Teaching About War Crimes – What to Teach and the Resources That Can Help
One cannot escape the horrific images on all social media relating to the war in Ukraine. Along with those images come the intense debates on whether war crimes have been committed and if so should those responsible be prosecuted.
Some civic educators are questioning what their role in this instruction should be. The role of prosecuting war crimes would be left to international organizations like the International Criminal Court. Teaching about international organizations can be found in the National Standards for Civics and Government which was developed by the Center for Civic Education with support from the U.S. Department of Education and The Pew Charitable Trusts. These standards have been used as a model for state curricular frameworks throughout the country and should be the basis for daily classroom instruction.
The content standards are organized around five significant questions, one of which is - What is the relationship of the United States to the other nations and to world affairs? One such relationship is with international organizations.
National Content Standard (Grades 9-12) IV.A.3
International organizations. Students should be able to explain the role of major international organizations in the world today.
To achieve this standard, students should be able to
- describe the purposes and functions of major governmental international organizations, e.g., UN, NATO, OAS, World Court
- describe the purposes and functions of major nongovernmental international organizations, e.g., International Red Cross, World Council of Churches, Amnesty International
UN Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
Knowing that teaching about international organizations is required to satisfy national standards should allay any fears that teachers have about the appropriateness of this topic. But where to begin?
First, students should be able to understand the terms they are using. What are war crimes?
Michael Bryant, author of A World History of War Crimes defines war crimes as “violations of the law of war. At the most basic level, war crimes are [objectionable] acts committed by combatants, either against other combatants or against noncombatants—that is, civilians—during wartime.”
Most definitions are a compilation of banned actions contained in treaties called the Geneva Conventions and a string of other international laws and agreements such as:
- Civilians cannot be deliberately attacked - nor can the infrastructure that is vital to their survival
- Some weapons are banned because of the indiscriminate or appalling suffering they cause - such as anti-personnel landmines and chemical or biological weapons.
- The sick and wounded must be cared for - including injured soldiers, who have rights as prisoners of war.
- Serious offences such as murder, rape or mass persecution of a group are known as "crimes against humanity".
International documents, such as those from the International Criminal Court (ICC) define war crimes by listing the many actions that constitute the crimes.
The ICC investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression. As a court of last resort, it seeks to complement, not replace, national courts. Governed by an international treaty called the Rome Statute, the ICC is the world's first permanent international criminal court.
While the ICC is the primary organization responsible for prosecuting international war crimes, there are other organizations that target specific areas to litigate. One such organization is the Kosovo Specialist Chambers & Specialist Prosecutor's Office. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office was established pursuant to an international agreement ratified by the Kosovo Assembly, a Constitutional Amendment and the Law on Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office.
They are of temporary nature with a specific mandate and jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes under Kosovo law, which were commenced or committed in Kosovo between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2000 by or against citizens of Kosovo or the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office have a seat in The Hague, Netherlands. Their staff is international, as are the Judges, the Specialist Prosecutor and the Registrar.
The site for Kosovo Specialist Chambers & Specialist Prosecutor’s Office contains several short Youtube videos suitable for classroom use along with summaries of cases prosecuted by this office. Teachers might find it a useful site for addressing this topic.
Once students understand what constitutes war crimes and the organizations that address them, they can apply that information to various activities.
- conduct a mock trial
- create a news report of an international trial
- construct visuals that explain ICC trial procedures (visit the site for example of visuals)
- conduct panel discussion on war crimes (see sample lesson activity)
Additional resources to research current reports on possible war crimes committed in Ukraine:
What is a war crime and could Putin be prosecuted over Ukraine?
Explainer: How could Russia's Putin be prosecuted for war crimes in Ukraine?
Here's how war crimes prosecutions work
How would those accused of Ukraine war crimes be prosecuted?
The Mandate of the International Criminal Court
Universal Jurisdiction Database
United Nations War Crimes Definition
Deciding if the actions in Ukraine constitute war crimes will be decided by the international community. For now, world opinion seems to be centered in this quote from David Crane, a veteran of numerous international war crime investigations.