TITLE XXIV
Offences against the International Community
CHAPTER III
Offences against Protected Persons and Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
Article 608
For the purposes of this Chapter, ‘protected persons’ shall have the following meaning:
1st. The wounded, the sick, the shipwrecked, and health and religious personnel, protected under the I and II Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949 or by Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions (Protocol I) dated 8 June 1977.
2nd. The prisoners of war protected by the III Geneva Convention dated 12 August 1949 or by Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions (Protocol I) dated 8 June 1977.
3rd. The civilian population and the civilian personnel protected by the IV Geneva Convention dated 12 August 1949 or by Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions (Protocol I) dated 8 June 1977.
4th. Non-combatants and personnel of the Protecting Power and its substitute protected by the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949 or by Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions (Protocol I) dated 8 June 1977.
5th. Members of parliament and those accompanying them, protected by the II Convention of The Hague dated 29 July 1899.
6th. Personnel of the United Nations and associated personnel protected by the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel of 9 November 1994.
7th. Any other person with that condition by virtue of Additional Protocol II dated 8 June 1977 or any other of the international Treaties of which Spain is a signatory.
Article 609
Anyone who, in the event of an armed conflict, mistreats or seriously endangers the life, health or integrity of any protected person, subjects him or her to torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, wilfully causes him or her great suffering, or subjects him or her to any medical treatment that is inappropriate given the state of health of that person or is not in accordance with generally recognised medical principles that the Party responsible for the treatment would apply, in similar medical circumstances, to his own free national citizens, shall be sentenced to four to eight years’ imprisonment, which shall be in addition to any sentence imposed for the resulting injuries.
Article 610
In the event of an armed conflict, anyone who uses or orders the use of methods or means of warfare that are prohibited, or whose objective purpose is to cause unnecessary suffering or additional harm, as well as those that are intended to cause, or can be reasonably expected to cause, widespread, long-lasting, and grave damage to the natural environment, affecting the health or survival of the population, or orders there to be no quarter, shall be sentenced to ten to fifteen years’ imprisonment, which shall be in addition to any sentence imposed for the damage caused.
Article 611
In the event of an armed conflict, a sentence of ten to fifteen years’ imprisonment, which shall be in addition to any sentence imposed for the damage or injury caused, shall be imposed on anyone who does any of the following:
1st. Carries out or orders the carrying out of indiscriminate or excessive attacks or makes the civilian population the target of attacks, retaliation or acts or threats of violence whose principal aim is to terrorise them.
2nd. Destroys or damages, violating the rules of international law applicable to armed conflicts, non-military ships or aircraft of an adversary or a neutral party unnecessarily and without warning and without taking the necessary measures to protect the security of personnel and the conservation of documentation on board.
3rd. Obliges a prisoner of war or civilian to serve in the forces of a hostile Power, or deprives him or her of the right to a fair and regular trial.
4th. Deports, transfers forcibly, takes hostage, or detains or confines illegally any protected person, or uses such person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations.
5th. Transfers and settles, directly or indirectly, into occupied territory the civilian population of the Occupying Power so that it resides there permanently.
6th. With regard to any protected person, carries out, orders the carrying out or maintains racial segregation policies and other inhuman and degrading practices based on other differences of an unfavourable nature that amount to an outrage upon human dignity.
7th. Unjustifiably prevents or delays the freeing or repatriation of prisoners of war or civilians.
Article 612
In the event of an armed conflict, a sentence of three to seven years’ imprisonment, which shall be in addition to any sentence imposed for the damage or injury caused, shall be imposed on anyone who does any of the following:
1st. Knowingly violates the protected status of hospitals, health installations, material, units and means of transport, prison camps, health and safety zones and areas, neutralized zones, places for imprisoning civilians, undefended areas and demilitarised areas, which are identifiable by the appropriate signs or emblems.
2nd. Uses violence on health or religious personnel or those that make up medical missions, or rescue workers, or against personnel with the right to use the signs or emblems of the Geneva Conventions, in accordance with international law.
3rd. Seriously injures, deprives of or fails to procure the necessary food or medical assistance for any protected person, or subjects him or her to degrading or humiliating treatment, fails to inform him or her, without justifiable delay and in a comprehensible manner, of his or her situation, imposes collective punishment for individual acts or violates the rules concerning the housing of women and families or concerning the special protection of women and children laid down in international treaties of which Spain is a signatory.
4th. Makes improper or treacherous use of distinctive or protective signs, emblems, or signs established and recognised in the international treaties of which Spain is a signatory, especially the emblems of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent.
5th. Makes improper or treacherous use of the distinctive flag, uniform, insignia, or emblem of neutral States, United Nations or other States that are not parties in the conflict or adversaries, during attacks or so as to cover, favour, protect, or obstruct military operations, except as regards the exceptions expressly laid down in the international treaties of which Spain is a signatory.
6th. Makes improper or treacherous use of the parliamentary flag or flag of surrender, attacks the inviolability or retains improperly any member of parliament or any person accompanying him or her, any personnel of the Protecting Power or its substitute, or any members of the International Fact-Finding Commission.
7th. Dispossesses the dead, the wounded, the sick, the shipwrecked, prisoners of war or imprisoned civilians, of their personal effects.
Article 613
1. In the event of an armed conflict, a sentence of four to six years’ imprisonment shall be imposed on anyone who does, or orders to be done, any of the following:
a) Attacks, or makes the object of retaliation or acts of hostility, clearly recognisable cultural property or places of worship that form part of the cultural or spiritual heritage of the population, and those that have been given protected status under special agreements, or cultural property under reinforced protection, causing widespread destruction, provided that such property is not situated in the immediate vicinity of military targets or is not being used to support the military effort of the adversary.
b) Attacks, or makes the object of retaliation, civil property of the adversary, causing its destruction, provided that in the circumstances of the case such property does not provide a definite military advantage or that such property does not contribute effectively to the military action of the adversary.
c) Attacks, destroys, steals or renders unusable property that is indispensable for the survival of the civilian population, except where the adversary uses such property in direct support of military action or exclusively as a means of subsistence for members of its armed forces.
d) Attacks, or makes the object of retaliation, places or installations that contain dangerous substances, where such attacks may lead to the escape of such substances and cause significant losses among the civilian population, except where such places or installations are used in regular, significant and direct support of military operations and such attacks are the only means of ending such support.
e) Destroys, damages or takes possession of, without any military need, objects that do not belong to him or her, obliges another to give up such objects or carries out any other act of pillage.
2. In the event that the offences concern cultural property under special protection or in particularly serious cases, the sentence may be increased by one degree.
Article 614
In the event of an armed conflict, anyone who carries out or orders the carrying out of any other violations or acts in breach of the international treaties of which Spain is a signatory, concerning the means of conducting hostilities, the protection of the wounded, sick and shipwrecked, the treatment of prisoners of war, the protection of civilians and the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict, shall be sentenced to six months to two years’ imprisonment.
Article 614 bis
When any of the conduct referred to in this Chapter forms part of a plan or a policy or is committed on a large scale, the sentences imposed shall be in the upper half of the applicable range of sentence.
War crimes
National penalties - war crimes
National penalties - maximum penalty
EDIT.