tell me more about this: The drone strike on Nan Manda is the first breach of international law. This would be classed by the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statue) as a "War crime". Whilst there were no civilian casualties, the site itself is sacred to the people of East and West Madol. It is also listed as a 'World Heritage Site' under the UNESCO guidelines.

For this to be a war crime, the offences must have occurred during international armed conflict or conflicts "Not of an international character". Based upon the facts, this would likely be the latter. There may be an argument to be made, that the supply of arms from West Madol to the rebels may create a scenario where this is considered international armed conflict, however this will need to be decided upon by the prosecutor. There is no definitive law in this area.

The Rome Statue outlines this type of war crime as "Extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity".[1] The statute also covers this crime in section 2 of article 8 in that intentionally attacking places of religious significance, unless it is a genuine military objective. [2] On the facts, this has not occurred, and a war crime has been committed.

In terms of referral for prosecution, the Rome Statue has several options open to it. For an investigation to begin, the crime must be committed by a state official or in the territory of a state who has accepted the jurisdiction of the court. [3] Furthermore, the crimes were referred to the ICC by the United Nations Security Council pursuant to a resolution. Again, on the facts, East Madol has accepted the jurisdiction of the court and investigation can begin.