War Crimes: Evolution, Conceptualization, Categorization and Challenges

Öz

This study focuses on war crimes using a multi-disciplinary approach, which comprises history, law, and international relations. It employs case study methodology by using both primary and secondary resources. The main objective is to provide a clear, valid, and up-to-date framework to analyze war crimes and apply this framework to both historical cases and those occurring after the Cold War. To this end, having introduced the scope and importance of the subject, the study moves on to discussing theoretical and historical backgrounds. The third section analyses the narrow and broad conceptualizations of war crimes comparatively. It finds that it is necessary to adopt the narrow conceptualization to avoid ambiguity. As the categories included in the narrow conceptualization, this section also focuses on the war crimes against protected persons and objects and the war crimes related to unlawful means and methods of warfare. The following sections examine each category of war crimes in the light of historical and recent examples and find that war crimes were punished when powerful parties deemed necessary. The study concludes by emphasizing that political will is essential for punishing war crimes, and weak parties are still vulnerable to wartime violence to a large extent despite all the advances in the prosecution and punishment of war crimes in line with the premises of Realism on power and law versus those of Liberalism.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• War crimes
• civilians
• realism
• liberalism

Savaş Suçları: Evrim, Kavramsallaştırma, Kategoriler ve Zorluklar

Öz

Çalışma; tarih, hukuk ve uluslararası ilişkileri kapsayan çok disiplinli bir yaklaşımla savaş suçlarına odaklanmaktadır. Birincil ve ikincil kaynaklara dayanan vaka çalışması yöntemi kullanılmaktadır. Çalışmanın amacı, savaş suçlarını analiz etmek için net, geçerli ve güncel bir çerçeve sağlamak ve bu çerçeveyi tarihsel ve Soğuk Savaş sonrası savaş suçları vakalarına uygulamaktır. Bu amaçla, çalışma, girişi takiben, teorik ve tarihsel arka planı incelemektedir. Sonraki bölüm, ilgili literatürü inceleyerek savaş suçlarının dar ve geniş kavramsallaştırmalarını karşılaştırmalı olarak analiz etmekte ve netlik sağlamak için dar kavramsallaştırmanın benimsenmesinin gerekli olduğu bulgusuna ulaşmaktadır. Aynı bölüm, savaş suçlarının dar kavramsallaştırmasının kapsadığı kategoriler olarak, bir yandan korunan kişilere ve nesnelere karşı işlenen savaş suçlarına, diğer yandan yasadışı savaş araçları ve yöntemleriyle ilgili savaş suçlarına da odaklanmaktadır. Takip eden bölümler, her bir savaş suçu kategorisini tarihsel ve güncel örneklerle incelemekte ve savaş suçlarının güçlü taraflar gerekli gördüğünde cezalandırıldığı bulgusuna ulaşmaktadır. Sonuç bölümü, savaş suçlarını cezalandırmak için siyasi iradenin gerekli olduğunu ve hukuk üzerine Realist varsayımlar paralelinde ve Liberal varsayımları haksız çıkaran şekilde, zayıfların hâlâ savaşlardaki şiddete karşı büyük ölçüde savunmasız olduğunu vurgulamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Savaş suçları
• siviller
• realizm
• liberalizm

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