Associate Dean Milena Sterio Discusses War Crimes Trial

In a recent post on Jurist, Associate Dean Milena Sterio reports on a recent ruling by a Polish military court acquitting a group of Polish soldiers of war crimes charges stemming from the killing of six civilians in a village in Afghanistan. In August 2007, a group of Polish soldiers fired mortar shells into a wedding party in the eastern Afghan village of Nangar Khel. Eight civilians were killed, including the groom. The Polish military court found that there was not sufficient evidence of deliberate acts against the civilians to convict for war crimes. In analyzing the case, Dean Sterio examines the humanitarian law concepts of the principle of distinction and the principle of proportionality.

You can see more examples of Dean Sterio’s scholarship, which focuses on international law, on her SelectedWorks page.