Implementation of War Crimes in Latin America

Abstract

The implementation of the Rome Statute in Latin America continues to face structural gaps caused by a lack of comprehensive implementation of all the elements of the treaty. In the case of war crimes legislation, only seven countries have adopted specific regulations implementing Article 8 of the Rome Statute or grave violations of international humanitarian law. The main problem persists in the fact that there has not been a significant implementation of Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Conventions as a complement to Article 8 of the Rome Statute. Also, regulation has focused on persons and property, leaving the criminalization of means and methods of warfare as well as the use of certain weapons behind.