“I May Be Killed Any Moment” 65 International Criminal Law International criminal law is a body of law designed to hold individuals accountable for particularly serious violations of international law. International criminal law not only proscribes specific categories of crimes—namely, war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression—but also establishes criminal liability against individuals responsible for such conduct.349 Like international human rights law, international criminal law is necessarily viewed as a constellation of treaty, customary international law, and domestic law frameworks. The criminal dimensions of international criminal law are evaluated based on standards set forth in the Rome Statute of the ICC as well as ad hoc tribunals established by the U.N. Security Council, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).350 ICC jurisdiction is limited to when a crime is committed within a country or by a national of a country that is a party to the Rome Statute; when a state agrees to ICC jurisdiction; or when a situation is referred to the Office of the Prosecutor by the Security Council.351 Notably, Bangladesh acceded to the Rome Statute on September 16, 1999. Crimes under contemporary international criminal law can be broken down into four categories: (1) war crimes, (2) crimes against humanity, (3) genocide, and (4) aggression. In relation to international criminal law, evidence documented in this report suggests that non-state militants may have committed war crimes against Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in direct relation to the armed conflict in Myanmar. War Crimes The laws governing armed conflict are variously referred to as the law of armed conflict, international humanitarian law, the laws of war, or war crimes. There is no material distinction between these concepts. Like international human rights law, these laws consist of treaty law, customary international law, and domestic law frameworks. As a matter of treaty law, the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol I identifies certain “grave breaches” as international crimes or “war crimes” that states parties are obligated to recognize.352 Bangladesh is a party to all four Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol I. Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the ICC further criminalized “grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions,” which it summarily describes as certain enumerated “acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention.”353 These acts include willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile 349 Antonio Cassese, International Criminal Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), Ch. 1.1. 350 See, for example, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. 351 See, Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute), adopted July 17, 1998, 2187 U.N.T.S. 90, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.183/9, 2002, arts. 5(2), 12(b), 12(3), 13(b). 352 See Article 3 to each of: Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field (First Geneva Convention ), adopted August 12, 1949, 75 U.N.T.S. 31, entered into force October 21, 1950, signed by Bangladesh on December 20, 1988; Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea (Second Geneva Convention), adopted August 12, 1949, 75 U.N.T.S. 85, entered into force October 21, 1950, signed by Bangladesh on December 20, 1988; Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (Third Geneva Convention), adopted August 12, 1949, 75 U.N.T.S. 135, entered into force October 21, 1950, not signed by Bangladesh; Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), adopted August 12, 1949, 75 U.N.T.S. 287, entered into force October 21, 1950, signed by Bangladesh on April 4, 1972; Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 1125 U.N.T.S. 3, entered into force June 8, 1977, signed by Bangladesh on June 8, 1977. 353 Rome Statute, Art. 2(a).