1996 US Code
Title 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I - CRIMES
CHAPTER 118 - WAR CRIMES
Sec. 2441 - War crimes

(a) Offense.—Whoever, whether inside or outside the United States, commits a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions, 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 breach 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) Definitions.—As used in this section, the term “grave breach of the Geneva Conventions” means conduct defined as a grave breach in any of the international conventions relating to the laws of warfare signed at Geneva 12 August 1949 or any protocol to any such convention, to which the United States is a party.

(Added Pub. L. 104–192, §2(a), Aug. 21, 1996, 110 Stat. 2104, §2401; renumbered §2441, Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, §605(p)(1), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3510.)

Section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, referred to in subsec. (b), is classified to section 1101 of Title 8, Aliens and Nationality.

1996—Pub. L. 104–294 renumbered section 2401 of this title as this section.

Section 1 of Pub. L. 104–192 provided that: “This Act [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘War Crimes Act of 1996’.”