'Grave breaches - IAC' in document 'Macedonia - Criminal Code'

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RELEVANT SECTIONS OF THE IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION

SPECIAL PART

34. CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

War crimes against the civil population

Article 404

(1) A person who, by violating the rules of international law, during a war, armed conflict or occupation, orders an attack upon civil population, a settlement, certain civil persons or persons incapacitated for combat, which had as consequence death, serious body injury or serious disturbance to the health of the people ; an attack without choosing the target, which strikes the civil population ; to commit against the civil population murder, torture, inhuman acts, biological, medical or other scientific experiments, taking tissue or organs for the purpose of transplantation, inflicting grave suffering or injury to the body integrity or the health ; resettlement and moving or forced denationalization or transfer to some other religion ; coercion to prostitution or rape, sexual slavery or causing forced pregnancy, forced sterilization or other type sexual violence, the implementation of measures of fear and terror, taking hostages, collective punishment, illegal taking to concentration camps and other illegal arrests, depriving of the right to a proper and unbiased trial or implementation of sentence or execution without prior verdict issued by a legally based court in a procedure that provides the generally accepted court guarantees ; coercion for service in the armed forces of the enemy or in its intelligence service or administration, enrolment and recruitment of minors under 15 years of age in the armed forces and their use through active participation in military activities ; utilization of the presence of civilians or other protected persons as life shield in certain places or areas where the armed forced are acting coercion to forced labor, starving of the population, hindering of the approach to the humanitarian aid confiscation of property, pilfering of property of the population, illegal and self-willed destruction or usurpation of a larger extent of properties which is not justified by the military needs, taking an unlawful and excessive contribution and requisition, decreasing the value of the domestic currency or unlawful issue of money ; or the person who commits some of the above mentioned crimes - shall be punished with imprisonment of at least ten years, or with life imprisonment.

(2) The punishment from item 1 shall apply to a person who by violating the rules of international law, during a war, an armed conflict or an occupation orders : an attack on cultural good which is under reinforced protection or other structures with special protection upon facilities specially protected by international law, buildings, means of transportation, material and medical units that use well known marks determined by the international law or personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles included in providing humanitarian aid or peace keeping missions and upon facilities and plants with a dangerous power, such as dams, embankments and nuclear power plants ; without a choice of the targets to strike : hospitals and places where the sick wounded and other are gathering, civil constructions, which are under special protection by international law, prohibited places or demilitarized zones cities, villages, settlements or buildings that are not defended and are not military
targets ; long lasting and extensive destruction of the natural environment that could be damaging to the health or the survival of the population; or of cultural good that is under reinforced protection or its vicinity to be used as a support of a military action, destruction or possession of greater scope of cultural good, protected by the international law, stealing or vandal attacks on cultural goods protected by the international law the person who commits some of the above mentioned crimes.

(3) A person who, by violating the rules of international law, as an occupator, during a war, an armed conflict or an occupation, orders or executes a resettlement or deportation of the whole or of parts of the civil population to the occupied territory.

War crime against wounded and ill

Article 405

A person who, by violating the rules of international law, during a war or an armed conflict, and against wounded, ill, castaways or medical personnel, orders the committing of murders, torture, inhuman actions, biological, medical or other scientific experiments, taking of tissue or organs for transplantation, or inflicting grave suffering or injury to the body integrity or health, or illegal and self-willed destruction or usurpation of a large extent of materials, means for medical transport and stores from medical or religious institutions, or from units, which is not justifies by the military needs, or the person who commits any of the above mentioned crimes, shall be punished with imprisonment of at least ten years, or with life imprisonment.

War crimes against prisoners of war

Article 406

A person who by violating the rules of international law, and against prisoners of war, orders the committing of murders, torture, inhuman behavior, biological, medical or other scientific experiments, taking of tissues or organs for transplantation, inflicting grave suffering or injury to the body integrity or to health, forcing to serve in the armed forces of the enemy, or depriving of the right to a proper and unbiased trial or to implement sentence or execution without prior verdict of a legally based court and procedure which provides the generally accepted court guarantees or illegally to be deported, displaced or held in custody or the person who commits any of the above mentioned crimes, shall be punished with imprisonment of at least ten years, or with life imprisonment.

Use of unallowed combat means

Article 407

(1) A person who during a war or an armed conflict orders the use poisons or poisonous weapons, poisonous gases, gasses for suffocation or other type of gases or similar liquids, material or devices, personal mines, bullets that are easily spread in the human body, as well as bullets with hard capsule that does not cover the whole bullet or is bored, weapons, projectiles, material or other way of war that according to their nature cause unnecessary injuries or suffer or which have characteristics that are against the international war law, do not make difference between military and civil targets etc. of combat means or a manner of combat which are prohibited by the rules of international law, or uses them himself, shall be punished with imprisonment of at least one year.

(2) The punishment from item 1 shall apply also to a person who by violating international law during a war or an armed conflict, orders that in the war there should be no surviving members of the enemy, or that the combat against the enemy should be on those principles.

(3) If because of the crime from item 1 many people died, the offender shall be punished with imprisonment of at least ten years, or with life imprisonment.

RELEVANT ROME STATUTE PROVISIONS

Article 8
War 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.