Red Cross: Gamers Safe From War Crimes Prosecution

(ASSOCIATED PRESS) GENEVA -- Gamers worried their actions on the virtual battlefield could land them at the Hague war crimes tribunal can relax.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says media reports that it is investigating whether the Geneva Conventions apply to video games are false.

The Swiss-based humanitarian group assured gamers Thursday that "serious violations of the laws of war can only be committed in real-life situations."

The ICRC says it is nevertheless interested in working with video game makers to promote a better understanding of international humanitarian law because some companies also develop war simulations for armed forces.

The group also trains armies in how to abide by the rules of war that forbid targeting civilians, medics and captured combatants.

Comments

[Lori Chaslot]

04:43 AM on 12/12/2011

Hehe - I'm just content keeping Middle Earth safe from orcs, goblins, and spiders (why do all MMO's have mass hoards of spiders?)

[omegas3]

05:54 PM on 12/10/2011

Whew! The last person I killed in call of duty got a well deserved tea bagging from me. Glad that isn't prosecutable

[Ossit]

04:37 PM on 12/10/2011

I think it's sick that people love to 'kill' people in video games thinking they're so darn wonderful. You get desensitized to war and killing. You begin to 'enjoy' it. You yell and scream about your hated 'enemy' the terrorist, yet you become one in a video game. Pathetic that people get their thrills off video game violence while they complain about 'real' violence.

[Eserve1]

08:53 PM on 12/09/2011

If it were true (hypothetically), would it have applied to fantasy and sci-fi games?

[Lori Chaslot]

04:51 AM on 12/12/2011

Would the sentient non-humans (e.g: orcs, goblins, etc) be classed "people"?

If so, I'd be in serious trouble considering all the gungans and ewoks I dispatched to level, get cash in Star Wars Galaxies. :)

[Eserve1]

05:58 AM on 12/12/2011

Same here. I guess we'd both be convected.
But in the Star Wars universe, I play light side or conflicted character's, ei. Revan, Kyle Katarn, generic Jedi. Except for Tie Fighter. And it could be argued that Tolken based some of his races on real group of people in history. Darn!

[cheechazteca]

07:34 PM on 12/09/2011

I don't have any of these games, but to even have that discussion about war crimes and games makes no sense at all.
Games are played at the Pentagon everyday about Global Atomic Warfare... what about that?
See, it is a ridiculous idea.

[heerox001]

06:04 PM on 12/09/2011

I do things in videogames that I can't do in real life. In real life I wouldn't kill the dragons.....I'd tame one for riding.

[Lori Chaslot]

04:45 AM on 12/12/2011

I agree. I think befriending a dragon would be the coolest thing ever. Such majestic, intelligent creatures

[PedroLeon]

02:10 PM on 12/09/2011

Simulated war in video games is a heckuva lot better than real life war.

[Ray Russelburg]

12:30 PM on 12/09/2011

If this had been real, I would be in serious trouble. When I play a first person shooter I almost always go for the head shot. Other times it's the leg shot (Kneecaps). Sometimes I even unload my entire magazine of ammo into a fallen body...........

[asantewa3]

12:26 PM on 12/09/2011

This is possibly the strangest concern I've ever heard. How blurred is the line between reality and the game universe that these people thought that they could get in trouble for committing war crimes on a non-living, unfeeling, image? Whoever was at the helm of this issue should be held for a psych eval.

[Katie Reynolds]

11:59 AM on 12/09/2011

Even if it did, they would have to go after the game makers. good luck with that.

[PCPrincess]

11:40 AM on 12/09/2011

I never had to worry anyways, since I'm usually defeating dragons, orcs, and zombies online, not military squads.

[dsh1007155]

11:17 AM on 12/09/2011

There are, at this moment, REAL countries killing REAL civilians and not a word. I guess video games are easier to "police".

[Melissa Steed]

11:13 AM on 12/09/2011

"The Parent Code" is not only old as dirt (or at least their original XBOX and original Halo game is), but it is completely stupid. Video games don't make teens criminals...

[Andy Shick]

10:37 AM on 12/09/2011

Phew, now I can play No Russian free of fear.

[Danilo-11]

10:36 AM on 12/09/2011

Puppet issue = Purpose, ridicule anybody that criticizes those games. How about talking about the psychological effects of these games on kids?