Checking Video Games for War Crimes

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

It perhaps won’t come as a shock to learn that the violence in many of today’s most popular video games would be considered a violation of international humanitarian law, were the events depicted real. Two Swiss human rights organizations, Trial and Pro Juventute, decided to test 20 leading video games by playing them in the presence of human rights lawyers to assess actions that often include killing civilians and torturing captives. Among the worst offenders studied were 24, The Game; Army of Two; Call of Duty (4 and 5); Tom Clancy Splinter Cell Double Agent; and World in Conflict. The human rights groups found the “practically complete absence of rules or sanctions” to be “astonishing,” according to their report.

 
In Call of Duty 4 (Modern Warfare), if a player attacks a church, the mission is immediately considered a failure. However, if the same player attacks a mosque, there is no punishment.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
 

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