Criminology Presentation on War Crimes, State Crimes, and Humanity

This presentation delves into the concepts of war crimes, state crimes, and crimes against humanity, as defined under international and national laws. It examines the actions that constitute war crimes, such as intentional civilian killings and mass destruction, and their lasting economic and social impacts. The presentation also covers crimes against humanity, exemplified by acts of terror and election-related violence, and the state's responsibility in preventing such atrocities. State crimes are also explored, highlighting their limitations within national jurisdictions. References from criminological literature are included to support the discussion. The presentation is based on the assignment brief for a presentation on perspectives in criminology. The author has discussed the topic in relation to the course and the assignment instructions.

War Crimes, State Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity 1
War Crimes, State Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity
By [Name]
Course [Civil Law]
Professor’s Name
Institution
Location of Institution [Australia]

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War crimes
War crimes are human actions that are carried out during a war that violates the accepted
laid down international rules. The rules are provided to regulate conduct/behaviour by soldiers in
combat. It is international rules since parties involved, to some extent, may come from different
countries (Totani, 2020). The law provides guidelines on when killing in a war is not punishable
by law and when an action should be done. This law, however, relies only on one side of the
warring parties. Examples of war crimes include intentional civilian killing, torturing, mass
destruction of property, raping, among others. These actions are, however, prohibited from the
enemy's side. On the contrary, the law doesn't favour the enemy.
War crimes usually result in long-lasting effects on the country's economy. The
concerned country spends a lot in bringing its picture back to the original state. It also leads to
mass destruction of property and life. As a result, they can be prevented or avoided if
circumstances allow. Some of the precautions that can be taken are having high-security levels
and using modern technology to equip soldiers. The soldiers should be well trained and get fit
with modern weapons (Tilly, 2017).
Crimes against humanity
Crime against humanity is a deliberate act that is typically part of a systematic campaign
which results in human death and human suffering. The action involves violated of law and
rights protecting humans, thus harming them (Watts, 2016). Crime against humanity can be
illustrated by a case example of a terror attack in a country leading to the mass killing of
innocent people and destroying their property. Another example is in election wars where
innocent civilians get involved and up being losers.

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Each country is burdened to protecting its citizens against crime against humanity by
preventing such atrocities from occurring. The government can avoid crime against humanity
incitement using appropriate means. It can provide alert to citizens when such wars occur,
making everyone ready to face what comes (Friedrichs, 2017).
State crimes
State crimes are activities that break a country's criminal laws. There are laws within the
country set to deal with such crimes. Breaking these laws leads to punishments like being
sentenced to prison. However, these laws have limits just within the country's jurisdiction. A
crime committed outside the country is justified by the state within which that crime is
committed. The crimes are of several types, and laws against them are also narrowed down
within the respective crime action.

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References
Friedrichs, D. O. (2017). tate crime or governmental crime: Making sense of the conceptual
confusion. In Controlling state crime (pp. 53--79). Routledge.
Tilly, C. (2017). War making and state making as organized crime. In Collective Violence,
Contentious Politics, and Social Change (pp. 121--139). Routledge.
Totani, Y. (2020). The Tokyo war crimes trial: the pursuit of justice in the wake of World War II.
Brill.
Watts, R. (2016). States of violence and the civilizing process: on criminology and state crime.
Springer.