Book Two : Specific Provisions

Title Twelveter : War Crimes

Art. 264b

Articles 264d–264j apply in connection with international armed conflicts including occupations as well as, unless the nature the offences requires otherwise, in connection with non-international armed conflicts.

Art. 264c

1 The penalty is a custodial sentence of not less than five years for any person who commits a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 in connection with an international armed conflict by carrying out any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the Conventions :

a. intentional homicide ;
b. hostage taking ;
c. causing severe pain or suffering or serious injury, whether physical or mental, in particular by torture, inhuman treatment or biological experiments ;
d. extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly ;
e. compelling a person to serve in the forces of a hostile power ;
f. unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement ;
g. denying the right to a fair and regular trial before the imposition or execution of a severe penalty.

3 In especially serious cases, and in particular where the offence affects a number of persons or the offender acts in a cruel manner, a custodial sentence of life may be imposed.

4 In less serious cases under paragraph 1 letters c–g, a custodial sentence of not less than one year may be imposed.

Art. 264d

1 The penalty is a custodial sentence of not less than three years for any person who in connection with an armed conflict directs an attack :

a. against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities ;
b. against personnel, installations, material or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations of 26 June 1945, as long as they are entitled to the protection of international humanitarian law ;
c. against civilian objects, undefended settlements or buildings or demilitarised zones that are not military objectives ;
d. against medical units, material or vehicles using a distinctive emblem under international humanitarian law or whose protected character is recognisable even without a distinctive emblem, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected ;
e. against cultural property or persons entrusted with its protection or vehicles for its transport, against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, provided they are protected by international humanitarian law.

2 In especially serious cases of attacks on persons, a custodial sentence of life may be imposed.

3 In less serious cases, a custodial sentence of not less than one year may be imposed.

Art. 264e

1 The penalty is a custodial sentence of not less than three years for any person who, in connection with an armed conflict :

a. causes severe pain or suffering or serious injury or danger, whether physical or mental, to a person protected by international humanitarian law by subjecting that person to a medical procedure that is not justified by the state of his or her health and which does comply with generally recognised medical principles ;
b. rapes a person of the female gender protected by international humanitarian law or, after she has been forcibly made pregnant, confines her unlawfully with the intent of affecting the ethnic composition of a population, forces a person to tolerate a sexual act of comparable severity or forces a person protected by international humanitarian law into prostitution or to be sterilised ;
c. subjects a person protected by international humanitarian law to especially humiliating and degrading treatment.

2 In especially serious cases, and in particular where the offence affects a number of persons or the offender acts in a cruel manner, a custodial sentence of life may be imposed.

3 In less serious cases, a custodial sentence of not less than one year may be imposed.

Art. 264f

1 The penalty is a custodial sentence of not less than three years for any person who enlists a child under the age of fifteen into armed forces or groups or recruiting them for this purpose or using them to participate in armed conflicts.

2 In especially serious cases, and in particular where the offence affects a number of children or the offender acts in a cruel manner, a custodial sentence of life may be imposed.

3 In less serious cases, a custodial sentence of not less than one year may be imposed.

Art. 264g

1 The penalty is a custodial sentence of not less than three years for any person who, in connection with an armed conflict :

a. launches an attack although he knows or must assume that such an attack will cause loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated ;
b. uses a person protected by international humanitarian law as a human shield in order to influence military operations ;
c. as a method of warfare, pillages or otherwise unlawfully appropriates property or destroys or seizes enemy property in a way not imperatively demanded by the necessities of war, deprives civilians of objects indispensable to their survival or impedes relief supplies ;
d. kills or wounds an enemy combatant treacherously or after he or she has laid down his or her arms or no longer has a means of defence ;
e. mutilates a dead enemy combatant ;
f. as the commander orders that no quarter be given or threatens the enemy that no quarter will be given ;
g. makes improper use of a flag of truce, of the flag or of the military insignia and uniform of the enemy or of the United Nations, or the distinctive emblems under international humanitarian law ;
h. as a member of an occupying power, transfers parts of its own civilian population into the territory it is occupying or deports all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside that territory.

2 In especially serious cases, and in particular where the offence affects a number of persons or the offender acts in a cruel manner, a custodial sentence of life may be imposed.

3 In less serious cases, a custodial sentence of not less than one year may be imposed.

Art. 264h

1 The penalty is a custodial sentence of not less than three years for any person who, in connection with an armed conflict :

a. employs poison or poisoned weapons ;
b. employs biological or chemical weapons, including poisonous or asphyxiating gases, substances and liquids ;
c. employs bullets which expand or flatten easily or explode in the human body ;
d. employs weapons primarily designed to cause injury through splinters that cannot be detected by x-ray equipment ;
e. employs laser weapons primarily designed to cause permanent blindness.

2 In especially serious cases, a custodial sentence of life may be imposed.

Art. 264i

The penalty is a custodial sentence not exceeding three years or a monetary penalty for any person who :

a. continues military operations after receiving official notification of an agreement on a ceasefire or a peace agreement, or violates the conditions of the ceasefire in some other way ;
b. abuses, insults or without reason obstructs an opposing peace negotiator or any of his party ;
c. without justification delays the repatriation of prisoners of war after conclusion of military operations.

Art. 264j

The penalty is a custodial sentence not exceeding three years or a monetary penalty for any person who in connection with an armed conflict violates a provision of international humanitarian law other than those mentioned in Articles 264c–264i, where such a violation is declared to be an offence under customary international law or an international treaty recognised as binding by Switzerland.

Article 5
Crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court
1. The jurisdiction of the Court shall be limited to the most serious crimes of concern to the
international community as a whole. The Court has jurisdiction in accordance with this Statute
with respect to the following crimes:
(c) War crimes

Article 8
War crimes
1. The Court shall have jurisdiction in respect of war crimes in particular when committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes.
2. For the purpose of this Statute, "war crimes" means:
(a) Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention:
(i) Wilful killing;
(ii) Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;
(iii) Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;
(iv) Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly;
(v) Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power;
(vi) Wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial;
(vii) Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement;
(viii) Taking of hostages.
(b) Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict, within the established framework of international law, namely, any of the following acts:
(i) Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities;
(ii) Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, objects which are not military objectives;
(iii) Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict;
(iv) Intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated;
(v) Attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objectives;
(vi) Killing or wounding a combatant who, having laid down his arms or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at discretion;
(vii) Making improper use of a flag of truce, of the flag or of the military insignia and uniform of the enemy or of the United Nations, as well as of the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions, resulting in death or serious personal injury;
(viii) The transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory;
(ix) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives;
(x) Subjecting persons who are in the power of an adverse party to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are neither justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the person concerned nor carried out in his or her interest, and which cause death to or seriously endanger the health of such person or persons;
(xi) Killing or wounding treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army;
(xii) Declaring that no quarter will be given;
(xiii) Destroying or seizing the enemy's property unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war;
(xiv) Declaring abolished, suspended or inadmissible in a court of law the rights and actions of the nationals of the hostile party;
(xv) Compelling the nationals of the hostile party to take part in the operations of war directed against their own country, even if they were in the belligerent's service before the commencement of the war;
(xvi) Pillaging a town or place, even when taken by assault;
(xvii) Employing poison or poisoned weapons;
(xviii) Employing asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and all analogous liquids, materials or devices;
(xix) Employing bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with a hard envelope which does not entirely cover the core or is pierced with incisions;
(xx) Employing weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare which are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering or which are inherently indiscriminate in violation of the international law of armed conflict, provided that such weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare are the subject of a comprehensive prohibition and are included in an annex to this Statute, by an amendment in accordance with the relevant provisions set forth in articles 121 and 123;
(xxi) Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;
(xxii) Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, as defined in article 7, paragraph 2 (f), enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions;
(xxiii) Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations;
(xxiv) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, medical units and transport, and personnel using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in conformity with international law;
(xxv) Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions;
(xxvi) Conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into the national armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities.
(c) In the case of an armed conflict not of an international character, serious violations of article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts committed against persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention or any other cause:
(i) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
(ii) Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;
(iii) Taking of hostages;
(iv) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgement pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all judicial guarantees which are generally recognized as indispensable.
(d) Paragraph 2 (c) applies to armed conflicts not of an international character and thus does not apply to situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar nature.
(e) Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflicts not of an international character, within the established framework of international law, namely, any of the following acts:
(i) Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities;
(ii) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, medical units and transport, and personnel using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in conformity with international law;
(iii) Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed conflict;
(iv) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives;
(v) Pillaging a town or place, even when taken by assault;
(vi) Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, as defined in article 7, paragraph 2 (f), enforced sterilization, and any other form of sexual violence also constituting a serious violation of article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions;
(vii) Conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into armed forces or groups or using them to participate actively in hostilities;
(viii) Ordering the displacement of the civilian population for reasons related to the conflict, unless the security of the civilians involved or imperative military reasons so demand;
(ix) Killing or wounding treacherously a combatant adversary;
(x) Declaring that no quarter will be given;
(xi) Subjecting persons who are in the power of another party to the conflict to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are neither justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the person concerned nor carried out in his or her interest, and which cause death to or seriously endanger the health of such person or persons;
(xii) Destroying or seizing the property of an adversary unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of the conflict;
(f) Paragraph 2 (e) applies to armed conflicts not of an international character and thus does not apply to situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar nature. It applies to 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.
3. Nothing in paragraph 2 (c) and (e) shall affect the responsibility of a Government to maintain or re-establish law and order in the State or to defend the unity and territorial integrity of the State, by all legitimate means.