Falklands War · War Crimes & Atrocities

The Darkest Hours

The Falklands War was, by the standards of many twentieth-century conflicts, relatively limited in deliberate atrocity. Both sides generally observed the Geneva Conventions, Argentine prisoners were correctly treated before repatriation, and British and Argentine war dead were buried with appropriate honours. However, the war was not without its serious moral controversies. The sinking of the General Belgrano generated lasting debate about the laws of armed conflict at sea; allegations of executions after the Battle of Mount Longdon were investigated by British authorities; and perhaps most damning was the systematic abuse — by Argentine officers — of their own young conscripts, who arrived on the islands inadequately equipped, poorly fed, and sometimes beaten for minor infractions.