In international criminal law, prosecution for a war crime requires the existence of an armed conflict. Some war crimes require an international armed conflict, while others require only a domestic armed conflict.
International armed conflicts require the participation of two different states.
Domestic armed conflicts do not include "situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar nature." They do include "armed conflicts that take place in the territory of a State when there is protracted armed conflict between governmental authorities and organized armed groups or between such groups."