked, prisoners of war and civilians.
Governs methods and means of warfare, such as
weapons that are restricted and tactical battlefield
restraints.

See Larry May, Aggression and Crimes Against Peace,

Cambridge University Press, 2008, ISBN
9780521719155.

Crimes against peace

War Crimes

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Article 1
Article 2
Article 10
Article 51
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Whether entering
into war is justifiable
Whether a war is
being conducted
according to
international rules
of engagement
I dont know

Which article of the UN Charter is most

important in relation to this topic of war
and aggression?

Quick recap Jus ad bellum

focuses on....
1.

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Atrocities and offences committed against any civilian

population, before or during the war, including:
murder
extermination
enslavement
deportation
mass systematic rape and sexual enslavement in a time
of war
other inhumane acts
persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds in
execution of or in connection with any crime within the
jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of
the domestic law of the country where perpetrated

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Crimes Against Humanity

Violations of the laws or customs of war, including:

Atrocities or offences against persons or property,
constituting violations of the laws or customs of war
murder, ill treatment or deportation to slave labour or for
any other purpose of the civilian population in occupied
territory
murder or ill treatment of prisoners of war or persons on
the seas
killing of hostages
torture or inhuman treatment, including biological
experiments
plunder of public or private property
wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages
devastation not justified by military necessity

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1. has been the first to use violent force in a confrontation

against another state that jeopardizes basic human
rights;
2. has not been provoked, or if provoked, the provocations
do not constitute an imminent or immediate threat to it;
3. has not acted in self-defense or defense of other states
or subgroups of a state; and
4. has not been authorized by the UN to use violent force
against another state.

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He says that a state is engaged in illegal aggression when

that state:

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Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of

aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties,
agreements or assurances.
Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the
accomplishment of any of the above.
Crimes against peace formed the first charge against the
Nazis in the 1945 Charter of the International Military
Tribunal at Nuremberg.
Bit of a problem with the definition of aggression .

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Which of the Nuremberg Charter

principles identifies types of war
crimes...?

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Criminal Wars

See Mary Kaldors analysis of new wars (2001):

Such a war is fought not for a state interest, but for

religious identity, zeal and fanaticism. The aim is not to
acquire territory, as was the case in old wars, but to
gain political power through generating fear and hatred.
War itself is a form of political mobilisation in which the
experience of violence promotes extremist cause.

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According to Green and Wards (2004) definition of what

constitutes a state crime, you must ask yourself do
these wars violate human rights and are they regarded
as deviant by domestic and by international audiences?

Criminal Soldiers

Criminal Armies

Shoot them or take them as prisoners of

war? The power of revenge led to the
mantra take no prisoners in 2 world wars
and in Vietnam.

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Was this also the case in Iraq?

Commanders may allow their subordinates to

commit criminal acts.
Commanders might adopt policies which lead to
criminal conduct
Failure to train soldiers adequately in relation to
the rules of engagement outlined previously.
Eg Reinterpreting the evasive action rule to
target civilians and increase body count.

Examples of War Crimes:

1.Rape in war at institutional level

Structural (Criminal Wars) no incentive to

abide by rules of convention
Institutional (Criminal Armies) commanders
flout the rules as a matter of strategy
Individual (Criminal Soldiers) - more motives for
breaking the rules than for following them
See Green & Ward (2004), State Crime, chapter
9 for more on this.

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Principle I
Principle III
Principle IV
Principle VI

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Theoretical Analysis Structural,

institutional and/or individual level

Evident in Bosnia, Rwanda, Sudanese civil

war..
Why?
Incentive to soldiers and militiamen
To improve the fighting sprit of soldiers
Terrorises and humiliates the community
Has a genocidal purpose (helps to destroy an
ethnic group - as was case in Bosnia by Serbs)

Rape in War at individual level

Motives are:

1.

A form of revenge
An afterthought or a bonus
Means of sexual access to women
As a form of male bonding

Example 2 of War Crimes: Use of

Child Soldiers
Children are the perpetrators of many war
crimes
See week 2 section on children in conflict,
as both victims and perpetrators.

2.
3.
4.

Examples of War Crimes can be found

in many, many, recent cases

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999

Kosovo

Afghanistan

Iraq

Note that I haven't used an African countries the ICC are

prosecuting 4 of them, so cast the net wider and look at others
instead for now.

The Law and Iraq

Article 2 of the UN Charter says there

can be no invasion. The US and UK
focused on the exceptions to this rule,
such as:

Article 51 of the UN Charter

The legality of humanitarian intervention

Consider Iraq

Ask yourself: Why was the Iraqi regime allowed

to get away with so much, for so long? And why
was the country then punished so brutally?
(Clue: read Green and Ward (2004) State Crime, Chapter 12)

Read anything by Robert Fisk and bring this to

class next week (podcast online in webct)

Begin from the premise that violations of

international law are state crimes even if they
dont violate domestic law (as in the case of the
US invasion of Iraq)

Article 51 says:
Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent
right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed
attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations,
until the Security Council has taken measures necessary
to maintain international peace and security. Measures
taken by Members in the exercise of this right of selfdefense shall be immediately reported to the Security
Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and
responsibility of the Security Council under the present
Charter to take at any time such action as it deems
necessary in order to maintain or restore international
peace and security.

IHL and Iraq

The irony of using international humanitarian law as a
reason to invade Iraq becomes all the more
pronounced when one consider that four types of war
crimes committed during Iraq war:

Techniques of Neutralisation in Iraq

1.
2.
3.
4.

Failure to secure public safety and protection of civilian

rights
Illegal transformation of Iraqi economy
Indiscriminate response to Iraqi resistance movt
leading to more civilian casualties
Torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners

Finally, were war crimes committed

in Gaza?

Watch Gaza: Behind the Scenes

Amnesty International has found compelling

evidence of war crimes and other serious
violations of international humanitarian law.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jpFyyW0Mbc

Questions to consider

Explain the US medias failure to perform their

critical role as a watchdog over government
power, in relation to the invasion of Iraq?
Powerful nations can violate international
humanitarian law with relative impunity. Discuss.
What's the difference between war making and
state making?

Denial of responsibility (the war was

Saddams fault)
Denial of victims (they were all terrorists)
Denied injury (always said that there was only
limited collateral damage)
Condemned the condemners (protestors
unpatriotic and the French were ungrateful &
cowardly)
Appealed to higher loyalties (God told me to
do it Bush)

Not quite as clear cut perhaps.

Dr Hugo Slim is the author of a book on the

subject and a leading academic in humanitarian
studies. He talks about the issue of
proportionality in the context of high civilian
casualty numbers:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/world
service/meta/dps/2009/01/090120_slim_wt_sl?

Required Reading

Green, P. & Ward, T. (2004) State Crime: Governments. Violence and

Corrption. London: Pluto. See chapter 9: War Crimes, pp. 147-164.

Tilly, C (2009) War Making and State Making as Organized Crime, in

Whyte, D. (2009) Crimes of the Powerful: A Reader. Maidenhead: Open
University Press. pp.38-40.

Ronals C Kramer & Raymond J Michalowski, War, Aggression and State

Crime: A Criminological Analysis of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq,
British Journal of Criminology, 45, pp.446-469.

Kauzlarich, David (2007) 'Seeing War as Criminal: Peace Activist Views and
Critical Criminology', Contemporary Justice Review, 10:1, 67 85