10 War Criminals Who Faced Justice

War Criminals Who Faced Justice

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for 10 War Criminals Who Faced Justice.

For this list, we’ll be looking at the worst war criminals who were eventually caught and either imprisoned or executed.

What do you make of these stories? Let us know in the comments below!

Bosco Ntaganda

Hailing from Kiningi, Rwanda, Bosco Ntaganda once led the National Congress for the Defense of the People. An armed militia found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the National Congress fought the state military in the Kivu conflict. Known as The Terminator, Ntaganda conscripted young children and pre-teens into the conflict, which is considered a war crime under the International Criminal Court. He became wanted by the ICC and voluntarily surrendered in March of 2013. No official reason has been given for this decision. Regardless, Ntaganda was convicted of crimes against humanity in July 2019 and sentenced to thirty years in prison. As of 2023, this is the lengthiest sentence ever given by the ICC.

Radovan Karadžić

Much of this man’s activity has been confined to the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1990, Radovan Karadžić founded the Serb Democratic Party, a controversial political party involved in ultranationalism and Islamophobia. It is also currently under sanctions by the United States. Karadžić was also heavily involved in the Bosnian War, which was fought between the country’s military and a proto-state called Republika Srpska. Karadžić served as the 1st President of Republika Srpska and conducted various acts of genocide during the war. He was wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and became a fugitive. Karadžić was working under an alias in Belgrade when he was arrested in 2008, and he is now serving life in prison.

Klaus Barbie

Known as The Butcher of Lyon, Klaus Barbie was a Nazi stationed in occupied France. He worked as the local head of the Gestapo, which was the secret police of Nazi Germany created by Hermann Göring. Barbie often tormented prisoners of war and caused the deaths of up to 14,000 people. The United States Intelligence Community greatly offended France when they hired Barbie to work for the Counterintelligence Corps suppressing communism in Europe. They also helped him flee to Bolivia, where he worked closely with the country’s dictatorial regime and continued his violently coercive methods. He wasn’t arrested until 1983 but was eventually sentenced to life in prison and died of cancer in 1991.

Slobodan Milošević

Born in German-occupied Serbia in 1941, Slobodan Milošević showed promise as an intelligent leader. He studied law, advised the mayor of Belgrade, and eventually went into politics. But it’s here that things get dicey. Milošević rose to power throughout the late ‘80s and ran the anti-bureaucratic revolution of Yugoslavia. He successfully overthrew the government and became President of Serbia in 1991. Milošević became heavily involved in various skirmishes, including the Bosnian and Kosovo Wars. During this time, he helped enact ethnic cleansing against local Croats, Bosniaks, and Albanians. He was arrested in 2001 and charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. However, he died of a heart attack before he could be sentenced.

Jean Kambanda

The Rwandan genocide began on April 7, 1994. For just over three months, armed Hutu militias massacred the local Tutsi population, resulting in up to 800,000 deaths. As the genocide lasted for about one hundred days, this is an average of 8,000 deaths per day. During this time, Rwanda was led by Jean Kambanda, who was serving as the fifth Prime Minister of the country. He fled Rwanda in July of 1994 and was arrested three years later. He was accused of distributing weapons for the purpose of killing civilians and charged with a number of serious war crimes, including genocide and crimes against humanity. He pled guilty and was convicted, resulting in a life sentence in Mali’s Koulikoro Prison.

Ratko Mladić

We return to the Bosnian War for the story of Ratko Mladić. Born in the Independent State of Croatia, Mladić worked for the Army of Republika Srpska during the Bosnian War, serving as Chief of the General Staff. Many experts believe that Mladić was personally responsible for both the Srebrenica massacre and the Siege of Sarajevo, which combined for over 22,000 deaths. He was issued an international arrest warrant following the Bosnian War but remained a free man for over fifteen years. Mladić was finally arrested in 2011 and convicted of various war crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity, and violating the customs of war. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Tomoyuki Yamashita

This Japanese military leader was paramount in the Pacific Theater of World War II, serving important roles both in the Malayan campaign and the Fall of Singapore. He later fought against Allied forces while working as Military Governor of Japan to the Philippines. It was here that the soldiers under Yamashita committed various atrocities, leading to his historic trial following the war. Now known as the Yamashita standard, the Military Governor was hit with the legal doctrine of command responsibility. This doctrine claims that military leaders are lawfully responsible for the crimes of their subordinates. He was convicted of the transgressions and hanged on February 23, 1946.

Saddam Hussein

Back in 1968, Saddam Hussein helped overthrow the First Iraqi Republic, placing his Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in control and establishing Ba'athist Iraq. He then served as the country’s fifth President between 1979 and 2003. Some experts have argued that his rule was totalitarian, and he was responsible for countless human rights abuses. This includes ethnic cleansing, terrorism, and chemical warfare, resulting in at least 250,000 deaths. These crimes against humanity led to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, resulting in Saddam’s capture and the dissolution of his Ba'ath Party. He was found guilty of perpetrating the Dujail Massacre of 1982 and was hanged on December 30, 2006.

Charles Taylor

Responsible for the First Liberian Civil War, Charles Taylor once worked for Liberian President Samuel Doe before overthrowing him with his National Patriotic Front. Doe was executed and Taylor ran Liberia between 1997 and 2003. He was also heavily involved in the Sierra Leone Civil War, and it was during this time that he committed various crimes against humanity. Taylor resigned in 2003 and fled into exile. He was captured on March 29, 2006, when his Range Rover was stopped by border guards in Nigeria. Presiding Judge Richard Lussick claimed that Taylor was responsible for “some of the most heinous and brutal crimes in recorded human history” and sentenced him to fifty years in prison.

The Nuremberg Trials

Nazi Germany answered for its horrible crimes during the historic Nuremberg Trials, which lasted nearly one year between November 1945 and October 1946. A total of six German organizations and 24 high-ranking Nazis were tried by the International Military Tribunal. Included in the list were Nazi Party Secretary Martin Bormann and Hitler's designated successor, Hermann Göring. Three were acquitted and two were met with no decision. Everyone else was punished, with sentences ranging from 10 years to death. Of the nineteen defendants found guilty, twelve received death sentences. Bormann was convicted in absentia, and Göring took his own life. The ten remaining defendants were collectively executed on October 16, 1946. Other Nazis were also executed, including Holocaust organizer Adolf Eichmann, who died in 1962.