War Crimes Act of 1996
.svg) |
|
| Long title | An Act To amend title 18, United States Code, to carry out the international obligations of the United States under the Geneva Conventions to provide criminal penalties for certain war crimes |
|---|---|
| Enacted by | the 104th United States Congress |
| Citations | |
| Public law | Pub.L. 104–192 |
| Statutes at Large | 110 Stat. 2104 |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | 18 |
| U.S.C. sections created |
18 U.S.C. § 2441 renumbered from §2401 through the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 §605(p)(1) |
| Legislative history | |
|
|
| Major amendments | |
| Military Commissions Act of 2006 | |
The War Crimes Act of 1996 is a law that defines a war crime to include a "grave breach of the Geneva Conventions", specifically noting that "grave breach" should have the meaning defined in any convention (related to the laws of war) to which the United States is a party. The definition of "grave breach" in some of the Geneva Conventions have text that extend additional protections, but all the Conventions share the following text in common: "... committed against persons or property protected by the Convention: willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health."
The law applies if either the victim or the perpetrator is a national of the United States or a member of the U.S. Armed Forces. The penalty may be life imprisonment or death. The death penalty is only invoked if the conduct resulted in the death of one or more victims.
The act was passed with overwhelming majorities by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
The law criminalized breaches of the Geneva Conventions so that the United States could prosecute war criminals, specifically North Vietnamese soldiers who tortured U.S. military personnel during the Vietnam War. The Department of Defense "fully support[ed] the purposes of the bill," recommending that it be expanded to include a longer list of war crimes. Because the United States generally followed the Conventions, the military recommended making breaches by U.S. military personnel war crimes as well "because doing so set a high standard for others to follow." The bill passed by unanimous consent in the Senate and by a voice vote in the House, showing that it was entirely uncontroversial at the time.
...
Wikipedia