War crimes and criminals

[Mohoender]

Originally Posted by dragoon500ly

In our debate about war crimes, we overlooked a situation. How can war crimes be prosecuted if one of the involved countries has never signed any of the international conventions?

That was my point about Japan.

Originally Posted by dragoon500ly

To quote a more recent example, the People's Republic of Vietnam has never signed either convention, therefore their military personnel can not be prosecuted under international law is one argument that I have heard.

Thoughts?

Vietnam signed them in 1957. When, it fought the Vietnam War, most troops involved were irregulars who are not concerned by this convention. Moreover, it won the war and the USA never declared war. As a result, there is little legal ground to charge any soldier from the north. If any ground existed, it would probably be against US troops.