Superior Criminal Responsibility for Violations of Human Rights and Humanitarian Rules and Regulations of the US Forces in the Occupation of Iraq

The main purpose of the doctrine of superior criminal responsibility for inhuman treatment by the military and civilian-led forces in international criminal law is to ensure that they have adequate controls to prevent crimes committed by troops under their command and in committal of crimes, they make suppression, punishment and prepare a report thereof. The theoretical basis of superior criminal responsibility, after all, is that they are in a position which makes them responsible for supervising the troops under their command. Hence, if the superiors are aware of the war crimes occuring in the area of their mission and commited by the troops under their control, and they fail to prevent or report it to the competent authorities or hesitate to take the necessary measures to prosecute and punish the offenders, they will have penal responsibility. This article contains a brief explanation of the formation of superior criminal responsibility under international law as well as its evolutive process in criminal courts. It also focuses on the fulfillment of this responsibility and briefly examines the violation of human rights and humanitarian law by US forces in occupied Iraq. It also confirms that on the basis of internationally accepted standards, military commanders and the US civilian superiors involved in the invasion of Iraq are held criminally responsible in relation to the crimes committed by their subordinate forces and the competent national and international courts should prosecute and punish them.