text: Chapter 8
  flexibility in prosecuting individuals for crimes committed on the battlefield and in occupied territories.
  Courts-martial can be (and often are) convened outside the territorial limits of the United States by employing
  military judges and other qualified military personnel who can handle cases in austere environments.
  8-42. Long-standing U.S. practice is to charge war crimes as offenses under the UCMJ rather than as separate
  “war crimes” offenses. Offenses under the UCMJ that could be used to punish conduct that violated LOAC
  include, but are not limited to:
  * Article 81 (10 U.S.C. § 881), Conspiracy;
  * Article 93 (10 U.S.C. § 893), Cruelty and maltreatment;
  * Article 108 (10 U.S.C. § 908), Military Property of United States – loss, damage, destruction, or
  wrongful disposition;
  * Article 108a (10 U.S.C. § 908a), Captured or abandoned property;
  * Article 109 (10 U.S.C. § 909), Property other than military property of United States – waste,
  spoilage, or destruction;
  * Article 118 (10 U.S.C. § 918), Murder;
  * Article 119 (10 U.S.C. § 919), Manslaughter;
  * Article 119a (10 U.S.C. § 919a), Death or injury of an unborn child;
  * Article 120 (10 U.S.C. § 920), Rape and sexual assault generally (including Forcible Sodomy);
  * Article 120b (10 U.S.C. § 920b), Rape and sexual assault of a child;
  * Article 120c (10 U.S.C. § 920c), Other sexual misconduct;
  * Article 125 (10 U.S.C. § 925), Kidnapping;
  * Article 126 (10 U.S.C. § 926), Arson;
  * Article 128 (10 U.S.C. § 928), Assault;
  * Article 128a (10 U.S.C. § 928a), Maiming; and
  * Article 130 (10 U.S.C. § 920), Stalking.
  8-43. Conduct that violates LOAC can also be charged using the UCMJ’s provision against disobedience of
  lawful orders or general regulations (UCMJ art. 92; 10 U.S.C. § 892), as well as under the UCMJ’s general
  prohibition against conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline in the Armed Forces (UCMJ art. 134; 10
  U.S.C. § 934).
  Other Federal Crimes
  8-44. Prosecutions can also occur under U.S. domestic law for certain violations of LOAC. For example, the
  War Crimes Act authorizes the prosecution of individuals for certain war crimes, whether such crimes are
  committed inside or outside the United States, if the victim or the perpetrator is either a U.S. national or a
  member of the U.S. Armed Forces (18 U.S.C. § 2441). Under this law, war crimes means any conduct:
  * Defined as a grave breach of any of the 1949 Geneva Conventions or any protocol to one of those
  conventions to which the United States is a party (currently only AP III);
  * Violations of certain listed articles of the Hague Regulations;
  * Which constitutes a grave breaches of Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions as
  more specifically defined in the War Crimes Act; and
  * In relation to an armed conflict and contrary to the provisions the Protocol on Prohibitions or
  Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices (CCW Amended Protocol II),
  when a person willfully kills or causes serious injury to civilians.
  8-45. While an individual could be charged with a war crime in a court-martial under article 18, UCMJ, it is
  difficult (especially in recent conflicts) to define the jurisdictional element of the type of conflict and the
  substantive crimes under international law. In addition, the wide range of offenses that can be charged under
  the UCMJ make it unnecessary to use this provision for that purpose, and also charging under this provision
  may be precluded under the Preemption Doctrine as set forth in the Manual for Courts-Martial United States,
  Part IV, paragraph 91.c(5)(a). Finally, the War Crimes Act is available to prosecute individuals in U.S.
  Federal Court in the alternative (upon agreement between the DOD and the DOJ) and also addresses those
  who are not subject to the UCMJ but otherwise fall within the jurisdiction of the War Crimes Act.