As Russia heads for potential date with The Hague, Here are some countries that faced trial for war crimes

The International Criminal Court has clear-cut definitions for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

Violating Geneva Conventions, targeting civilian populations or specific groups of people could be potential  war crimes.

"The law is clear on this, it is a crime to intentionally target civilians, it is a crime to intentionally target civilian objects," Karim Khan, the ICC's chief prosecutor, told CNN after Bucha carnage.

In the past, there have been other instances of war crimes where trials were held against the accused. Here’s a look at the most recent war crime trials in the world history.

Ethiopia is at war to oust Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, a rebel organisation, from its stronghold in the northern region of Tigray in Ethiopia. The civil war has left thousands dead and forced more than two million people out of their homes.

Lawyers representing Tigrayan civilians have filed a complaint with the African Union’s human rights commission. They have appealed for an investigation into the conduct of Ethiopian troops in the war with the northern region’s rebel forces. The alleged violations can amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.

A conflict erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict accompanied heavy use of missiles, drones, and rocket artillery.

Armenia initiated proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations that settles legal disputes between states.

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of violations of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, committed during the war.

There is evidence that civilians were killed on both the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides, which when proven will amount to war crimes.

The Kosovo War displaced almost 90 percent of the population in the regions involved in the conflict between Serbs and Albanians. The brutality of the war is largely documented.

In 2021, the trials involving the former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters accused of war crimes and witness intimidation opened at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers.

A peaceful uprising against the then Syrian president turned into a full-scale civil war in 2011. The conflict has left over half a million people dead. Civilians were forced to leave the country amid large-scale destruction of the cities.

International organizations have accused the Syrian government, ISIL and others of severe human rights violations.

In a landmark judgment, a German court sentenced a Syrian colonel to life in prison for crimes against humanity.  The accused, Anwar Raslan, who sought asylum in Germany in 2019, denied the charges.  But many people who got asylum in the country gave evidence that he was linked to the torture of over 4,000 people in Syria’s civil war in a jail known as "Hell on Earth". The trial in Koblenz is the first criminal case brought over state-led torture in Syria as per a BBC report.

A civil war broke out in Sri Lanka in 1983 over discrimination against Tamils by the Sinhala community. The civil war was fought over 26 years between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Recently, the United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has been authorised to collect and preserve evidence of alleged war crimes during Sri Lanka's long civil war. The UN believes 80,000-100,000 people died in the 26-year-long conflict. Both the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels are accused of atrocities and war crimes.

In May 2021, Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups carried out attacks in the Gaza Strip. According to the Human Rights Watch, Israel had violated the laws of war that can amount to war crimes. A formal investigation has been opened by the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories.

A conflict broke out in Sudan when rebels launched an insurrection protest to contend the Sudanese government’s disregard for the western region and its non-Arab population. In response, the government supported Arab militias (Janjaweed, also Jingaweit or Janjawid) to fight against the rebels in Darfur. However, the militia also terrorized the civilians in the region and prevented international aid organizations from delivering food and medical supplies. The humanitarian crisis left hundreds of thousands of people dead and more than two million displaced.

The first trial for atrocities committed in Darfur opened at the International Criminal Court (ICC). A suspected former leader of the pro-government militia has been charged with 31 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.