In October 2015, a US-led airstrike in Afghanistan inadvertently bombed a hospital, killing at
least 20 people, including three children.
While this particular scenario is rare, civilian deaths are an almost guaranteed side effect
of war.
In fact, some have estimated that 90% of wartime casualties are civilian and not military,
although this ratio has been disputed.
This most recent bombing has many, including the UN, asking if the United States has committed
a war crime.
So, did the US commit a war crime by killing civilians?
Well, international agreements concerning civilian casualties really only came into
effect after World War Two.
During the war, civilian populations were intentionally targeted in order to demoralize
and weaken opposing countries.
The infamous Blitz saw 40,000 British civilian deaths, and the UK’s similar bombing of
Hamburg killed about 42,000 Germans.
Of course, dropping nuclear bombs on Japan wiped out entire civilian populations, as
did Hitler’s Holocaust.
The first international agreement about civilians came through the Geneva convention, which
codified a number of humanitarian rules of war.
The Fourth Geneva Convention provided protection to civilians in occupied territory, and banned
things like torture and scientific experimentation.
However, until 1977, this did not include civilians in countries which had not been
occupied.
That year, an addendum was added to the convention, saying that attacking forces had to specifically
avoid civilian casualties.
Notably, the United States, Israel, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Turkey have not ratified
this addendum.
Still, not having signed doesn’t mean that those countries are exempt from prosecution
for killing civilians.
The International Criminal Court has established a certain metric for determining if civilian
casualties constitute a war crime.
First and foremost, civilian deaths alone are not enough.
And even if an attacking force knows there will be civilian casualties, they are still
allowed to attack.
What is considered a war crime is when civilians are intentionally targeted, known as the principle
of distinction.
Even if the attack is intended to destroy a military target, the loss of civilian life
must be outweighed by the potential life-saving military benefit.
This is known as the principle of proportionality.
The basic question is, “Is the attack clearly excessive in terms of civilian deaths, compared
to the military advantage gained?.”
In order to limit or avoid civilian deaths, the United States uses a computer program
called the “Fast Assessment Strike Tool - Collateral Damage”.
It analyses the target, the terrain, the angle of attack, and the ammunition used, and generates
an image of the potential damage.
This helps assess whether nearby civilians will be affected.
In the case of the Afghan hospital bombing, preliminary reports say that it was unintentional.
While all of the factors we mentioned will be considered in the ongoing investigation,
if it turns out to have been an accident, it will be difficult to prosecute.
This is further confusing as it is a huge violation of international law to attack a
medical center.
Whether or not the US committed a war crime will be left up to international courts.
War crimes happen all over the world.
To get a better understanding of what they are, watch the video up top.
To find out about the court that prosecutes these war crimes, check out, the video below.
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