Explainer
What Is a War Crime? Meaning, Examples and Legal Tests
War crimes are serious violations of international humanitarian law that give rise to individual criminal responsibility. Here is what that means in practice.
Evergreen context
Explainers
Plain-language background to help readers understand concepts, institutions, terms and methods used in conflict reporting.
Explainer
What Counts as an Armed Conflict? IAC vs NIAC Explained
When violence becomes an armed conflict under international humanitarian law—and why the classification changes which legal rules apply.
Explainer
How CAWT Sources Conflict Data
The sourcing hierarchy behind CAWT conflict profiles, figures, updates and explainers—and how we handle claims that cannot yet be independently verified.
Explainer
International Humanitarian Law: The Basic Ideas
A practical introduction to the laws of war: who is protected, what may be targeted, and why distinction, proportionality and precautions matter.
Explainer
What “Last Verified” Means on CAWT
Why CAWT uses a last-verified date, what it guarantees, and what it does not say about a fast-moving conflict.
Explainer
What Does a Ceasefire Mean?
What ceasefires do, what they do not do, and how to read claims that a ceasefire has begun, collapsed or been violated.
Explainer
Refugee, IDP and Asylum-Seeker: What Is the Difference?
A plain-language guide to refugees, internally displaced people and asylum-seekers—and why the distinctions matter in conflict reporting.
Explainer
How to Read Casualty Figures in War
Why casualty figures differ, what “verified” really means, and how to compare death and injury totals without mixing incompatible datasets.