Attacks Qualify as War Crimes, Officials Say - New York Times

Don't forget Iraq!

Attacks Qualify as War Crimes, Officials Say - New York Times:

"UNITED NATIONS, July 19 - The United Nations' top human rights official said Wednesday that the killing and maiming of civilians under attack in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza and the West Bank could constitute war crimes.

'The scale of killings in the region, and their predictability, could engage the personal criminal responsibility of those involved, particularly those in a position of command and control,' said Louise Arbour, the high commissioner for human rights.

Ms. Arbour is a former justice of Canada's Supreme Court who, as chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, indicted the former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.

'International humanitarian law is clear on the supreme obligations to protect civilians during hostilities,' she said. That same obligation exists, she added, in international criminal law, which defines war crimes and crimes against humanity.