Echo of Moscow (Russian: Эхо Москвы , romanized: Ekho Moskvy ) was a 24/7 commercial Russian radio station based in Moscow. It broadcast in many Russian cities, some of the former Soviet republics (through partnerships with local radio stations), and via the Internet. From 1996 its editor-in-chief was Alexei Venediktov .
45-787: Natella Savelievna Boltyanskaya (Russian: Нате́лла Саве́льевна Болтя́нская (Киперма́н) ; born 20 May 1965) is a Russian journalist, singer-songwriter, poet and ex-radio host on Echo of Moscow . She is author and performer of songs mostly on her own poetry. She published four music albums, Warning (2001), Restoration (2003), Sleepers (2005), and Shepherd's Song (2009). She is author of many political songs, such as those dedicated to Nikita Khrushchev , Solomon Mikhoels , Anna Politkovskaya and song Gaechka ("Nut") regarded as criticism of Vladimir Putin From 1993 to 2022, Boltyanskaya daily hosted several programs at Echo of Moscow , including program Bard about Russian author song , history program In
90-524: A war of aggression , or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements, or assurances. Because the definition of a state of "war" may be debated, the term "war crime" itself has seen different usage under different systems of international and military law. It has some degree of application outside of what some may consider being a state of "war", but in areas where conflicts persist enough to constitute social instability. The legalities of war have sometimes been accused of containing favoritism toward
135-523: A duty to prevent" criminal behaviour by a military force. Despite having argued that he had obeyed superior orders , von Hagenbach was convicted, condemned to death , and beheaded. The Hague Conventions were international treaties negotiated at the First and Second Peace Conferences at The Hague , Netherlands, in 1899 and 1907, respectively, and were, along with the Geneva Conventions, among
180-658: A legal basis and framework for the conduct of war under international law. Every single member state of the United Nations has currently ratified the conventions, which are universally accepted as customary international law , applicable to every situation of armed conflict in the world. The Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions adopted in 1977 containing the most pertinent, detailed and comprehensive protections of international humanitarian law for persons and objects in modern warfare are still not ratified by several states continuously engaged in armed conflicts, namely
225-480: A military objective are governed under principles such as of proportionality and military necessity and can be permissible. Military necessity "permits the destruction of life of ... persons whose destruction is incidentally unavoidable by the armed conflicts of the war; ... it does not permit the killing of innocent inhabitants for purposes of revenge or the satisfaction of a lust to kill. The destruction of property to be lawful must be imperatively demanded by
270-474: A plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes". To date, the present and former heads of state and heads of government that have been charged with war crimes include: War crimes are serious violations of the rules of customary and treaty law concerning international humanitarian law , criminal offenses for which there is individual responsibility. Colloquial definitions of war crime include violations of established protections of
315-529: Is a legitimate ruse of war , though fighting in combat or assassinating individuals behind enemy lines while so disguised is not, as it constitutes unlawful perfidy . Attacking enemy troops while they are being deployed by way of a parachute is not a war crime. Protocol I, Article 42 of the Geneva Conventions explicitly forbids attacking parachutists who eject from disabled aircraft and surrendering parachutists once landed. Article 30 of
360-419: Is called scorched earth policy for the military purpose of denying the use of ground for the enemy. The German troops retreating from Finnish Lapland believed Finland would be occupied by Soviet troops and destroyed many settlements while retreating to Norway under the command of Rendulic. He overestimated the perceived risk but argued that Hague IV authorized the destruction because it was necessary to war. He
405-533: Is now regarded as a prestigious state award by the station's journalists. According to editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov , the special KGB Alpha Group made several attempts to cut the radio's access to the transmitter, but its employees managed to connect the studio directly to the transmitter through the telephone line and continue broadcasting. From the first day of its existence Echo of Moscow adhered to one rule: "All significant points of view about events should be presented". Journalists have been jokingly calling
450-472: Is part of the command structure who orders any attempt to committing mass killings including genocide or ethnic cleansing , the granting of no quarter despite surrender, the conscription of children in the military and flouting the legal distinctions of proportionality and military necessity . The formal concept of war crimes emerged from the codification of the customary international law that applied to warfare between sovereign states , such as
495-593: Is the most popular presenter at the radio station. As of 2018 Echo of Moscow is majority owned by Gazprom-Media , which holds 66% of its shares. Editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov is the largest minority shareholder, with 18% of shares, and the remaining 16% are held by other minority shareholders. On 1 November 2014, the station received an official Roskomnadzor warning that a program the station had aired about Ukraine contained "information justifying war crimes ". A radio station can be closed down if it receives two Roskomnadzor warnings in one year. In October 2017,
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#1732786999729540-569: Is unlawful. For aerial strikes, pilots generally have to rely on information supplied by external sources (headquarters, ground troops) that a specific position is in fact a military target. In the case of former Yugoslavia , NATO pilots hit a civilian object (the Chinese embassy in Belgrade ) that was of no military significance, but the pilots had no idea of determining it aside from their orders. The committee ruled that "the aircrew involved in
585-939: The Lieber Code (1863) of the Union Army in the American Civil War and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 for international war. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the war-crime trials of the leaders of the Axis powers established the Nuremberg principles of law, such as that international criminal law defines what is a war crime. In 1949, the Geneva Conventions legally defined new war crimes and established that states could exercise universal jurisdiction over war criminals. In
630-880: The Nuremberg Trials and Tokyo Trials have been convened. Recent examples are the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , which were established by the UN Security Council acting under Chapter VIII of the UN Charter . Under the Nuremberg Principles , war crimes are different from crimes against peace . Crimes against peace include planning, preparing, initiating, or waging
675-645: The U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 1820 , which noted that "rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide"; see also wartime sexual violence . In 2016, the International Criminal Court convicted someone of sexual violence for the first time; specifically, they added rape to a war crimes conviction of Congo Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo . War crimes also included deliberate attacks on citizens and property of neutral states , such as
720-587: The laws of war , but also include failures to adhere to norms of procedure and rules of battle, such as attacking those displaying a peaceful flag of truce , or using that same flag as a ruse to mount an attack on enemy troops. The use of chemical and biological weapons in warfare are also prohibited by numerous chemical arms control agreements and the Biological Weapons Convention . Wearing enemy uniforms or civilian clothes to infiltrate enemy lines for espionage or sabotage missions
765-761: The "Lieber Code." A small number of German military personnel of the First World War were tried in 1921 by the German Supreme Court for alleged war crimes. The modern concept of war crime was further developed under the auspices of the Nuremberg trials based on the definition in the London Charter that was published on August 8, 1945 (see Nuremberg principles ). Along with war crimes the charter also defined crimes against peace and crimes against humanity , which are often committed during wars and in concert with war crimes. Also known as
810-698: The 1907 Hague Convention IV – The Laws and Customs of War on Land explicitly forbids belligerents to punish enemy spies without previous trial . The rule of war, also known as the Law of Armed Conflict , permits belligerents to engage in combat. A war crime occurs when superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering is inflicted upon an enemy. War crimes also include such acts as mistreatment of prisoners of war or civilians . War crimes are sometimes part of instances of mass murder and genocide though these crimes are more broadly covered under international humanitarian law described as crimes against humanity . In 2008,
855-695: The Blitz as well as the indiscriminate attacks on Allied cities with V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets , nor the Japanese for the aerial attacks on crowded Chinese cities. Controversy arose when the Allies re-designated German POWs (under the protection of the 1929 Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War ) as Disarmed Enemy Forces (allegedly unprotected by the 1929 Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War), many of which were then used for forced labor such as clearing minefields . By December 1945, six months after
900-883: The Field (Lieber Code) was written by Franz Lieber , a German lawyer , political philosopher , and veteran of the Napoleonic Wars . Lincoln made the Code military law for all wartime conduct of the Union Army . It defined command responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity as well as stated the military responsibilities of the Union soldier fighting the Confederate States of America . The Geneva Conventions are four related treaties adopted and continuously expanded from 1864 to 1949 that represent
945-482: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . As the attack on Pearl Harbor happened while the U.S. and Japan were at peace and without a just cause for self-defense, the attack was declared by the Tokyo Trials to go beyond justification of military necessity and therefore constituted a war crime. War crimes are significant in international humanitarian law because it is an area where international tribunals such as
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#1732786999729990-736: The Tokyo Trial, the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal or simply as the Tribunal, it was convened on May 3, 1946, to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan for three types of crimes: "Class A" (crimes against peace), "Class B" (war crimes), and "Class C" (crimes against humanity), committed during World War II . On July 1, 2002, the International Criminal Court (ICC), a treaty-based court located in The Hague , came into being for
1035-462: The United States, Israel, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, and others. Accordingly, states retain different codes and values about wartime conduct. Some signatories have routinely violated the Geneva Conventions in a way that either uses the ambiguities of law or political maneuvering to sidestep the laws' formalities and principles. The first three conventions have been revised and expanded, with
1080-478: The attack should not be assigned any responsibility for the fact they were given the wrong target and that it is inappropriate to attempt to assign criminal responsibility for the incident to senior leaders because they were provided with wrong information by officials of another agency". The report also notes that "Much of the material submitted to the OTP consisted of reports that civilians had been killed, often inviting
1125-547: The company. 55°45′8″N 37°35′46″E / 55.75222°N 37.59611°E / 55.75222; 37.59611 War crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war , torture , taking hostages , unnecessarily destroying civilian property , deception by perfidy , wartime sexual violence , pillaging , and for any individual that
1170-418: The conclusion to be drawn that crimes had therefore been committed. Collateral casualties to civilians and collateral damage to civilian objects can occur for a variety of reasons." The Rendulic Rule is a standard by which commanders are judged. German General Lothar Rendulic was charged for ordering extensive destruction of civilian buildings and lands while retreating from a suspected enemy attack in what
1215-641: The course of fighting. The United Nations defines war crimes as described in Article 8 of the Rome statute , the treaty that established the International Criminal Court: Under the law of armed conflict (LOAC), the death of non-combatants is not necessarily a violation; there are many things to take into account. Civilians cannot be made the object of an attack, but the death/injury of civilians while conducting an attack on
1260-530: The first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the nascent body of secular international law . The Lieber Code was written early in the American Civil War and President Abraham Lincoln issued as General Order 100 on April 24, 1863, just months after the military executions at Mankato, Minnesota . General Order 100, Instructions for the Government of the Armies of the United States in
1305-484: The fourth one added in 1949: Two Additional Protocols were adopted in 1977 with the third one added in 2005, completing and updating the Geneva Conventions: Just after WWI, world governments started to try and systematically create a code for how war crimes would be defined. Their first outline of a law was " Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field" —also known as
1350-476: The late 20th century and early 21st century, international courts extrapolated and defined additional categories of war crimes applicable to a civil war . In 1474, the first trial for a war crime was that of Peter von Hagenbach , realised by an ad hoc tribunal of the Holy Roman Empire , for his command responsibility for the actions of his soldiers, because "he, as a knight, was deemed to have
1395-529: The late station's format and schedule. In October 2022, Echo resumed online programming from Berlin, Germany via its Echo app. Echo of Moscow gained attention during the events of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt – it was one of the few news outlets that spoke against the State Committee on the State of Emergency . The committee's decree number 3 on the suspension of Echo's broadcast
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1440-406: The legal question of whether the expected incidental harm is excessive may be very subjective. For this reason, States have chosen to apply a "clearly excessive" standard for determining whether a criminal violation has occurred. When there is no justification for military action, such as civilians being made the object of attack, a proportionality analysis is unnecessary to conclude that the attack
1485-534: The name of Stalin , and political/news programs People are against and Special opinion . Since 1993, she works as director of the Creative Association of Russian bards. She also hosted programs on NTV (Russia) , Echo TV Russia , Russian TNT , TV Tsentr and other TV channels. She produced the documentary Parallels, Events, People about the 2011–13 Russian protests and Soviet dissident movement . Echo of Moscow On 1 March 2022, it
1530-489: The necessities of war." For example, conducting an operation on an ammunition depot or a terrorist training camp would not be prohibited because a farmer is plowing a field in the area; the farmer is not the object of attack and the operations would adhere to proportionality and military necessity. On the other hand, an extraordinary military advantage would be necessary to justify an operation posing risks of collateral death or injury to thousands of civilians. In "grayer" cases
1575-539: The prosecution of war crimes committed on or after that date. Several nations, most notably the United States, China, Russia, and Israel, have criticized the court. The United States still participates as an observer. Article 12 of the Rome Statute provides jurisdiction over the citizens of non-contracting states if they are accused of committing crimes in the territory of one of the state parties. The ICC only has jurisdiction over these crimes when they are "part of
1620-525: The station "Ear of Moscow". Most of Echo of Moscow's content consists of news and talk shows focusing on social and political issues, where the station tries to represent different points of view. Alexey Venediktov has been the station's chief editor since 1998. Radio hosts of the station include Victor Shenderovich , Yulia Latynina , Sergey Parkhomenko , Alexander Nevzorov , Yevgenia Albats , Vladimir Kara-Murza , Vladimir Ryzhkov , Yevgeny Yasin and Sophie Shevardnadze . As of April 2014 Yulia Latynina
1665-452: The station was broken into by an assailant who pepper-sprayed a security guard and soon afterwards stabbed Tatyana Felgengauer , one of Echo's main presenters, in the neck. Her injuries were life-threatening, but she was able to make a full recovery thanks to timely medical intervention. The station described the attacker as an Israeli, quoting "informed sources". Forensic medical expertise determined him to have paranoid schizophrenia , and he
1710-417: The war had ended, it was estimated by French authorities that 2,000 German prisoners were still being killed or maimed each month in mine-clearing accidents. The wording of the 1949 Third Geneva Convention was intentionally altered from that of the 1929 convention so that soldiers who "fall into the power" following surrender or mass capitulation of an enemy are now protected as well as those taken prisoner in
1755-563: The winners (" Victor's justice "), as some controversies have not been ruled as war crimes. Some examples include the Allies ' destruction of Axis cities during World War II , such as the firebombing of Dresden , the Operation Meetinghouse raid on Tokyo (the most destructive single bombing raid in history), and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki . In regard to the strategic bombing during World War II , there
1800-637: Was asked about whether Gazprom's majority ownership affects Echo's editorial policy. Venediktov responded that shareholders including Gazprom abide by Echo's charter, which stipulates that the editor-in-chief has the final say, and though he noted that Gazprom and others attempt to influence specific coverage in accordance with their business interests, they have never sought to actively intervene in editorial decisions. Venediktov also noted that during his tenure it has become station policy to broadcast Gazprom press statements upon request, and to always request comment from Gazprom prior to airing negative stories about
1845-457: Was no international treaty or instrument protecting a civilian population specifically from attack by aircraft, therefore the aerial attacks on civilians were not officially war crimes. The Allies at the trials in Nuremberg and Tokyo never prosecuted the Germans, including Luftwaffe commander-in-chief Hermann Göring , for the bombing raids on Warsaw , Rotterdam , and British cities during
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1890-562: Was sentenced to compulsory medical treatment by the court. On 1 March 2022, the office of the Prosecutor-General of Russia asked Roskomnadzor to restrict access to Echo of Moscow as well as TV Rain due to their coverage of the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, claiming that they were spreading "deliberately false information about the actions of Russian military personnel" as well as "information calling for extremist activity" and "violence". Later that day, Echo of Moscow
1935-502: Was subsequently taken over by state-run Radio Sputnik . Venediktov and most of the employees have started a spin-off YouTube channel, Zhivoi Gvozd' , that follows the station's programming and format. In September 2022, a number of former Echo of Moscow employees launched an internet media called " Echo [ ru ] ", headed by Echo of Moscow's former deputy editor-in-chief Maxim Kurnikov [ ru ] . On multiple occasions in 2008, editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov
1980-533: Was taken off the air by Roskomnadzor as a result of its coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine . On 3 March, the board of directors voted to close the station down. While the radio programming of Ekho of Moscow ceased to exist, Venediktov and most of the employees began a spin-off YouTube channel, Zhivoi Gvozd' (literally "Live Nail", in Russian a rhyming pun on the common term "Live Guest"), which follows
2025-509: Was taken off the air, the first time since 1991. The following morning, according to Venediktov, YouTube blocked the station's channel, its only broadcasting avenue in Europe, because the station is affiliated with Gazprom . On 3 March, Venediktov reported that the YouTube channel was unblocked. On 3 March, the board of directors voted to close the station down. The station's radio frequency
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