Sensemaker Are war crimes happening in the Iran war?
Mar 30, 2026
Andrew Cayley, senior barrister and former ICC principal trial lawyer, brings decades of experience in prosecuting war crimes. He explains what legally counts as a war crime. He examines reported strikes, attacks on civilians and energy sites. He outlines why evidence, destroyed scenes and traumatized witnesses make investigations and prosecutions difficult.
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What Legally Counts As A War Crime
- War crimes are violations of humanitarian law during an armed conflict, including intentionally killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure without military necessity.
- Andrew Cayley lists examples like targeting civilians, torture, taking hostages, prohibited weapons, and the difficulty of proving these crimes due to fragmentary evidence and destroyed crime scenes.
School Strike That Sparked Global Condemnation
- A missile struck a primary school killing 168 people, predominantly children, prompting UNESCO to call it a grave violation of humanitarian law.
- Former UK prime minister Gordon Brown then urged creating an international criminal court for crimes against children.
Why War Crime Cases Take Years To Prove
- Proving war crimes often fails because evidence is fragmentary, witnesses are traumatised, and crime scenes get destroyed or are inaccessible.
- Andrew Cayley stresses the legal challenge is tying events to a specific perpetrator or commander with admissible evidence.