Red Cross demands punishment for war crimes -- in video games

(Image: GTA)

Via NBC News:

The International Committee of the Red Cross have called for video games to punish crimes committed in battle by adhering to real-life international war conventions.

“The ICRC believes there is a place for international humanitarian law (the law of armed conflict) in video games,” the organization that works worldwide to provide humanitarian help for people caught in war zones said in a statement on their website.

“The ICRC is concerned that certain game scenarios could lead to a trivialization of serious violations of the law of armed conflict,” they added. “The fear is that eventually such illegal acts will be perceived as acceptable behavior.”

Bernard Barrett, a spokesman for the organization said they were not trying to censor games or spoil people’s fun, but rather, “make clear that there are rules in battle and that certain acts are illegal.”

Shooting civilians, torture, attacking ambulances and killing prisoners are all aspects in video games that they want to address, he explained. ...

“We are not talking about censorship or banning anything,” he added. “It’s just making it more realistic, the same way the military has rules on the battlefield, then gamers have the same rules.”