War crimes do and should apply to a defender. The main idea behind a war crime is that it is an act which has limited military utility or in many cases is coun

War crimes do and should apply to a defender. The main idea behind a war crime is that it is an act which has limited military utility or in many cases is counter productive from a military standpoint but causes human suffering. That is, it is a clear and unnecessary act of violence. For instance killing prisoners of war since it is often more beneficial for a military to accept a surrender than to offer no quarter. Most ethical systems argue that human beings have a right to protect their own life with deadly force, but if during a self defense encounter you intentionally go out of your way to execute bystanders you can not use self-defense as a justification. This is because in that case you are just using self-defense as a cover to murder people.