Soviet war crimes

War crimes perpetrated by the Soviet Union and its armed forces from 1919 to 1991 include acts committed by the Red Army (later called the Soviet Army) as well as the NKVD, including the NKVD's Internal Troops. In some cases, these acts were committed upon the orders of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in pursuance of the early Soviet Government's policy of Red Terror, in other instances they were committed without orders by Soviet troops against prisoners of war or civilians of countries that had been in armed conflict with the USSR, or during partisan warfare.

A significant number of these incidents occurred in Northern and Eastern Europe before, during and in the aftermath of World War II, involving summary executions and mass murder of prisoners of war, such as at the Katyn massacre and mass rape by the troops of the Red Army in Soviet-occupied territories.

When the Allied Powers of World War II founded the post-war International Military Tribunal, with officials from the Soviet Union taking an active part in the judicial processes, to examine war crimes committed during the conflict by Nazi Germany, there was no examination of Soviet Forces' actions or charges brought against its troops because they were an undefeated power which then held Eastern Europe in military occupation, marring the historical authority of the Tribunal's activity as being, in part, victor's justice.

War crime

A war crime is an act that constitutes a serious violation of the law of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility. Examples of war crimes include intentionally killing civilians or prisoners, torture, wantonly destroying property, taking hostages, perfidy, rape, using child soldiers, pillaging, declaring that no quarter will be given, and using weapons that cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering.

The concept of war crimes began to emerge during the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century when the body of customary international law applicable to warfare between sovereign states was codified. Such codification occurred at the national level, such as with the publication of the Lieber Code in the United States, and at the international level with the adoption of the treaties during the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. Moreover, trials in national courts during this period further helped clarify the law. Following the end of World War II, major developments in the law occurred. Numerous trials of Axis war criminals established the Nuremberg principles, such as notion that war crimes constituted crimes defined by international law. Additionally, the Geneva Conventions in 1949 defined new war crimes and established that states could exercise universal jurisdiction over such crimes. In the late 20th century and early 21st century, following the creation of several international courts, additional categories of war crimes applicable to armed conflicts other than those between states, such as civil wars. The United States, Israel and Russia are the only OECD countries that do not accept war crime jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its nationals, since they have not signed the Rome Statute.