Gamers as Potential (Virtual) War Criminals?????

[The Bread Guy]

WTF?  Two points:
1)  Not.  Enough.  To.  Do.
2)  It's.  A.  Game.

From a news release issued by a couple of human rights groups (a bit more info here):

Are war games free of rules?

Pro Juventute and TRIAL, the Swiss association for international criminal justice, have examined whether and to which extent international humanitarian law is respected in computer and video games. The result is as deflating as reality. The organisation calls upon game producers to consequently and creatively incorporate rules of international humanitarian law and human rights into their games.

In computer and video games, violence is often shown and the players become “virtually violent”. However, such games are not zones free of rules and ethics. It would be highly appreciated if games reproducing armed conflicts were to include the rules which apply to real armed conflicts. These rules and values are given by international humanitarian law and human rights law. They limit excessive violence and protect the human dignity of members of particularly vulnerable groups.

Violations of international law in computer and video games

Pro Juventute and TRIAL followed the indication that war games which are particularly close to reality are likely to include scenes in which players are enticed to violate international law, for instance by giving them the possibility to kill civilians or combatants who have been captured by the enemy without any sanctions. The two associations therefore examined about 20 computer and video games regarding their compliance with the universally accepted rules of the law applicable in armed conflicts.

Disillusioning results

The analysis shows that the rules of international humanitarian law are often not taken into consideration within the game design. This may not be surprising, as these computer and video games are not meant to serve as didactical tools to teach the rules of war, but rather to entertain their players. The practically complete absence of rules or sanctions is nevertheless astonishing: civilians or protected objects such as churches or mosques can be attacked with impunity, in scenes portraying interrogations it is possible to torture, degrade or treat the prisoner inhumanely without being sanctioned for it and extrajudicial executions are simulated. At least a few games punish the killing of civilians or reward strategies that aim to prevent excessive damage.

Recommendations

The latter games show that it is indeed possible to include rules of international humanitarian law and human rights in war games. It is regrettable that game producers hardly ever use this possibility to creatively incorporate the rules of international law or even representatives of such rules (such as the ICRC or the international criminal courts etc.) as specific elements in the course of the game. Pro Juventute and TRIAL call upon the producers of computer and video games to use their strong creativity and innovation for this purpose. It would mean a wasted opportunity if the virtual space transmitted the illusion of impunity for unlimited violence in armed conflicts ....

Full report here (PDF) and BBC's take here.

 

[vonGarvin]

WTF over?
I must turn myself in for being a war criminal, and even for being a plain old-fashioned criminal!  Not counting wargames such as Defcon (in which I receive 1 point per million civilian killed in a game of Global Thermonuclear War), in board games, such as The Third World War by The Games Designers' Workshop (GDW), I have initiated nuclear strikes many times over on such wonderful cities as Hamburg, Erfurt and even Berlin, Germany!  I have engaged in wars of aggression, taking the helm of the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe and Waffen-SS as I invaded the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.  I have crossed the Inter German Border as the commander of Warsaw Pact forces, striking cities with airstrikes, with little concern for civilian casualties.



Now....where do I turn myself in?

 

[Sonnyjim]

Simple Question....... Why?.......

 

[ettibebs]

Not to sure what to think of that...
If war game can make me a war criminal, what does carmaggedon made me?

Think it just another case of people with far to much time on their hands.

 

[Teflon]

WTF over?
I must turn myself in for being a war criminal, and even for being a plain old-fashioned criminal!  Not counting wargames such as Defcon (in which I receive 1 point per million civilian killed in a game of Global Thermonuclear War), in board games, such as The Third World War by The Games Designers' Workshop (GDW), I have initiated nuclear strikes many times over on such wonderful cities as Hamburg, Erfurt and even Berlin, Germany!  I have engaged in wars of aggression, taking the helm of the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe and Waffen-SS as I invaded the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.  I have crossed the Inter German Border as the commander of Warsaw Pact forces, striking cities with airstrikes, with little concern for civilian casualties.



Now....where do I turn myself in?

www.virtualwarcriminaltribuinal.com - They take away your internet access and force you to play hours and hours of "UN Peacekeeper - Stop or I'll say stop again!"

 

[Danjanou]

Oh crap and I was in a wargame tournament on the weekend. Now they'll be coming for me because I was aggresive in my play and I'm sure several pewter toy soldiers died horrible deaths...... I think I hear the Black helicopters now. :

 

[Harris]

It's the black helos you CAN'T hear that you have to watch out for.

 

[Michael OLeary]

Oh crap and I was in a wargame tournament on the weekend. Now they'll be coming for me because I was aggresive in my play and I'm sure several pewter toy soldiers died horrible deaths...... I think I hear the Black helicopters now. :

If captured, your online entity be sentenced to an indeterminate period of incarceration in SimCity Guantanamo.

 

[Danjanou]

But you'll send me a cyber soap on a rope won't you old buddy? 8)

(Harold and Kumar 2 was on cable last night  )

 

[medicineman]

Teflon - you owe the FDU(P) a new monitor.  Does this game have virtual ROE's to read through at the time you might get to charge your weapon or do you have a hard copy that fan folds out to the size of a King James Bible and reads as simplisticly?  Had a flashback to UNPROFOR days with the ROE from Hell printout...

MM

 

[OldSolduer]

Let me get this straight:

If I played Grand Theft Auto, I could be charged as a cop killer, drug dealer, pimp, car thief?

hmmmmm

 

[mariomike]

The computer games came along after my childhood. But, we all watched "Combat!" on TV with Vic Morrow. And we all had pellet guns and air rifles. Cowboys and Indians, Cops and Robbers, but mostly we played war games.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMqd5EQXD-g

 

[karl28]

At first  I thought this was a joke but I sadly think these folks might be for real LOL . Its a video game no one really dies it just bits of data sheesh people

 

[a_majoor]

Maybe Steve Staples can put his energies to productive use by writing the code for a "Peace Game".

How does this impact readers of alternate history? If I read a series where Germany wins or prolongs the war likeThe Man with the Iron Heart do I get tarred with the (reading about) war criminal brush? What about alternative history or wargames set before the Geneva and Hague conventions were written? What about Lord of the Rings? SF set in a universe where the Geneva and Hague conventions are no longer honoured?

These guys have created a niche with endless recursive loops to fall into. I say write them a letter of encouragement and let them devote their energies "productively" (and stay segregated from the "really real" world...).