All the acts mentioned in this part of the report are in
contravention of The Hague Convention, signed by the great powers,
including France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, in
1907, as may be seen by a reference to Appendix D, in which the
provisions of that convention relating to the conduct of war on land are
set forth.
CONCLUSIONS.
From the foregoing pages it will be seen that the committee have come to
a definite conclusion upon each of the heads under which the evidence
has been classified.
It is proved--
(i.) That there were in many parts of Belgium deliberate and
systematically organized massacres of the civil population,
accompanied by many isolated murders and other outrages.
(ii.) That in the conduct of the war generally innocent
civilians, both men and women, were murdered in large numbers,
women violated, and children murdered.
(iii.) That looting, house burning, and the wanton destruction
of property were ordered and countenanced by the officers of
the German Army, that elaborate provision had been made for
systematic incendiarism at the very outbreak of the war, and
that the burnings and destruction were frequent where no
military necessity could be alleged, being indeed part of a
system of general terrorization.
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