Conduct that satisfies the legal elements of a war crime under the Rome Statute (Article 8), a crime against humanity (Article 7), or genocide (Article 6). Includes intentional attacks on civilians, torture, enforced disappearance, deportation or forcible transfer of populations, and other acts constituting the gravest violations of international humanitarian and criminal law.
Related incidents
26 incidents
Updated April 7, 2026Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
Trump's explicit threats to destroy all civilian infrastructure in Iran — every bridge, every power plant — with the stated goal of ensuring Iran 'could literally never rebuild as a nation again' …
Trump stated 'Every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow night, every power plant will be out of business, burning, …
Trump warned 'a whole civilization will die tonight' unless Iran agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his Tuesday 8 PM ET deadline.
Sources
12
Documents
2
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0
Updated April 7, 2026Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
US forces destroyed Iran's landmark B1 bridge near Karaj in a double-tap strike during Nowruz holiday celebrations, killing 8 civilians and wounding 95. The bridge — 176 meters tall and 1,050 meters …
On April 2, 2026, US forces destroyed the B1 bridge near Karaj, west of Tehran — Iran's most complex engineering project, standing 176 …
The strike used a double-tap tactic: bombing the same location twice, killing first responders and bystanders who rushed to help after the …
Sources
6
Documents
0
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0
Updated April 7, 2026Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
U.S. military strikes on Kharg Island — Iran's primary oil export facility handling 90% of crude exports — constitute attacks on critical civilian economic infrastructure. Combined with explicit …
The U.S. carried out strikes on Iran's Kharg Island, a small coral island in the northern Persian Gulf responsible for handling …
While the U.S. claims it targeted 'military targets' on the island, the strikes risk catastrophic damage to civilian economic infrastructure …
Sources
6
Documents
1
Updates
0
Updated April 7, 2026Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
Trump's explicit threat to destroy Iran's civilian power infrastructure constitutes a per se violation of international humanitarian law. The threats escalated from 'obliterate' to a promise of …
Trump explicitly threatened to 'obliterate' Iran's power plants, which Amnesty International assessed as a 'threat to commit war crimes' -- …
As of March 21, 2026, the Iran war has killed at least 5,900 people including 595 documented civilians, according to the Hengaw …
Sources
7
Documents
3
Updates
0
Updated April 5, 2026Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
Repeated strikes near Bushehr nuclear power plant violate Additional Protocol I Article 56's specific protection of nuclear electrical generating stations. Even without a radiation release, strikes on …
Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant has been struck by projectiles at least four times since the war began on February 28, 2026.
One security guard was killed and a side building was damaged in the April 4 strike.
Sources
6
Documents
2
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0
Updated March 26, 2026Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
A sustained pattern of strikes on Iranian hospitals, ambulances, and medical infrastructure has killed healthcare workers and forced the evacuation of six hospitals. The WHO has verified 18 attacks on …
WHO has verified 18 attacks on healthcare facilities in Iran since the war began on February 28, 2026, with at least 8 medical workers …
Six hospitals have been evacuated, 29 clinical facilities damaged, and 10 rendered inactive. Patients required evacuation from seven …
US airstrikes on Yemen's most critical civilian port infrastructure killed 84+ civilians including three children, port workers, truck drivers, and civil defense personnel. HRW found the strikes were …
14 US airstrikes hit the Ras Issa oil terminal on April 17, 2025, killing at least 84 civilians and injuring over 150, including port …
Ras Issa is one of three ports in Hodeidah through which approximately 70% of Yemen's commercial imports and 80% of humanitarian assistance …
A 53-day US bombing campaign in Yemen produced an unprecedented civilian death toll, with monitoring organizations documenting at least 224 civilian deaths — matching the previous 23 years of US …
Operation Rough Rider ran from March 15 to May 6, 2025 — 53 days of sustained bombing against Houthi-controlled Yemen, with 339+ strikes …
Airwars documented 33 civilian harm incidents and at least 224 civilian deaths. The Yemen Data Project documented at least 238 civilian …
Sources
9
Documents
0
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Updated March 25, 2026Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
The US Defense Secretary's public declaration that no quarter would be given to Iran constitutes a textbook war crime under Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xii), which criminalizes 'declaring that no …
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly declared there would be 'no quarter, no mercy' for Iran during the 2026 Iran war.
Declaring that no quarter will be given is explicitly listed as a war crime under Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xii). It is a per se …
Sources
6
Documents
1
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
US and Israeli strikes have damaged UNESCO World Heritage Sites and over 100 cultural heritage sites across Iran, including Golestan Palace, Isfahan's Naqsh-e Jahan Square complex, the 8th-century …
UNESCO documented at least four historic sites damaged by shockwaves from a March 10 strike alone. Iran's Ministry of Cultural Heritage …
Golestan Palace in Tehran, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, suffered shattered glass from mirrored ceilings, broken archways, blown-out …
Sources
7
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
A US submarine torpedoed an Iranian frigate returning from a peaceful international naval event, killing 87 sailors. The failure to rescue shipwrecked sailors violates the Second Geneva Convention's …
The USS Charlotte torpedoed the IRIS Dena approximately 19 nautical miles off Sri Lanka on March 4, 2026. The Iranian frigate was returning …
Eighty-seven sailors were killed. The Sri Lanka Navy rescued 32 survivors.
Sources
5
Documents
1
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
The Iran war triggered closure of the world's most critical energy chokepoint, causing the largest supply disruption since the 1970s. Oil above $120/barrel, 70% food import disruption across Gulf …
The Strait of Hormuz — through which approximately 20 million barrels of oil pass daily, representing 20% of global seaborne oil trade — was …
Tanker traffic dropped by approximately 70%, with over 150 ships anchoring outside the strait to avoid risks.
Sources
6
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026Complicity in Genocide
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
Israel's 2026 Lebanon offensive — conducted with US-supplied weapons including white phosphorus munitions used over civilian areas — has killed over 1,000 people, wounded nearly 3,000, and displaced …
Since the renewed Israeli offensive beginning March 2, 2026, over 1,072 people have been killed in Lebanon including at least 121 children, …
Nearly 700,000 people — 20% of Lebanon's population — have been displaced, including 200,000 children. An additional 85,000-90,000 have fled …
Sources
8
Documents
0
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0
Updated March 25, 2026Military Overreach
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
The United States launched a major war against Iran without congressional authorization, without a UN Security Council mandate, and while diplomatic channels remained open. Legal experts, the Brennan …
On February 28, 2026, the US and Israel launched nearly 900 airstrikes in 12 hours against Iran under 'Operation Epic Fury,' killing Supreme …
Approximately 170 civilians were killed when a missile struck a girls' school adjacent to a naval base in Minab, near Bandar Abbas.
Sources
9
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
A Tomahawk cruise missile struck a girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran, killing up to 180 schoolchildren in one of the deadliest single incidents of civilian harm in the 2026 Iran war. …
A US Tomahawk cruise missile struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab, Hormozgan province, Iran, on February 28, 2026, …
The school was 'triple-tapped' — struck three distinct times. Analysis showed missiles hit a nearby military base and the school but …
Sources
7
Documents
1
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026Military Overreach
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
The United States launched a unilateral military intervention in Venezuela, bombing infrastructure and capturing the sitting head of state, without Congressional authorization, UN Security Council …
The US launched Operation Absolute Resolve on January 3, 2026, bombing Venezuelan infrastructure and capturing President Nicolas Maduro …
The operation included bombing to suppress air defenses across northern Venezuela followed by a special operations raid on Maduro's compound …
Sources
9
Documents
1
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026Extrajudicial Killing
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
A sustained campaign of Hellfire missile strikes on suspected drug boats has killed at least 95 people without due process, public evidence of drug trafficking, or identification of the dead. Legal …
At least 95 people killed in 26+ Hellfire missile strikes on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since September 2, 2025, with no public …
The very first strike on September 2, 2025 included a 'double tap' — two survivors clung to wreckage for 45 minutes before a follow-up …
Sources
9
Documents
1
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026Deportation to Torture
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
Florida immigration detention centers are sites of documented torture including a punitive cage device, prolonged solitary confinement, unsanitary conditions, and enforced disappearances facilitated …
Amnesty International conducted a research trip to southern Florida in September 2025 and published findings in December 2025 documenting …
'Alligator Alcatraz' (Everglades Detention Facility) operates OUTSIDE federal oversight, without the basic tracking systems used in ICE …
US airstrikes killed 68 detained African migrants sleeping in a Sa'ada detention center during Operation Rough Rider. Amnesty International's investigation found no evidence the facility was a …
US airstrikes hit a migrant detention center in Sa'ada, Yemen at approximately 5:00 AM on April 28, 2025, while 115 detained migrants were …
Victims were primarily Ethiopian and Somali migrants detained by Houthi authorities solely for their irregular immigration status — they …
Sources
7
Documents
1
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026Deportation to Torture
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
Over 260 Venezuelans were secretly deported to CECOT, where HRW documented torture, sexual violence, prolonged incommunicado detention, and denial of basic necessities. Many deportees had no criminal …
260+ Venezuelan nationals were secretly deported to CECOT between March and April 2025, without notice to families or attorneys, …
HRW's 'You Have Arrived in Hell' report documented regular and severe physical abuse, sexual violence (at least 3 cases including forced …
Sources
6
Documents
2
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026Deportation to Torture
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
Systematic forced disappearances of Salvadoran nationals deported from the US, held incommunicado in Salvadoran prisons including CECOT with no access to lawyers, families, or courts. The US bears …
Human Rights Watch documented 11 cases of Salvadorans deported from the US between mid-March and mid-October 2025 who were immediately …
None of the deportees have been allowed to communicate with their relatives or lawyers. None have been brought before a judge.
Sources
6
Documents
0
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0
Updated March 25, 2026Deportation to Torture
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
A secret $6 million contract enabled the US to outsource detention to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison, where HRW documented systematic torture. The unreleased agreement created an unprecedented …
The US paid $6 million to El Salvador to detain deportees at CECOT, a mega-prison where HRW documented systematic torture including sexual …
The agreement was negotiated during Secretary Rubio's February 2025 visit to El Salvador and finalized as a written deal that has never been …
Sources
8
Documents
2
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026Deportation to Torture
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingActive litigation
Immigrants transferred to Guantanamo Bay face conditions amounting to torture: 23+ hour solitary confinement, punishment chairs, physical abuse, and incommunicado detention. ACLU and CCR lawsuits …
Approximately 500 immigrants transferred to Guantanamo Bay Migrant Operations Center since January 2025, with executive order calling for …
Detainees held in solitary, windowless cells for 23+ hours per day, constantly shackled, subjected to invasive strip searches and a …
Sources
7
Documents
2
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026Federal Dismantlement
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingOfficial executive action
Systematic destruction of the US Agency for International Development resulted in termination of lifesaving programs across the developing world, with The Lancet projecting 9.4 million additional …
The Lancet projects 9.4 million additional deaths by 2030 as a direct result of the USAID dismantlement, making this potentially the single …
23 million children lost access to education and 95 million people lost access to basic healthcare when USAID programs were terminated.
Sources
4
Documents
2
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026Complicity in Genocide
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
Continued US arms transfers to Israel during ICJ genocide proceedings, including emergency bypasses of Congressional review, combined with active diplomatic defense of Israel at the ICJ, raising …
Since October 2023, the US has delivered 90,000 tons of arms to Israel on 800 transport planes and 140 ships, continuing throughout ICJ …
The Trump administration approved 12,000+ thousand-pound bombs via emergency authority in 2026, bypassing Congressional review of the …
Sources
7
Documents
2
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026Complicity in Genocide
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
Israel deployed US-supplied white phosphorus over Lebanese civilian areas in 191 attacks across 17+ municipalities since October 2023, continuing through March 2026. HRW verified the attacks as …
Over 918 hectares hit across 191 white phosphorus attacks in southern Lebanon since October 2023, with 39% striking directly over civilian …
HRW verified the March 3, 2026 use of airburst white phosphorus over residential homes in Yohmor, classifying it as unlawfully …