Abstract
This article examines the state of “war crimes” today by thinkingthrough why the prosecution of war crimes has been frustrated forthe 2006 Israeli - Hezbollah War in Lebanon. Even though theinternational machinery for trying war crimes has been set up - aboveall, the ICC - and the means of documenting and publicizing suchcrimes have expanded and become widely accessible globally, it is nownearly impossible to prosecute major geopolitical perpetrators on theworld stage. The article focuses on legal issues regarding the conduct ofwar (jus in bello): how the threat of prosecution due to the use ofexcessive violence might affect the different tactical and strategic “self -interests” of the belligerents. Finally, it makes an argument in favourof when principles of proportionality (that the violence deployed wasexcessive and disproportionate to the threat) may trump principles ofequity (that both parties deserving of punishment must be prosecuted),and assesses the political effi cacy of prosecutions in this case. Thisanalysis brings to light several paradoxes in the fi eld of internationaljustice generally, or international humanitarian law more specifi cally,and suggests why there is a certain contemporary impasse in theprosecution of war crimes.
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