Universitatea de Drept “Simion

Barnuțiu”

Referat la disciplina: Limba engleză

Tema:War crimes,Terrorism,and National
Security.

Student:Cobzac Nicolae,anul 1,gr.1

Sibiu-2018-
 Content :
1)What is a war crime?
Definition, Types & Examples
2)What is a terrorism ?
Definition, Types & Examples
3)What is a national security?
Definition & Examples

War crime
A war crime is an act that constitutes a serious violation
of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal
responsibility.
War crimes are those violations of international humanitarian law (treaty
or customary law) that incur individual criminal responsibility under
international law. As a result, and in contrast to the crimes of genocide
and crimes against humanity, war crimes must always take place in the
context of an armed conflict, either international or non-international.
War crimes can be divided into three categories:
Traditional war crimes - acts that violate customary war time
practices
Crimes against peace - acts of hostile military action against a
sovereign country that is not in self defense
Crimes against humanity - acts that involve the enslavement,
persecution, brutality or murder of non-combatants or the
extermination of certain groups of people

Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field—also
known as the “Lieber Code” after its main author, Francis Lieber—which was
issued by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War and
distributed among Union military personnel in 1863.

For example:
 The Lieber Code held that it was a “serious breach of the law of
war to force the subjects of the enemy into service for the
victorious government” and prohibited “wanton violence
 committed against persons in the invaded country,” including
rape, maiming, and murder, all of which carried the penalty of
death.
 More recently, definitions of war crimes have been codified in
international statutes, such as those creating the International
Criminal Court and the war crimes tribunals in Yugoslavia and
Rwanda, for use in international war crimes tribunals. In contrast
to earlier definitions, modern definitions are more expansive and
criminalize certain behaviours committed by civilians as well as
by military personnel.
The legalities of war have sometimes been accused of containing
favoritism toward the winners as some controversies have not been ruled
as war crimes.
 Some examples include the Allies' destruction of Axis cities
during World War II, such as the firebombing of Dresden, the
indiscriminate bombings started by Churchill, the Operation
Meetinghouse raid on Tokyo (the most destructive single bombing
raid in history) and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
 In regard to the strategic bombing during World War II, it should
be noticed that at the time, there was no international treaty or
instrument protecting a civilian population specifically from attack
by aircraft,therefore the aerial attacks on civilians were not
officially war crimes.

Terrorism
Terrorism, the systematic use of violence to create a general
climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a
particular political objective. Terrorism has been practiced by
political organizations with both rightist and leftist objectives,
by nationalistic and religious groups, by revolutionaries, and
even by state institutions such as armies, intelligence services,
and police.
Some definitions treat all acts of terrorism, regardless of their political
motivations, as simple criminal activity.
For example:
 In the United States the standard definition used by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) describes terrorism as “the unlawful
use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate
or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment
thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”
 A frequently mentioned example is the African National Congress
(ANC) of South Africa, which committed violent actions against
that country’s apartheid government but commanded broad
sympathy throughout the world. Another example is the Resistance
movement against the Nazi occupation of France during World
War II.
 The deadliest terrorist strikes to date were the September 11
attacks (2001), in which suicide terrorists associated with al-Qaeda
hijacked four commercial airplanes, crashing two of them into the
twin towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City
and the third into the Pentagon building near Washington, D.C.;
the fourth plane crashed near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The
crashes destroyed much of the World Trade Center complex and a
large portion of one side of the Pentagon and killed more than
3,000 people.

There have been 2,608 total attacks and 226 fatal attacks in the United
States between 1970 and 2011.
Just about every part of the United States has been hit by some form of
terrorist attack since 1970:

National Security
The term “national security” has long been used by politicians as a
rhetorical phrase and by military leaders to describe a policy objective.
More recently, however, it has been adopted by social scientists, to
refer to both an analytical concept and a field of study. When modern
social scientists talk of the concept, they generally mean the ability of a
nation to protect its internal values from external threats. The field of
study, therefore, encompasses attempts to analyze the manner in which
nations plan, make, and evaluate the decisions and policies designed to
increase this ability.

National security is at stake when one or more of our country’s vital

interests are threatened. Those interests are:
 territorial security: this would be jeopardised by a military
occupation, but also by prolonged flooding;
 economic security: a major internet or electrical breakdown would
disrupt online financial transactions;
 ecological security: damage to the environment from pollution or
extreme heat or drought;
 physical security: deaths, injuries and chronic illnesses caused by
flooding or a pandemic;
 social and political stability: violations of the rule of law caused by
tensions between communities, for instance.

National security is the safekeeping of the nation as a whole. Its highest

order of business is the protection of the nation and its people from
attack and other external dangers by maintaining armed forces and
guarding state secrets.
Measures taken to ensure national security include: using
diplomacy to rally allies and isolate threats marshalling
economic power to facilitate or compel cooperation maintaining
effective armed forces implementing civil defense and
emergency preparedness measures (including anti-terrorism
legislation) ensuring the resilience and redundancy of critical
infrastructure using intelligence services to detect and defeat or
avoid threats and espionage, and to protect classified
information using counterintelligence services or secret police to
protect the nation from internal threats.

National Security Agency (NSA)- In the United States

In conclusion, war crimes and national security are one of the most important
ways / things/ priorities for the government of all states, because it represents life
of people, nothing is more important than humans , each year acts of terrorism
are growing up, but each state tries to fight them in other to gain peace. Every
year,different organization fights with crimes,acts of terrorism, trying to keep
national security on the highest level. National security is what helps to keep us
safe from possible harm from those who would attack us physically,
economically, and diplomatically. National Security is incredibly important
because it protects us from all threats. Because of our culture, people all over the
world wish to do harm to us.. Whether it be attacks from foreign adversaries,
disasters, or cyberattacks we need to stand ready to protect our economy,
infrastructure (schools, energy systems, roads/highways, government services,
ect.), and most importantly, people.