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Re:Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules by JumpCrisscross on Friday December 10, 2021 @07:52AM (#29509269)
> revealed and gave clear proof of American war crimes in Iraq

Honest question: are these crimes under U.S. law?

Re:Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules by e12e on Friday December 10, 2021 @08:19AM (#29509484)
Yes, unprovoked killing of civilians could be prosecuted as murder, AFAIK. Prosecution does not equal conviction necessarily - see eg:

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-military-jury-acquits-s...

Re:Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules by jm547ster on Friday December 10, 2021 @08:03AM (#29509347)
War crimes would generally refer to breaching international treaty and/or conventions. The "Patriot" Act rebranded torture/abduction so as to not fall foul of these. "Advanced interrogation techniques" ....
Re:Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules by JumpCrisscross on Friday December 10, 2021 @08:19AM (#29509477)
> War crimes would generally refer to breaching international treaty and/or conventions

Understood. But there are international laws and conventions with no binding effect, and there are those ratified and incorporated into the domestic bodies of law of its members. I’m curious if Assange’s allegations are in respect of the former or the latter.

Re:Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules by e12e on Friday December 10, 2021 @08:23AM (#29509512)
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2441 "18 U.S. Code § 2441 - War crimes"

> (a) Offense.— Whoever, whether inside or outside the United States, commits a war crime, in any of the circumstances described in subsection (b), shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results to the victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death.

> (b) Circumstances.— The circumstances referred to in subsection (a) are that the person committing such war crime or the victim of such war crime is a member of the Armed Forces of the United States or a national of the United States (as defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act).

> (c) Definition.—As used in this section the term “war crime” means any conduct— (1) defined as a grave breach in any of the international conventions signed at Geneva 12 August 1949, or any protocol to such convention to which the United States is a party; (2) prohibited by Article 23, 25, 27, or 28 of the Annex to the Hague Convention IV, Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, signed 18 October 1907; (3) which constitutes a grave breach of common Article 3 (as defined in subsection (d)) when committed in the context of and in association with an armed conflict not of an international character; or (4) of a person who, in relation to an armed conflict and contrary to the provisions of the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices as amended at Geneva on 3 May 1996 (Protocol II as amended on 3 May 1996), when the United States is a party to such Protocol, willfully kills or causes serious injury to civilians.

(...)

Re:Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules by JumpCrisscross on Friday December 10, 2021 @08:25AM (#29509536)
Thank you.
Re:Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules by unknownus3r on Friday December 10, 2021 @10:19AM (#29510881)
If a terrorist is hiding amongst civilians and is engaged, is the collateral damage a war crime? If an operator attacks someone she believes to be a terrorist in a war zone but ends up being civilian is it a war crime?

There are not easy questions to answer when you consider the difficulties of operating in war. Many times, people in those situations are moving on incomplete or even incorrect information and lives of their fellow soldiers hang in the balance. It’s easy to look back at hindsight and judge it harshly but in the moment, put yourselves in their shoes, what would you have done?

Re:Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules by krageon on Friday December 10, 2021 @08:00AM (#29509326)
The UN has a nice document explaining what war crimes are and how they matter: https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/war-crimes.shtml