Part 1
GENERAL PART

Chapter 1
GENERAL PROVISIONS

§ 5. Temporal applicability of penal law

(4) Offences against humanity and war crimes shall be punishable regardless of the time of commission of the offence.

Part 1
GENERAL PART

Chapter 6
LIMITATION PERIODS

§ 81. Limitation period of offence

(2) Offences against humanity, war crimes and offences for which life imprisonment is prescribed do not expire.

Part 2
SPECIAL PART

Chapter 8
OFFENCES AGAINST HUMANITY AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

Division 4
War Crimes

§ 94. Punishment for offences not provided for in this Division

(1) Offences committed in war time which are not provided for in this Division are punishable on the basis of other provisions of the Special Part of this Code.

(2) A person who commits an offence provided for in this Division shall be punished only for the commission of a war crime even if the offence comprises the necessary elements of other offences provided for in the Special Part.

§ 95. Acts of war against civilian population

A person who attacks civilians in war zones or destroys or renders unusable food or water supplies, sown crops or domestic animals indispensable for the survival of civilian population, or attacks structures or equipment containing dangerous forces, shall be punished by 5 to 15 years’ imprisonment or life imprisonment .

§ 96. Illegal use of means of warfare against civilians

A person who uses means of warfare in a manner not allowing to discriminate between military and civilian objects and thereby causes the death of civilians, health damage to civilians, damage to civilian objects or a danger to the life, health or property of civilians shall be punished by 6 to 15 years’ imprisonment or life imprisonment.

§ 97. Attacks against civilians

A person who kills, tortures, causes health damage to, rapes, compels to serve in the armed forces or participate in military operations of a hostile state, takes hostage, illegally deprives of liberty or deprives of the right to fair trial a civilian in a war zone or in an occupied territory, or displaces residents of an occupying state in an occupied territory, or displaces residents of an occupied territory, shall be punished by 6 to 20 years’ imprisonment.

§ 98. Unlawful treatment of prisoners of war or interned civilians

A person required to take care of prisoners of war or interned civilians who mistreats a prisoner of war or an interned civilian or fails to perform his or her duties and thereby causes the situation of the prisoners of war or interned civilians to deteriorate, but the act does not contain the necessary elements of an offence provided for in § 99 of this Code§ 99 of this Code,
shall be punished by a pecuniary punishment or up to 3 years’ imprisonment.

§ 99. Attacks against prisoners of war or interned civilians

Killing, torturing, inhuman treatment, causing health damage, compelling to serve in armed forces, deprivation of the right to fair trial, unjustified delay in release or repatriation, if committed against a prisoner of war or an interned civilian, is punishable by 6 to 20 years’ imprisonment.

§ 100. Refusal to provide assistance to sick, wounded or shipwrecked persons

Refusal to provide assistance to a sick, wounded or shipwrecked person in a war zone, if such refusal causes the death of or health damage to the person, is punishable by 3 to 12 years’ imprisonment.

§ 101. Attack against combatant hors de combat

A person who kills, causes health damage to or tortures enemy combatants after they have laid down their arms and are placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds or another reason, shall be punished by 6 to 15 years’ imprisonment.

§ 102. Attacks against protected persons

A person who kills, tortures, causes health damage to or takes hostage a member of a medical unit with proper distinguishing marks, or any other person attending to sick or wounded persons, a minister of religion, a representative of an humanitarian organisation performing his or her duties in a war zone, a civil-defence worker, a member of a parliament, or a person accompanying such person, shall be punished by 6 to 15 years’ imprisonment.

§ 103. Use of prohibited weapons

Use of biological, bacteriological or chemical weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, toxic weapons, toxic or asphyxiating gases, booby traps, i.e. explosives disguised as small harmless objects, expanding bullets, weapons injuring by fragments which escape X-rays, or other internationally prohibited weapons, or large-scale use of incendiary weapons under conditions where the military objective cannot be clearly separated from civilian population, civilian objects or the surrounding environment, is punishable by 3 to 12 years’ imprisonment.

§ 104. Environmental damage as method of warfare

A person who knowingly affects the environment as a method of warfare, if major damage is thereby caused to the environment, shall be punished by a pecuniary punishment or up to 5 years’ imprisonment.

§ 105. Exploitative abuse of emblems and marks designating international protection

Exploitative abuse of an emblem or name of the red cross, red crescent or red lion and Sun or red crystal, or of a distinctive mark of a structure containing a camp of prisoners of war, a cultural monument, civil defence object or dangerous forces, or of the flag of truce, is punishable by a pecuniary punishment or up to 3 years’ imprisonment.
[ - entry into force 27.12.2008]

§ 106. Attacks against non-military objects

An attack against an object not used for military purposes, a demilitarised zone, hospital zone, medical institution or unit, a camp of prisoners of war or an internment camp, a settlement or structure without military protection, a neutral cargo vessel, aircraft or hospital ship or aircraft, or any other means of transport used for transportation of non-combatants, is punishable by a pecuniary punishment or up to 5 years’ imprisonment.

§ 107. Attacks against cultural property

Destruction, damaging or illegal appropriation of a cultural monument, church or other structure or object of religious significance, a work of art or science, an archive of cultural value, a library, museum or scientific collection not used for military purposes is punishable by a pecuniary punishment or by 1 to 5 years’ imprisonment.

§ 108. Destruction or illegal appropriation of property in war zone or occupied territory

A person belonging to the armed forces or participating in acts of war who destroys or illegally appropriates property on a large scale in a war zone or an occupied territory, whereas such act is not required by military necessity and lacks the necessary elements of an offence provided for in § 95, 106 or 107 of this Code§ 95, 106 or 107 of this Code,
shall be punished by a pecuniary punishment or up to 5 years’ imprisonment.

§ 109. Marauding

A person who, with the intention of illegal appropriation, removes an object adjacent to a person who has died or sustained wounds on the battlefield, shall be punished by 1 to 5 years’ imprisonment.

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.