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April
16, 1856: Declaration
Respecting Maritime Law, Paris.
April
24, 1863: The
Lieber Code, a field manual instructing the US Army
how to behave in war is introduced.
October
26-29, 1863: International
conference is held in Geneva to discuss the laws of
war.
August
22, 1864: Convention
for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded
in Armies in the Field adopted, Geneva. This is the
First Geneva Convention.
December
11, 1868: A
declaration renouncing the use of certain explosives
projectiles is adopted, St Petersburg.
July
29, 1899: An
International Peace Conference is held at The Hague
which gives birth to:
-
Regulation concerning the Laws and Customs of War on
Land
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The Adaptation to Maritime Warfare of the Principles
of the Geneva Convention of 1864.
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The Prohibition for five years of launching projectiles
and explosives from balloons.
-
Limits on the use of asphyxiating gases.
-
Limits on the use of expanding bullets.
October
18, 1907: A
Second International Peace Conference at The Hague is
convened, which establishes several other conventions:
-
Convention III relative to the Opening of Hostilities
-
Convention IV respecting the Laws and Customs of War
on Land
-
Convention V respecting the Rights and Duties of Neutral
Powers and Persons in Case of war on Land.
-
Convention VI relating to the Status of enemy Merchant
ships at the Outbreak of Hostilities.
-
Convention VII relating to the Conversion of Merchant
Ships into War-Ships.
-
Convention VIII relative to the Laying of Automatic
Submarine Contact Mines
-
Convention IX concerning Bombardment by Naval Forces
in Time of War.
-
Convention X for the Adaptation to Maritime warfare
of the Principles of the Geneva Convention.
-
Convention XI relative to certain Restriction with regard
to the exercise of the Right of Capture of Naval war.
-
Convention XII relative to the Creation of an International
Prize Court
-
Convention XIII concerning the Rights and Duties of
Neutral Powers in Naval War.
-
Convention XIV Prohibiting the Discharge of Projectiles
and Explosives from Balloons.
February
26, 1909: A
Conference is convened in London, which establishes
the Laws of Naval War.
June
17, 1925: Another
conference in Geneva establishes the Protocol for the
prohibition of the use of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or
Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare.
July
27, 1929:
A major diplomatic conference is held in Geneva, which
establishes the Convention relative to the treatment
of Prisoners of War.
1934:
An
International Convention on the Condition and Protection
of Civilians of enemy nationality who are on territory
belonging to or occupied by a belligerent is adopted
in Tokyo.
April
15, 1935: A
Treaty on the protection of Artistic and Scientific
Institutions and Historic Monuments called the Roerich
Pact is adopted in Washington.
1938:
A Draft Convention for the Protection of Civilian Populations
Against New Engines of War is introduced in Amsterdam.
August
8, 1945:
The Allied powers of World War II create an International
Military Tribunal to prosecute Nazi war criminals in
Nuremberg, London.
November
21, 1945 — October 1, 1946: Some
21 Nazi leaders are prosecuted for crimes of aggression,
war crimes and crimes against humanity in Nuremberg.
Eleven are sentenced to death, 3 are acquitted and the
rest are imprisoned.
October
1946: In
the wake of the precedent set by Nuremberg, an international
congress is convened in Paris calling for the adoption
of an international criminal code prohibiting crimes
against humanity and the prompt establishment of an
International Criminal Court (ICC).
January
19, 1946: The
Allied Powers of World War II announce the establishment
of a second war crimes court, the Military Tribunal
for the Far East, to prosecute Japanese war criminals.
December
11, 1946: UN
General assembly affirms the Principles of International
Law recognized by the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal.
April
29, 1946 — November 12, 1948: The
International Military Tribunal for the Far East prosecutes
Japanese soldiers for war crimes, crimes against peace
and crimes against humanity. Seven are sentenced to
death.
December
9, 1948:
- UN General Assembly adopts the Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
- An International Law Commission is asked to study
the possibility of establishing an International Criminal
Court.
December
10, 1948: The
UN General Assembly adopts the Universal declaration
of Human Rights detailing human rights and fundamental
freedoms.
1949-1954:
The
International Law Commission drafts statues for an International
Criminal Court but opposition stymies the effort and
the General Assembly effectively abandons the effort
pending agreement on a definition of the crime of aggression
and an international Code of Crimes.
August
12, 1949: Another
diplomatic conference is held in Geneva, establishing:
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Convention I for the Amelioration of the Condition of
the Wounded and Sick in armed forces in the field.
- Convention II for the Amelioration and the Condition
of wounded, Sick and shipwrecked Members of armed Forces
at Sea.
- Convention III relative to the Treatment of Prisoners
of War.
- Convention IV relative to the Protection of Civilian
Persons in time of War.
May
14, 1954: Meeting
at The Hague establishes:
-
Protocol for the Protection of Cultural Property in
the Event of Armed Conflict.
-
Resolutions of the Intergovernmental Conference on the
Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed
Conflict.
1956:
The
International Committee of the Red Cross drafts rules
for the Limitation of the Dangers incurred by the Civilian
Population in Time of War.
May
12, 1968: An
International Conference adopts a Resolution on the
Human Rights in armed Conflicts in Teheran.
November
26, 1968: The
UN General Assembly decides that there is no statute
of limitations to war Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.
June
8, 1977: Additional
Protocols of the Geneva Conventions are adopted:
-
I relation to the Protection of Victims of International
armed Conflicts.
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II, relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International
Armed Conflicts.
October
10, 1980: A
UN Conference in Geneva establishes:
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Prohibitions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons
Which May be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to
Have Indiscriminate Effects.
- Protocol on Non-Detectable Fragments.
- Protocol on Prohibitions or restrictions on the Use
of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices
- Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use
of Incendiary Weapons.
December
10, 1984: UN
General Assembly adopts the Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
June
1989: Trinidad
and Tobago resurrect the proposal for an International
Criminal Court and the UN General Assembly asks the
International Law Commission to prepare a draft statues.
December
4, 1989: UN
General Assembly adopts an International Convention
against the Recruitment, Use Financing and Training
of Mercenaries.
May
25, 1993: the
UN Security Council establishes an International Criminal
Tribunal to prosecute war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.
1993:
The
International Law Commission submits a draft Statues
for an International Criminal Court to the General Assembly.
November
8, 1994: The
UN General Assembly establishes a second International
Criminal Tribunal to prosecute war crimes in Rwanda.
December
9, 1994: The
International Law Commission presents a final draft
Statue on the International Criminal court to the UN
General assembly and an ad hoc committee is appointed
to work on establishing the court.
December
11, 1995:
UN General Assembly establishes Preparatory Committee
for the Establishment of a permanent International Criminal
Court.
May
7, 1997:
The UN Tribunal for Yugoslavia hands down its first
conviction, sentencing a Bosnian Serb concentration
camp guard to 20 years in prison for crimes against
humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war.
September
18, 1997: Convention
on the prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production
and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction.
March
26, 1998: US
Senator Jesse Helms, chairman of the Foreign Relations
Committee, declares any International Criminal Court
"dead on arrival" in the United States Senate
unless the United States is given control over the court.
July
17, 1998: Rome
Statute establishing the International Criminal Court
is finalized and adopted.
September
2, 1998: The
UN Tribunal for Rwanda ands down its first conviction
finding a Rwandan Hutu leader guilty of genocide.
October
16, 1998: British
authorities arrest former Chilean dictator, Augusto
Pinochet on an extradition request from a Spanish judge
who brought charges of genocide, torture, and other
crimes during his rule in the 1970s-80s.
January
31, 2000: A
UN Commission recommends that the Security Council establish
a tribunal to prosecute war crimes in East Timor, but
member nations ignore the recommendation and instead
ask the Indonesian government to mete out justice.
August
14, 2000: UN
Security Council calls for the establishment of a "Special
Court" to prosecute war crimes in Sierra Leone.
January
3, 2001: Cambodian
National assembly passes legislation to establish a
tribunal in conjunction with the United Nations to prosecute
"senior leaders" of the Khmer Rouge for atrocities
from 1975-1979.
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