Sometimes banditry is the problem, and sometimes atrocities are perpetrated, such as the mutilations and decapitations carried out by members of the Front National de Libération (FNL).

Whether it is mutilations in Sierra Leone, genocide in Rwanda, ethnic cleansing in the Balkans or disappearances in Latin America, the parties to conflicts have acted with deliberate indifference to those conventions.

Even in Western Europe, which boasts the most rehabilitation oriented penal systems, ghastly scandals periodically erupt. In 2000, the chief physician at Paris's crumbling La Santé penitentiary, Veronique Vasseur, wrote a scathing exposé of virtually medieval conditions, complete with rat infestations, rotten food, extreme temperature variations, desperate self mutilations, bullying, drug dealing guards, and widespread sexual assault, often perpetrated by staff.