Source.
18 § 2441, "War Crimes" provides:
- (a) Offense.--Whoever, whether inside or outside the United States, commits a
war crime, in any of the circumstances described in subsection (b), shall be
fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, and
if death results to the victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of
death.
- (b) Circumstances.--The circumstances referred to in subsection (a) are that
the person committing such breach or the victim of such war crime is a member of
the Armed Forces of the United States or a national of the United States (as
defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act).
- (c) Definition.--As used in this section the term 'war crime' means any
conduct--
- (1) defined as a grave breach in any of the international conventions signed
at Geneva 12 August 1949, or any protocol to such convention to which the United
States is a party;
- (2) prohibited by Article 23, 25, 27, or 28 of the Annex to the Hague
Convention IV, Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, signed 18 October
1907;
- (3) which constitutes a violation of common Article 3 of the international
conventions signed at Geneva, 12 August 1949, or any protocol to such convention
to which the United States is a party and which deals with non- international
armed conflict; or
- (4) of a person who, in relation to an armed conflict and contrary to the
provisions of the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines,
Booby-Traps and Other Devices as amended at Geneva on 3 May 1996 (Protocol II as
amended on 3 May 1996), when the United States is a party to such Protocol,
willfully kills or causes serious injury to civilians.