War crimes

Outside of my interests in violent crime in (relatively) peaceful societies, I also have some interest in flagrant and severe offenses committed during times of war. As of right now I'm largely fascinated with atrocities comitted by Japan in WWII, partly due to their sheer brutality, but also partly because unlike the Holocaust, these actions aren't as well known in the West.

Does anyone else here have an interest in these types of crimes? If so, talk about any that have caught your attention here.

I've been interested in the atrocities by committed by Mujahedeen forces during the Soviet-Afghan war, mainly because they are often referred to as "freedom fighters" and also how brutal they were. One case was leading up to the war where a vicious mob literally hacked a group of Soviet advisors and their families to death.

I recently watched this video from Biographics talking about how this Nazi diplomat for China who was caught up in the Rape of Nanjing who basically used the fact that he was a Nazi to actually save people from the advancing Japanese forces, it's good and interesting watch:


I'm also interested in the non-concentration camp related atrocities committed in Eastern Europe during WW2 mainly relating to the Einsatzgruppen death squads that were utilized early on before the Final Solution was finally decided upon. My local bookstore has a copy of Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning which I plan on buying soon.
There's also the Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a friend of mine once linked to be to a forum post on a website listing out all the methods of killing and torture used by the UPA.

There's a documentary out there called "1945: A Savage Peace" which is about the equally-mass murderous reprisals directed towards Ethnic Germans in Eastern Europe in the aftermath of WW2.

The other genocides and ethic cleansing I would also be interested in are the Bosnian and Rwandan genocides which just occurred within a year from each other and pointed out to everyone how bloody useless the UN is hence me giving me the alternative title of UGW; United Genocide Watchers.

I read up alot on My Lai and other massacres like committed during the Vietnam war by both sides. It's simultaneously quite shocking but also unsurprising that none of the soldiers behind the My Lai massacre never really spent a day in prison for it since it's no different than what happened in dozens of towns in Eastern Europe during WW2.

Unrelated to war crimes but anyone happen to hear about the Battle for Castle Itter, it was a pretty bizarre battle fought 20 days before the end of the European theatre of WW2 where the German Wehrmacht fought alongside the U.S Army, French prisoners of war and the local Austrian resistance against the S.S. A real-life occurrence of "teams being auto-balanced" and I like to see a film be made about it.

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

I recently watched this video from Biographics talking about how this Nazi diplomat for China who was caught up in the Rape of Nanjing who basically used the fact that he was a Nazi to actually save people from the advancing Japanese forces, it's good and interesting watch:

I've heard the tale before, but when it comes to the killings in Nanking I'm mostly concerned with testimony of victims and witnesses, due to the sheer brutality of the murders. This is for a variety of reasons, but chief among them is simple bafflement. To expand upon why I feel that way, the Japanese acts in Nanking wasn't the result of a specific order to raze the city or even a general order to murder the people of the region like the other major member of the Axis Powers was responsible for, but an almost spontaneous act that was by and large simply permitted by the Japanese government and military. While other war crimes like Unit 731, The Three Alls, or the systematic torture and murder of POWs were all sanctioned by the Japanese government, the bloodshed in the city was not. Essentially, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of relatively normal people engaged in one of history's greatest cruelties for its own sake.

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

There's also the Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a friend of mine once linked to be to a forum post on a website listing out all the methods of killing and torture used by the UPA.

If you could hunt that post down for me I'd much appreciate it.

That aside, I find some of the collaborators with the Nazi regime, especially those from Eastern Europe, to be interesting in a similar way to the Nanking killings, because allegedly tens of thousands of Jews were killed in massive pogroms perpetrated by locals instead of by the Waffen-SS or Wehrmact. Anti-Semitism runs pretty deep in Eastern Europe, so in truth such stories shouldn't be so surprising, but it's just odd to think that People would just act with such violence just because they got a good opportunity to do so.

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

The other genocides and ethic cleansing I would also be interested in are the Bosnian and Rwandan genocides which just occurred within a year from each other and pointed out to everyone how bloody useless the UN is hence me giving me the alternative title of UGW; United Genocide Watchers.

I remember in school when we were learning about the Bosnian genocide, we learned that a group of peacekeepers - Dutch I think - basically let the Serbs take as many of the Bosnians as they wanted and did nothing to stop their execution.

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

I read up alot on My Lai and other massacres like committed during the Vietnam war by both sides. It's simultaneously quite shocking but also unsurprising that none of the soldiers behind the My Lai massacre never really spent a day in prison for it since it's no different than what happened in dozens of towns in Eastern Europe during WW2.

I noticed real quick that the war crimes in Vietnam isn't something that any history textbook I read taught. It's a little bit jarring considering that practically every film about Vietnam has a scene with a blatant war crime.

QuestionMark wrote:

I've heard the tale before, but when it comes to the killings in Nanking I'm mostly concerned with testimony of victims and witnesses

It's still an interesting story nonetheless

QuestionMark wrote:

If you could hunt that post down for me I'd much appreciate it.

Here you go:
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QuestionMark wrote:

That aside, I find some of the collaborators with the Nazi regime, especially those from Eastern Europe, to be interesting in a similar way to the Nanking killings, because allegedly tens of thousands of Jews were killed in massive pogroms perpetrated by locals instead of by the Waffen-SS or Wehrmact. Anti-Semitism runs pretty deep in Eastern Europe, so in truth such stories shouldn't be so surprising, but it's just odd to think that People would just act with such violence just because they got a good opportunity to do so.

I remember hearing about a story about some random yugoslavian guy who used a crowbar to kill some Jewish people in a pogrom and would occasionally play the accordion awhile doing so. real fucked up shit.

QuestionMark wrote:

I noticed real quick that the war crimes in Vietnam isn't something that any history textbook I read taught. It's a little bit jarring considering that practically every film about Vietnam has a scene with a blatant war crime.

My Lai would show up in our history books over alongside stuff like Agent Orange etc, yet the execution photo of Nguyễn Văn Lém is always misinterpreted and hijacked by the anti-war movement for all the wrong reasons as the person being executed in that photo was just captured after massacring an entire family of a South Vietnamese captain.

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

QuestionMark wrote:

I've heard the tale before, but when it comes to the killings in Nanking I'm mostly concerned with testimony of victims and witnesses

It's still an interesting story nonetheless

I agree, it's just one I've already heard.

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

QuestionMark wrote:

If you could hunt that post down for me I'd much appreciate it.

Here you go:
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Nice, thanks!

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

QuestionMark wrote:

That aside, I find some of the collaborators with the Nazi regime, especially those from Eastern Europe, to be interesting in a similar way to the Nanking killings, because allegedly tens of thousands of Jews were killed in massive pogroms perpetrated by locals instead of by the Waffen-SS or Wehrmact. Anti-Semitism runs pretty deep in Eastern Europe, so in truth such stories shouldn't be so surprising, but it's just odd to think that People would just act with such violence just because they got a good opportunity to do so.

I remember hearing about a story about some random yugoslavian guy who used a crowbar to kill some Jewish people in a pogrom and would occasionally play the accordion awhile doing so. real fucked up shit.

Doesn't surprise me too much. I remember reading somewhere that even the Nazis were shocked by the brutality and eagerness of the Ustashe. Everyone hates everyone in Yugoslavia.  

UncontinuedProcess wrote:

QuestionMark wrote:

I noticed real quick that the war crimes in Vietnam isn't something that any history textbook I read taught. It's a little bit jarring considering that practically every film about Vietnam has a scene with a blatant war crime.

My Lai would show up in our history books over alongside stuff like Agent Orange etc, yet the execution photo of Nguyễn Văn Lém is always misinterpreted and hijacked by the anti-war movement for all the wrong reasons as the person being executed in that photo was just captured after massacring an entire family of a South Vietnamese captain.    

I'm a little surprised. They didn't teach things that were that graphic at my school.

Speaking of unknown war crimes, has anyone heard of the Bodo League Massacre?

Tommy QTR wrote:

Speaking of unknown war crimes, has anyone heard of the Bodo League Massacre?

I'm afraid not. A quick Google search and Wikipedia page says that it was a massacre against communists, communist sympathizers, and people who were at the wrong place at the wrong time during the Korean War. When it comes to war crimes committed in Korea my mind first jumps to the Sinchon Massacre, due to its appearances in North Korean propaganda, and the widespread use of torture against American POWs.

QuestionMark wrote:

Tommy QTR wrote:

Speaking of unknown war crimes, has anyone heard of the Bodo League Massacre?

I'm afraid not. A quick Google search and Wikipedia page says that it was a massacre against communists, communist sympathizers, and people who were at the wrong place at the wrong time during the Korean War. When it comes to war crimes committed in Korea my mind first jumps to the Sinchon Massacre, due to its appearances in North Korean propaganda, and the widespread use of torture against American POWs.

Yeah it was reportedly one of the worst massacres carried out against civilians during the Korean war, it was also covered up, denied and blamed on communists by the dictatorship of South Korea until recently.

Two days until the anniversary of the Khmer Rogue's rise to power, so it's only fitting that I stumbled across this article describing atrocities committed during the Cambodian genocide.

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Quote :

Khmer Rouge security officials used acid and pliers to torture inmates and disemboweled a detainee and consumed her organs, according to witness testimony given in Phnom Penh this week.
On Monday, former prisoner Keo Chandara told the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) — a tribunal created to investigate the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge — that guards used pliers and acid to torture female detainees incarcerated at the Kraing Tachan security center.
According to his testimony, prison guards at the facility would use the pliers to lacerate the inmates before pouring acid into the wounds. If the detainees passed out due to the excessive pain, the overseers would then use water to revive them.
“About 10 prisoners who were ordered to sit and watch the torture,” said Keo Chandara, reports the Cambodia Daily.
During one particularly gruesome episode, Keo Chandara said the guards hanged one prisoner by a hook through her mouth and then cut out her heart, gall bladder and liver after she was unable to answer questions during an interrogation session.
“One of them asked that the liver be fried and the gall bladder kept for him,” Keo Chandara told the court, according to the broadcaster Voice of America.
The Chinese-backed cadres took the extremities of central planning to new heights during their reign over the kingdom from 1975 to 1979. Cities were evacuated, intellectuals and members of the middle class were executed and currency abolished as the communists launched their ill-fated collectivist reforms that led to mass starvation and wanton savagery.
Approximately 1.7 million people — a quarter of the national population — are believed to have died under Khmer Rouge rule.
Vietnamese forces eventually dislodged the Khmer Rouge from power in 1979; however, guerrilla bands loyal to the outfit continued to battle the central government into the late 1990s.
The ECCC is currently investigating genocide charges against two of the Khmer Rouge’s last surviving top cadres, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, who were sentenced to life in prison for committing crimes against humanity last year.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I was going to make a post pertaining to the Khmer Rouge but was worried that it wouldn't fall under the category of a war crime since it occurred mostly in between two separate wars.
Hell, I saved it on my computer to post:
This was more of a crime against humanity that took place in the aftermath of the Cambodian Civil War and lasted until the Vietnamese invaded and freed the prisoners, but I felt the need to include it anyway because of its extreme brutality:
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NSAhoneypot wrote:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I was going to make a post pertaining to the Khmer Rouge but was worried that it wouldn't fall under the category of a war crime since it occurred mostly in between two separate wars.

That's fine, really the only reason I didn't label this thread as "crimes against humanity" is because "war crimes" just sounded better (and of course, most crimes against humanity have happened during or as the result of war, so it felt almost pointless).

Tommy QTR wrote:

I've been interested in the atrocities by committed by Mujahedeen forces during the Soviet-Afghan war, mainly because they are often referred to as "freedom fighters" and also how brutal they were. One case was leading up to the war where a vicious mob literally hacked a group of Soviet advisors and their families to death.

Well yeah, they are freedom fighters. They were fighting for their freedom. Maybe you shouldn't start a war if you don't want violence against your people?

InsaneIntruder wrote:

Tommy QTR wrote:

I've been interested in the atrocities by committed by Mujahedeen forces during the Soviet-Afghan war, mainly because they are often referred to as "freedom fighters" and also how brutal they were. One case was leading up to the war where a vicious mob literally hacked a group of Soviet advisors and their families to death.

Well yeah, they are freedom fighters. They were fighting for their freedom. Maybe you shouldn't start a war if you don't want violence against your people?

Oh yeah because the people of Afghanistan have such freedom now right? The Mujahedeen will always be known as the scum who destroyed Afghanistan and made it into the shithole it is today, how they ruined the chance of a modern, secular Afghanistan into a backwards hotbed for Islamic extremism. Oh and by the way, the Soviets didn't start the war, it was the bandits you call "freedom fighters" (backed by America) that started it by attacking and killing civilians, and the Soviet Union had the permission from the Afghan government to intervene and stop the terrorist threat.

Tommy QTR wrote:

Oh and by the way, the Soviets didn't start the war, it was the bandits you call "freedom fighters" (backed by America) that started it by attacking and killing civilians, and the Soviet Union had the permission from the Afghan government to intervene and stop the terrorist threat.

Erm, devil's advocate here because I hate Islamic extremists as much as the next guy, but yes, it was the communists who started the war, because, you know, they violently overthrew the previous government and quickly made things a lot worse for the people of Afghanistan.

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QuestionMark wrote:

Tommy QTR wrote:

Oh and by the way, the Soviets didn't start the war, it was the bandits you call "freedom fighters" (backed by America) that started it by attacking and killing civilians, and the Soviet Union had the permission from the Afghan government to intervene and stop the terrorist threat.

Erm, devil's advocate here because I hate Islamic extremists as much as the next guy, but yes, it was the communists who started the war, because, you know, they violently overthrew the previous government and quickly made things a lot worse for the people of Afghanistan.

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Yes that's true there was a revolution, but it was the reforms that the government brought (such as equal rights for women, giving land to the peasants) that angered the Islamic extremists and also the American government who saw it as a "threat to national interests".

Even in this American documentary they admit it:

Tommy QTR wrote:

InsaneIntruder wrote:

Tommy QTR wrote:

I've been interested in the atrocities by committed by Mujahedeen forces during the Soviet-Afghan war, mainly because they are often referred to as "freedom fighters" and also how brutal they were. One case was leading up to the war where a vicious mob literally hacked a group of Soviet advisors and their families to death.

Well yeah, they are freedom fighters. They were fighting for their freedom. Maybe you shouldn't start a war if you don't want violence against your people?

Oh yeah because the people of Afghanistan have such freedom now right? The Mujahedeen will always be known as the scum who destroyed Afghanistan and made it into the shithole it is today, how they ruined the chance of a modern, secular Afghanistan into a backwards hotbed for Islamic extremism. Oh and by the way, the Soviets didn't start the war, it was the bandits you call "freedom fighters" (backed by America) that started it by attacking and killing civilians, and the Soviet Union had the permission from the Afghan government to intervene and stop the terrorist threat.

Afghanistan was doing relatively alright for itself, at peace at least, under Mujahideen control. Until America invaded, and now it's a mess. And didn't the Soviets overthrow the Afghani president and replace him with a pro-Soviet one?

InsaneIntruder wrote:

Tommy QTR wrote:

InsaneIntruder wrote:

Tommy QTR wrote:

I've been interested in the atrocities by committed by Mujahedeen forces during the Soviet-Afghan war, mainly because they are often referred to as "freedom fighters" and also how brutal they were. One case was leading up to the war where a vicious mob literally hacked a group of Soviet advisors and their families to death.

Well yeah, they are freedom fighters. They were fighting for their freedom. Maybe you shouldn't start a war if you don't want violence against your people?

Oh yeah because the people of Afghanistan have such freedom now right? The Mujahedeen will always be known as the scum who destroyed Afghanistan and made it into the shithole it is today, how they ruined the chance of a modern, secular Afghanistan into a backwards hotbed for Islamic extremism. Oh and by the way, the Soviets didn't start the war, it was the bandits you call "freedom fighters" (backed by America) that started it by attacking and killing civilians, and the Soviet Union had the permission from the Afghan government to intervene and stop the terrorist threat.

Afghanistan was doing relatively alright for itself, at peace at least, under Mujahideen control. Until America invaded, and now it's a mess. And didn't the Soviets overthrow the Afghani president and replace him with a pro-Soviet one?

Are you sure about that? Also what freedom did Afghanistan have under the Taliban? And no what happened is that the Soviets and the Afghan president Nur Muhammad Taraki planned of getting rid of Hafizullah Amin (vice president) who was responsible for the killings against civilians; when Amin heard of this, he killed Taraki and declared himself the President and began to collude with the Americans. The Soviets who not only saw it as a threat to the Afghan revolution but thought America would use the country as a base to attack them. So the Soviets who were already requested to intervene did, they overthrow Amin and Babrak Karmal (leader of the moderate faction of the PDPA) was elected President.

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Only technically a war criminal, but I found this guy interesting for being quite possibly the only person in history to have personally killed tens of thousands of people.

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This is one of those rare times where a war criminal decided to keep killing people after the war was over. I'm actually a little surprised this kind of thing doesn't happen way more often.

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During a patrol in the Muslim Brotherhood (hardline Islamist group) dominated city of Hama, Syrian Arab Army suffers a few dozen dead.

In response, they surround the city with rocket artillery and tanks, and send Special Forces and regular army units in on foot and in vehicles. Anyone remaining in the city was considered a rebel. Around 3000 people were killed for being members of or supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.

The most interesting part to me was that the Islamists were known to be hiding in tunnels under the city, so Rifaat al-Assad (brother of then incumbent President Hafez al-Assad and commander of the "Defence Companies" special forces), had the special forces fill the tunnels with diesel, before setting them ablaze.

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The No Gun Ri massacre occurred on July 26–29, 1950, early in the Korean War, when an undetermined number of South Korean refugees were killed in a U.S. air attack and by small- and heavy-weapons fire of the 7th Cavalry Regiment at a railroad bridge near the village of Nogeun-ri, 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Seoul. In 2005, a South Korean government inquest certified the names of 163 dead or missing and 55 wounded, and added that many other victims' names were not reported. The South Korean government-funded No Gun Ri Peace Foundation estimated in 2011 that 250–300 were killed, mostly women and children.

[...]

By 2009, the commission's work of collating declassified U.S. military documents with survivors' accounts confirmed eight representative cases of what it found were wrongful U.S. killings of hundreds of South Korean civilians, including refugees crowded into a cave attacked with napalm bombs, and those at a shoreline refugee encampment deliberately shelled by a U.S. warship.
The commission alleged that the U.S. military repeatedly conducted indiscriminate attacks, failing to distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.

Korea is an oft overlooked war in American history. Events like these get hardly any coverage.

I have been intereted in the Rwandan Genocide and the Bosnian war, but mainly WW2 Europe. I'm fascinated by how seemingly normal societies can turn so violent and harsh.

The war that really pissed me off was the Iraq War that dumba** Bush got us in. We had no reason to be there. I have to say with Trump he doesn't like sending troops into unnecessary countries.

I'm still pissed about the 2000 election in the U.S., but that's another different story for another day. I will say this republicans successfully used the Monica Lewinsky scandal successfully against Bill and it hurt Gore.

bradt93 wrote:

The war that really pissed me off was the Iraq War that dumba** Bush got us in. We had no reason to be there. I have to say with Trump he doesn't like sending troops into unnecessary countries.

See also: Abeer Qassim Al-Janabi.

bradt93 wrote:

The war that really pissed me off was the Iraq War that dumba** Bush got us in. We had no reason to be there. I have to say with Trump he doesn't like sending troops into unnecessary countries.

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Don't hold your breath.

I doubt anyone has heard of this, but here's the El Mozote Massacre committed by the military dictatorship of El Salvador against unarmed innocent civilians, some of which were beheaded and then set on fire.

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Quote :

Other eyewitness reports further indicated that Ignatowski had been tortured in the cave by the Japanese for three days, during which time they also cut out his eyes, cut off his ears, smashed in his teeth and skull. He had several wounds to his stomach, which had been repeatedly stabbed with a bayonet. As a final insult, his genitalia had been severed and stuffed into his mouth.

Some real horror movie type shit here.

I recently read about the Kandahar Massacre, a filthy thing done recently by an American soldier. In a way he reminded me of Mattias Flink, a Swedish military man turned mass murderer. What do you think? Are they similar?

mrbaby56 wrote:

I recently read about the Kandahar Massacre, a filthy thing done recently by an American soldier. In a way he reminded me of Mattias Flink, a Swedish military man turned mass murderer. What do you think? Are they similar?

There's some similarities, yeah, but I think Bales' attack is more...noteworthy, I suppose, since his killing spree actively worsened tensions in the region and was conducted in an actual warzone.

These brothels made for concentration camp inmates to increase their productivity in WW2 always hit my brain.

The German camp brothels in World War II are something no "casual" person I have ever talked to about WW2 knows of. But maybe it is common knowledge outside of my bubble? I don't know.

However. People are aware of brothels used by occupying forces etc..
But the whole idea of creating a brothel for your enslaved prisoners in hope it'd make them more productive.. just blows my mind. To me, it's one of the best examples of how the Nazis managed to entirely dehumanize the people they imprisoned. They viewed and treated their prisoners like animals. And nothing more.

Just knowing someone probably went through that thought process.. "hey, how do we make them work harder? Hm.. maybe if we give them some kind of sexual pleasure".. jeez.

ExCentro wrote:

These brothels made for concentration camp inmates to increase their productivity in WW2 always hit my brain.

The German camp brothels in World War II are something no "casual" person I have ever talked to about WW2 knows of. But maybe it is common knowledge outside of my bubble? I don't know.

However. People are aware of brothels used by occupying forces etc..
But the whole idea of creating a brothel for your enslaved prisoners in hope it'd make them more productive.. just blows my mind. To me, it's one of the best examples of how the Nazis managed to entirely dehumanize the people they imprisoned. They viewed and treated their prisoners like animals. And nothing more.

Just knowing someone probably went through that thought process.. "hey, how do we make them work harder? Hm.. maybe if we give them some kind of sexual pleasure".. jeez.

The only reason I know about these brothel in World War 2 is because the band Joy Division is somewhat named after them.

ExCentro wrote:

These brothels made for concentration camp inmates to increase their productivity in WW2 always hit my brain.

The German camp brothels in World War II are something no "casual" person I have ever talked to about WW2 knows of. But maybe it is common knowledge outside of my bubble? I don't know.

However. People are aware of brothels used by occupying forces etc..
But the whole idea of creating a brothel for your enslaved prisoners in hope it'd make them more productive.. just blows my mind. To me, it's one of the best examples of how the Nazis managed to entirely dehumanize the people they imprisoned. They viewed and treated their prisoners like animals. And nothing more.

Just knowing someone probably went through that thought process.. "hey, how do we make them work harder? Hm.. maybe if we give them some kind of sexual pleasure".. jeez.

I've always been vaguely intrigued by the fact that the Nazis encouraged tall, handsome SS officers to mate with nubile young females. Then they gave the mothers generous welfare benefits. The goal was to produce more blond-haired, blue-eyed babies who would grow into strapping German soldiers and serve as ... cannon fodder, I guess.

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How did they convince the ladies to go along with the plan?

"All right, girls, listen up. All you have to do is open your legs, and Dolph Lundgren will do the rest. The goal is to have as many children as you can. The more kids you crap out, the more money you get. It's all for the glory of the Fatherland. Sound good?"

"Ja, that sounds great!"

The babies got screwed in the end, though. So yet another brilliant Nazi idea went kaput.

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"The town of Titatia was surrendered to us a few days ago, and two companies occupy the same. Last night one of our boys was found shot and his stomach cut open. Immediately orders were received from General Wheaton to burn the town and kill every native in sight; which was done to a finish. About 1,000 men, women and children were reported killed. I am probably growing hard-hearted, for I am in my glory when I can sight my gun on some dark skin and pull the trigger."

Anyone know if there were nazi soldiers who went on shooting rampages?

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The incident on Hill 192 refers to the kidnap, gang rape and murder of Phan Thi Mao, a young Vietnamese woman on November 19, 1966 by an American squad during the Vietnam War.

I find this particular crime to be interesting, because there are two different movies made about the event (one of which placed Michael J Fox, aka the kid in Back to the Future, as the protagonist), and because the soldier who committed the actual killing received a reduced sentence for the crime and later wound up in court again, years later, as an accessory to a completely different homicide.

I am very interested lately in what happened in Bosnia, in Srebrenica especially. As someone from The Netherlands I should informed about this since it was the Dutchbat that were supposed to protect those people (there's still trials going on about it to this day, a big one happened last month) but I must admit I knew next to nothing about it until I met someone who survived it all. I used to help vulnerable people with their administration/finances and this Bosnian man who fled the war told me about it.
In my defense, the worst happened in 1995 and I was born in 1994, but I still feel pretty bad about being ignorant about such awful atrocities.

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A brief summary of Italian war crimes in WWII and the various wars prior to it.

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And some more recent articles about alleged Italian atrocities during peacekeeping missions in Somalia. Some things never change.

(Some of these descriptions are NSFW, be careful if you are squeamish)

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April 6, 1994 - Habyarimana and neighboring Burundi President Cyprien Ntaryamira were killed in a rocket attack on their plane.

-- The next day presidential guards killed moderate Hutu Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiwimana who had tried to calm tensions.

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The machete was a commonly owned tool in Rwanda because of its practical agricultural applications. In an effort to prepare for the genocide, agricultural tools such as the machete were imported into Rwanda in numbers that “greatly exceeded Rwanda’s agricultural needs.” (McNulty, 107) During the conflict the Hutu and the Interhamwe, wanted to mobilize as many members as possible and increase their strength through numbers. By distributing a common weapon, one that many people already had access to, the Hutu forces were able to organize a specific method of killing in which the majority of Hutu people could participate.

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Rape in the Rwandan genocide was particularly sadistic at times. It was said that "Tutsi women were raped after they had witnessed the torture and killings of their relatives and the destruction and looting of their homes. According to witnesses, many women were killed immediately after being raped. Other women managed to survive, only to be told that they were being allowed to live so that they would 'die of sadness'". The public nature of the rapes-women were left splayed on public roads after rape, often with mutilated genitalia; the women were raped out in the open more often than in their homes.

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As rape was used as a weapon of war and of humiliation, even pre-pubescent children were raped, tortured, traumatized, insulted and terrorized. They witnessed the most horrible things, such as their fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters raped and killed before their eyes. Some of these children even had their sexual organs mutilated. They ran for distances that were too long, and then walked even at night to try and escape death. As well as killings, torture and humiliation, some children were captured and reduced to slavery by militiamen, foreigners, families who took them in and even members of their own family.

The genocide memorial at Ntarama (former church of Ntarama, east of Kigali) is among those that still recall the horror inflicted on children. On one of the walls of the memorial, one metre above the ground, a large, indelible red stain still holds the blood of the children whose heads were smashed against the wall.

I'm very bad in researching war crimes, even though those that happened in my country. But, I would say the Bosnian War and Carlos Machado de Bittencourt's crimes are somewhat repugnant to read.

If you don't know who de Bittencourt is, he was a War Minister who committed murder and atrocities against prisoners of the Canudos War, including women and children and people who surrendered with white flags. Some men were beheaded. De Bittencourt would later be killed in an attack against president Prudente de Morais, by an military member called Marcelino Bispo de Mello.

Source: De Bittencourt's Wikipedia page (in Portuguese)

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All accounts from the now finished Afghanistan War on special forces soldiers of various nationalities killing unarmed civilians in nighttime raids.

There's one

Iraq War - Wikipedia

The Croatian genocide against Serbs is brought up in this thread a few times and it's something I'm really interested in. It's weird how primal and sadistic all the violence is compared to the Germans industrialised killings. I wonder if it could've partly been from a fear of wasting ammunition? That's where alot of the Khmer Rogues brutality came from they wanted to conserve ammo so instead of shooting people in the killing fields they'd just club them to death. The Khmer Rogue isn't really that shocking to me because there asian they don't have souls of course they're gonna do that shit. The only thing that's stuck with me pertaining to the Cambodian genocides was a description of a guy being buried up to his neck and then having a metal pot placed around his head and a camp fires lit around it. The metal heats up but it's to big to touch his skull so it just slowly cooks his head until he dies. Something similar happens in a Sade novel I think that's why it's stuck in my head I made the connection. Anyways back to the Ustaše. I think an interesting figure involved is Miroslav Filipović affectionately nicknamed "Brother Satan" (he was a priest or some shit I don't remember)
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He was the Chief Guard of Jasenovac and I read about how he'd throw infants into the air infront of there mothers and try land them on his knife (similar stuff was very famously done in Nanking).
"Friar Majstorović favored a mystical approach to the killings.... After he killed them, sat on a chair and said 'justice has been done'"
You can read alot about Jasenovac but accounts of concentration camps and shit are boring to me. Danzig Baldaev's picture book Tales From The Gulags is pretty interesting albeit sickening.
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That has nothing to do with the Jasenovac though but I guess it's about crimes against humanity. The massacres are alot more brutal and wanton imo. This is an account of the first one when the Ustaše had gained power
"The victims were forced to dig their own graves before being hacked to death with axes. Among the victims was the local Orthodox priest and his son. The former was made to recite prayers for the dying as his son was killed. The priest was then tortured, his hair and beard was pulled out, eyes gouged out before he was skinned alive."
The most famous massacre (which I've seen mentioned on this site before actually) was a competition between 3 (I think) Jasenovac guards to see who could kill the most people. Lieutenant Petar Brzica won with an OUTSTANDING encyclopedia dramatica topping highscore of 1,360 people killed with a sort of specialised agricultural knife thats become infamous in relation to the genocide.
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Except this is probably bullshit as he'd have killed a person every 30 seconds for 10 hours straight. The more realistic estimates are in the 600-800 region.