War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict (also known as international humanitarian law) giving rise to individual criminal responsibility. Examples of such conduct include "murder, the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied territory to slave labor camps", "the murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war", the killing of prisoners, "the wanton destruction of cities, towns and villages, and any devastation not justified by military, or civilian necessity".
Similar concepts, such as perfidy, have existed for many centuries as customs between civilized countries, but these customs were first codified as international law in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. The modern concept of a war crime was further developed under the auspices of the Nuremberg Trials based on the definition in the London Charter that was published on August 8, 1945. (Also see Nuremberg Principles.) Along with war crimes the charter also defined crimes against peace and crimes against humanity, which are often committed during wars and in concert with war crimes.
Francis Anthony Boyle (born 1950) is a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. Boyle received a A.B. (1971) in Political Science from the University of Chicago, then a J.D. degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, and A.M. and Ph.D. degrees in Political Science from Harvard University. He also practiced tax and international tax with Bingham, Dana & Gould.
Boyle serves as counsel to Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the Provisional Government of the Palestinian Authority. He also represents two associations of citizens within Bosnia and was involved in developing the indictment against Slobodan Milosevic for committing genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Over his career, he has represented national and international bodies including the Blackfoot Nation (Canada), the Nation of Hawaii, and the Lakota Nation, as well as numerous individual death penalty and human rights cases. He has advised numerous international bodies in the areas of human rights, war crimes and genocide, nuclear policy, and bio-warfare. From 1991-92, Boyle served as Legal Advisor to the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East Peace Negotiations. He also served on the Board of Directors of Amnesty International, as a consultant to the American Friends Service Committee, and on the Advisory Board for the Council for Responsible Genetics. He drafted the U.S. domestic implementing legislation for the Biological Weapons Convention, known as the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, that was approved unanimously by both Houses of the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush.
You should have gone to Canada
You could have run away
But you couldn't shame your parents
You say you had to stay
So you get yourself drafted
So you went ahead and went
And you thought you'd be a hero
And not a dissident
War Crime... War Crime
You used to be a good boy
You used to be the best
Then you tried the drug
Ad you dreamt about the west
Everyone's your enemy
Everyone's your friend
Your world was upside down
To kill was not to sin
So you shot the wrong woman
Or you shot the wrong kid
Now Sam will make you regret
That you ever did
But you had no choice
You were told what to do
Orders from the helicopter crew
War Crime... War Crime
Back home they wanted blood
For the atrocities
For the innocent who died
On they're TVs
They demanded justice
They demanded you
They wanted to watch you hang
Till you turned blue
War Crime... War Crime
And the president said that that's OK
Because it takes they're attention away
>From the real crime, the war
There are no war crimes
You should have gone to Canada
You could have run away
But you couldn't shame your parents
You say you had to stay
So you get yourself drafted
So you went ahead and went
And you thought you'd be a hero
And not a dissident
War Crime... War Crime
You used to be a good boy
You used to be the best
Then you tried the drug
Ad you dreamt about the west
Everyone's your enemy
Everyone's your friend
Your world was upside down
To kill was not to sin
So you shot the wrong woman
Or you shot the wrong kid
Now Sam will make you regret
That you ever did
But you had no choice
You were told what to do
Orders from the helicopter crew
War Crime... War Crime
Back home they wanted blood
For the atrocities
For the innocent who died
On they're TVs
They demanded justice
They demanded you
They wanted to watch you hang
Till you turned blue
War Crime... War Crime
And the president said that that's OK
Because it takes they're attention away
>From the real crime, the war
There are no war crimes
War is the crime
Bodies piled on burning pyres
-No more war, no more crime-
People starved, tortured & murdered
Teenagers drafted to hang on barbed wire
Bombs to settle arguments the order of the booth
Can you hear them crying in the rubble of Beirut?
I can still see people dying, now who takes the blame?
The numbers are different, the crime is still the same
From the graves of Belsen where the innocent will burn
To the genocide in Beirut, Israel, was nothing learned?
I can still hear people crying, now who takes the blame?
The numbers are different; the crime is still the same
Bombs to settle arguments, the order of the booth
From the graves of Belsen, to the ruins of Beirut
I can still see people dying, now who takes the blame?
She's a devil in disguise
You can see it in her eyes
She's telling dirty lies
She's a devil in disguise, in disguise
Now a woman like that all she does is hate you
She doesn't know what makes a man a man
She'll talk about the time that she's been with you
She'll speak your name to everyone she can
She's a devil in disguise
You can see it in her eyes
She's telling dirty lies
She's a devil in disguise, in disguise
Unhappiness has been her close companion
Her world is full of jealousy and doubt
It gets her off to see a person crying
She's just the kind that you can't do without
She's a devil in disguise
You can see it in her eyes
She's telling dirty lies
She's a devil in disguise, in disguise
Her number always turns up in your pocket
Whenever you are looking for a dime
It's all right to call her but I'll bet you
The moon is full and you're just wasting time
She's a devil in disguise
You can see it in her eyes
She's telling dirty lies
She's a devil in disguise, in disguise
In disguise, in disguise
In disguise, in disguise