Deadly conflicts between rival human groups are believed to have begun over around half a million years ago however the idea and concept of warfare is relatively recent particularly total war (Markusen, 1987). Furthermore the concept of war crime is even more recent and only arose in the late 19th century when a customary internal law in regards to warfare was created (Meron, 1994; Rome statute of the international criminal court, 1998). Before the creation of such laws whether and individual would be punished for acting inhumanely towards enemy soldiers and civilians rested on who were the victors of the war (Meron, 1994). However the arise of modern wars such as total wars has seen more destruction and casualties. The number of human fatalities …show more content…
It is clear that genocide is clearly a crime against humanity which are often described as act such as murder or extermination as well as exportation etc. against the civilian population in both times of peace and war (Wald, 2007). However genocide contain elements or crimes listed under the war crimes which can be seen in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Dormann, 2003). These are stated by the Rome statute of the international criminal court, (1998) and include “Wilful killing”, “Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments”, “Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health”, “Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly”, “Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement” etc. (Dormann, 2003; Meron, 1994). These crimes of war are often seen during examples of genocide. However the distinction between genocide as a crime against humanity and a crime of war is that genocide can occur outside conflict or wars and still be a crime against humanity. However if this is the case then we can say that genocide that occur with wars can be classified as a war