Official portrait of Pete Hegseth

Pete Hegseth

Secretary of Defense

Confirmed as Secretary of Defense in January 2025. Publicly declared "no quarter, no mercy" for Iran — a per se war crime under Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xii). Reversed the antipersonnel landmine ban, rescinded the humanitarian demining program, signed the cluster munitions purchase from Israel, dismantled the civilian harm mitigation program, and rebranded the Pentagon as the "Department of War."

Linked Incidents

15 Total incidents
9 War Crime / Crime Against Humanity
6 Serious Rights Violation
1 confirmed 7 probable 4 potential 3 enabling
Updated March 25, 2026 Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against Humanity Ongoing Reported record

Defense Secretary Hegseth Declares 'No Quarter, No Mercy' for Iran

The US Defense Secretary's public declaration that no quarter would be given to Iran constitutes a textbook war crime under Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xii), which criminalizes 'declaring that no quarter will be given.' This prohibition is among the oldest in the laws of war.

  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly declared there would be 'no quarter, no mercy' for Iran during the 2026 Iran war.
  • Declaring that no quarter will be given is explicitly listed as a war crime under Rome Statute Article 8(2)(b)(xii). It is a per se violation — the declaration itself is the crime, regardless of whether it is carried out.
Sources
6
Documents
1
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026 Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against Humanity Ongoing Reported record

Minab School Strike: US Tomahawk Cruise Missile Kills 175-180 Schoolgirls

A Tomahawk cruise missile struck a girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran, killing up to 180 schoolchildren in one of the deadliest single incidents of civilian harm in the 2026 Iran war. Investigations by the New York Times, CBC, NPR, and BBC Verify confirmed US responsibility.

  • A US Tomahawk cruise missile struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab, Hormozgan province, Iran, on February 28, 2026, killing between 175 and 180 people — mostly schoolgirls aged 7 to 12.
  • The school was 'triple-tapped' — struck three distinct times. Analysis showed missiles hit a nearby military base and the school but bypassed a medical clinic between them, indicating deliberate coordinate selection.
Sources
7
Documents
1
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026 Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against Humanity Ongoing Reported record

Sinking of IRIS Dena: USS Charlotte Torpedoes Iranian Frigate Off Sri Lanka

A US submarine torpedoed an Iranian frigate returning from a peaceful international naval event, killing 87 sailors. The failure to rescue shipwrecked sailors violates the Second Geneva Convention's obligation to search for and collect the shipwrecked after an engagement.

  • The USS Charlotte torpedoed the IRIS Dena approximately 19 nautical miles off Sri Lanka on March 4, 2026. The Iranian frigate was returning from India's International Fleet Review — a peaceful, internationally attended naval event.
  • Eighty-seven sailors were killed. The Sri Lanka Navy rescued 32 survivors.
Sources
5
Documents
1
Updates
0
Updated March 26, 2026 Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against Humanity Ongoing Reported record

Attacks on Iranian Healthcare Facilities: WHO Verifies 18 Strikes on Hospitals and Medical Infrastructure

A sustained pattern of strikes on Iranian hospitals, ambulances, and medical infrastructure has killed healthcare workers and forced the evacuation of six hospitals. The WHO has verified 18 attacks on health sites, documenting systematic damage to protected medical facilities including Gandhi Hospital and Iranian Red Crescent centers.

  • WHO has verified 18 attacks on healthcare facilities in Iran since the war began on February 28, 2026, with at least 8 medical workers killed and 55 wounded.
  • Six hospitals have been evacuated, 29 clinical facilities damaged, and 10 rendered inactive. Patients required evacuation from seven additional facilities.
Sources
11
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026 Foreign Policy & War
War Crime / Crime Against Humanity Ongoing Reported record

Trump Threats to Obliterate Iran's Civilian Power Infrastructure

Trump's explicit threat to destroy Iran's civilian power infrastructure constitutes a per se violation of international humanitarian law. Combined with the broader war's toll of 5,900+ killed including 595 civilians, this represents a confirmed war crime classification for threatening attacks on civilian objects.

  • Trump explicitly threatened to 'obliterate' Iran's power plants, which Amnesty International assessed as a 'threat to commit war crimes' -- intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure is a per se violation of IHL.
  • As of March 21, 2026, the Iran war has killed at least 5,900 people including 595 documented civilians, according to the Hengaw Documentation Center.
Sources
7
Documents
3
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026 Military Overreach
War Crime / Crime Against Humanity Ongoing Reported record

Iran War: Crime of Aggression — War Launched Without Congressional Authorization

The United States launched a major war against Iran without congressional authorization, without a UN Security Council mandate, and while diplomatic channels remained open. Legal experts, the Brennan Center, and international law scholars have characterized the strikes as unconstitutional and as potentially meeting the definition of a crime of aggression — what the Nuremberg Tribunal called 'the supreme international crime.'

  • On February 28, 2026, the US and Israel launched nearly 900 airstrikes in 12 hours against Iran under 'Operation Epic Fury,' killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, IRGC Commander Mohammad Pakpour, and dozens of other officials.
  • Approximately 170 civilians were killed when a missile struck a girls' school adjacent to a naval base in Minab, near Bandar Abbas.
Sources
9
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 26, 2026 Foreign Policy & War
Serious Rights Violation Ongoing Reported record

Hegseth Reverses US Landmine Ban, Rescinds $5B+ Humanitarian Demining Program

The Trump administration reversed decades of bipartisan progress toward eliminating antipersonnel landmines by authorizing their global use and simultaneously dismantling the US humanitarian demining program that had been the world's largest mine-clearing effort.

  • Defense Secretary Hegseth signed a memo on December 2, 2025, reversing the Biden-era policy that prohibited US use of antipersonnel landmines outside the Korean Peninsula, allowing combatant commanders to deploy landmines anywhere without geographic restriction.
  • The same memo rescinded the US Humanitarian Mine Program, a decades-long government initiative that had provided over $5 billion in assistance to more than 125 countries to find and destroy unexploded landmines since 1993.
Sources
6
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 26, 2026 Foreign Policy & War
Serious Rights Violation Ongoing Reported record

Pentagon Signs $210M+ Deal to Purchase Cluster Munitions From Israel

The US contracted with an Israeli state-owned arms manufacturer for banned cluster munitions at industrial scale, reversing decades of declining reliance on these weapons and funding an Israeli weapons program while cluster munitions continue to kill and maim civilians worldwide.

  • On September 30, 2025, the Pentagon awarded an indefinite delivery/quantity contract with a ceiling value of $829.1 million to Tomer, an Israeli state-owned company, for the manufacture and production of the 155mm XM1208 cluster munition shell. The initial order was valued at $210 million.
  • The contract was awarded without public competition under a 'public interest' exception to federal contracting law, bypassing normal procurement safeguards.
Sources
6
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026 Foreign Policy & War
Serious Rights Violation Ongoing Official executive action

Dismantlement of Pentagon Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Program

The Pentagon's civilian casualty prevention infrastructure was gutted in early 2025, removing safeguards that existed specifically to prevent the kinds of civilian harm documented in the administration's subsequent military operations.

  • The CHMR program and its Civilian Protection Center of Excellence were tagged for elimination by February 2025.
  • Approximately 200 personnel assigned to civilian harm mitigation were affected.
Sources
7
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026 Extrajudicial Killing
War Crime / Crime Against Humanity Ongoing Reported record

Operation Southern Spear: Lethal Drone Strikes on Caribbean and Pacific Drug Boats

A sustained campaign of Hellfire missile strikes on suspected drug boats has killed at least 95 people without due process, public evidence of drug trafficking, or identification of the dead. Legal experts widely classify these as extrajudicial killings and crimes against humanity.

  • At least 95 people killed in 26+ Hellfire missile strikes on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since September 2, 2025, with no public evidence the boats were carrying drugs.
  • The very first strike on September 2, 2025 included a 'double tap' — two survivors clung to wreckage for 45 minutes before a follow-up strike killed them. The total death toll from this single incident was 11.
Sources
9
Documents
1
Updates
0
Updated March 26, 2026 Extrajudicial Killing
War Crime / Crime Against Humanity Reported record

Operation Rough Rider: US Killed More Civilians in 52 Days Than in Previous 23 Years in Yemen

A 53-day US bombing campaign in Yemen produced an unprecedented civilian death toll, with monitoring organizations documenting at least 224 civilian deaths — matching the previous 23 years of US civilian casualties in Yemen. Strikes hit a migrant detention center, a fuel port, and a cancer hospital.

  • Operation Rough Rider ran from March 15 to May 6, 2025 — 53 days of sustained bombing against Houthi-controlled Yemen, with 339+ strikes hitting 800+ targets.
  • Airwars documented 33 civilian harm incidents and at least 224 civilian deaths. The Yemen Data Project documented at least 238 civilian deaths including 24 children, with 467 civilians injured.
Sources
9
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 26, 2026 Extrajudicial Killing
War Crime / Crime Against Humanity Reported record

US Strikes on Ras Issa Fuel Port Kill 84+ Civilians in Yemen

US airstrikes on Yemen's most critical civilian port infrastructure killed 84+ civilians including three children, port workers, truck drivers, and civil defense personnel. HRW found the strikes were an apparent war crime given the port's overwhelmingly civilian character and essential role in sustaining Yemen's population.

  • 14 US airstrikes hit the Ras Issa oil terminal on April 17, 2025, killing at least 84 civilians and injuring over 150, including port workers, truck drivers, civil defense personnel, and three children.
  • Ras Issa is one of three ports in Hodeidah through which approximately 70% of Yemen's commercial imports and 80% of humanitarian assistance enters the country — making it indispensable civilian infrastructure.
Sources
6
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 26, 2026 Military Overreach
Serious Rights Violation Reported record

First-Ever US Airstrikes in Nigeria: Christmas Day Tomahawk Strikes on Sokoto

The US unilaterally struck a sovereign African nation for the first time, firing Tomahawk cruise missiles at Sokoto State. Locals disputed the ISIS narrative, unexploded ordnance fell in villages, and the legal basis for striking a non-hostile nation's territory without AUMF authority remains deeply contested.

  • The US fired over a dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles from the USS Paul Ignatius in the Gulf of Guinea, striking at least 16 targets in Sokoto State on December 25-26, 2025 — the first-ever US airstrikes in Nigeria.
  • At least four missile warheads failed to explode and fell short of targets, landing in the villages of Offa, Zugurma, and Jabo, creating an unexploded ordnance hazard for civilian communities.
Sources
8
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026 Extrajudicial Killing
Serious Rights Violation Ongoing Reported record

Massive Escalation of US Airstrikes in Somalia with Zero Civilian Accountability

US airstrikes in Somalia escalated dramatically in 2025, with AFRICOM claiming zero civilian casualties despite independent monitors documenting dozens of civilian deaths. AFRICOM stopped publishing casualty data and has never paid compensation for civilian harm in the country.

  • AFRICOM conducted at least 43 airstrikes in Somalia in 2025, more than doubling the prior year's pace, with the administration citing both regional security and alleged threats to the US homeland.
  • AFRICOM has assessed zero civilian casualties from its 2025 strikes, while independent monitors at Airwars document between 33 and 167 total civilian deaths from US strikes in Somalia.
Sources
7
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated September 2, 2025 Military Overreach
Serious Rights Violation Ongoing Judicial finding

Military Deployments at US-Mexico Border in Violation of Posse Comitatus Act

Over 10,000 troops were deployed to the US-Mexico border for immigration enforcement. A federal judge found the administration 'willfully' violated the Posse Comitatus Act -- a foundational law separating military and civilian law enforcement dating to Reconstruction.

  • Over 10,000 active-duty troops were deployed to the US-Mexico border, expanding military authority to include detaining and searching civilians.
  • The Air Force annexed a 250-mile stretch of the Texas border as a 'national defense area.'
Sources
4
Documents
0
Updates
0