47 articles
Nuremberg Code
Nuremberg Code (Nürnberger Kodex): ten-point set of ethical principles for human experimentation issued August 19, 1947, in the verdict of the Doctors' Trial (USA v. Karl Brandt et al.), centered on absolute voluntary informed consent; basis for the Declaration of Helsinki and Belmont Report.
Palestinian war crimes
Palestinian war crimes: alleged laws-of-war violations by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, notably the 7 October 2023 attack, hostage-taking, and killings, as documented by UN inquiries and charged by the ICC, alongside parallel findings against Israeli forces.
Perfidy
Perfidy is the war crime of feigning a protected status under international humanitarian law, such as surrender, civilian status, or the red cross emblem, to kill, injure, or capture an adversary; distinct from lawful ruses of war like camouflage and ambush.
Protecting power
A protecting power is a neutral State designated by one side of a conflict and approved by the other to perform humanitarian duties under the Geneva Conventions of 1949.
Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons
Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons (Protocol IV to the 1980 CCW), adopted Vienna 13 October 1995, bans using and transferring lasers designed to cause permanent blindness; entered into force 30 July 1998, first weapon banned before battlefield use since 1868.
Protocol on Incendiary Weapons
Protocol III to the 1980 CCW, the Protocol on Incendiary Weapons, restricts napalm-type weapons: it bans attacks on civilians in all circumstances, bars air-delivered incendiaries in concentrations of civilians, and is criticized for excluding white phosphorus.
Refugee
Refugee: a person outside their country owing to well-founded fear of persecution under the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol. 41.6 million refugees at end-2025; core principle non-refoulement; distinct from asylum-seekers and IDPs.
Right of asylum
Right of asylum: the human right to seek protection in another country from persecution, grounded in UDHR Article 14 and the 1951 Refugee Convention, non-refoulement, and regional instruments like the OAU Convention and Cartagena Declaration.
Right to Work
Right to work: the human right to gain a living by freely chosen work (ICESCR article 6, ILO Convention 122), not a guaranteed job; distinct from US anti-union right-to-work laws and UK immigration right-to-work checks.
Rome Statute
The Rome Statute, adopted in Rome in 1998, created the International Criminal Court, the first permanent international criminal court, effective in 2002 with 125 states parties.
Shabeh (torture)
Shabeh (shabah, shabach) is a torture method of prolonged binding in painful stress positions, documented in Israeli, Palestinian Authority, Hamas, and Syrian detention. Known variants include the frog-squat and banana; Israel's High Court ruled its systematic use illegal in 1999.
Special Court for Sierra Leone
The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) was a UN–Sierra Leone treaty-based hybrid tribunal, signed 16 January 2002, trying those bearing greatest responsibility for civil war crimes since 30 November 1996; four cases, nine convictions, closed December 2013.
Starvation (crime)
Starvation (crime): the criminalization of depriving civilians of food and water as a method of warfare, codified in Additional Protocol I Article 54, Additional Protocol II Article 14, and Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xxv), extended to non-international armed conflict by the 2019 amendment; first ICC warrants issued November 2024.
Terrorism suppression conventions
Terrorism suppression conventions are a network of 16 sectoral treaties, dating from 1963, that require states to criminalize hijacking, bombing, hostage-taking, and terrorist financing and to extradite or prosecute offenders.
Torture
Torture: intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain by officials, absolutely prohibited under the 1984 Convention against Torture (176 parties), the Geneva Conventions, and the Istanbul Protocol documentation standard.
United Nations Convention Against Torture
United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT, 1984): multilateral human rights treaty adopted by General Assembly resolution 39/46, in force 26 June 1987, defining torture, requiring criminalization and non-refoulement, and creating the ten-member Committee against Torture; distinct from its 2002 Optional Protocol (OPCAT).
United States atrocity crimes
United States atrocity crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes as defined under the Rome Statute and U.S. federal law. Covers domestic statutes, DOJ and FBI enforcement, and U.S. non-membership in the ICC.