International Humanitarian Law

• Apartheid


  means inhumane acts committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.
• Arbitrary deportation or forcible transfer of population


  means forced displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or

  other coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under domestic or international law.
• Armed conflict


  means any use of force or armed violence between States or a protracted armed violence between governmental authorities and organized armed groups or between such groups within a State, Provided, That such force or armed violence gives rise, or may give rise, to a situation to which the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, including their common Article 3, apply.
• International vs Non-International Armed Conflict

  1. International: between two (2) or more States, including belligerent occupation;
  2. Non-international: between governmental authorities and organized armed groups or between such groups within a State.
• Armed conflict does not cover internal disturbances or tensions such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar nature.
• Armed Forces


  means all organized armed forces, groups and units that belong to a party to an armed conflict which are under a command responsible to that party for the conduct of its subordinates. Such armed forces shall be subject to an internal disciplinary system which enforces compliance with International Humanitarian Law.
• Attack directed against any civilian population

  means a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in Section 6 of this Act against any civilian population, pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organizational policy to commit such attack.
• Effective command and control


  Having the material ability to prevent and punish the commission of offences by subordinates
• Enforced or involuntary disappearance of persons


  The arrest, detention, or abduction of persons by, or with the authorization, support or acquiescence of, a State or a political organization followed by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of those persons, with the intention of removing them from the protection of the law for a prolonged period of time
• Enslavement


  The exercise of any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person and includes the exercise of such power in the course of trafficking in persons, in particular women and children
• Extermination


  The intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia, the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of a part of a population
• Forced pregnancy


  The unlawful confinement of a woman to be forcibly made pregnant, with the intent of affecting the ethnic composition of any population or carrying out other grave violations of international law
• Hors de combat


  A person who is in the power of an adverse party, has clearly expressed an intention to surrender, or has been rendered unconscious or otherwise incapacitated by wounds or sickness and therefore is incapable of defending himself, provided that in any of these cases, the person abstains from any hostile act and does not attempt to escape
• Military necessity


  The necessity of employing measures which are indispensable to achieve a legitimate aim of the conflict and are not otherwise prohibited by International Humanitarian Law
• Non-defended locality


  A locality that fulfills specific conditions including the evacuation of combatants, no hostile use of fixed military installations or establishments, and no acts of hostility committed by the authorities or by the population; and no activities in support of military operations must have been undertaken.
• "No quarter will be given"


  Refusing to spare the life of anybody, even of persons manifestly unable to defend themselves or who clearly express their intention to surrender
• Perfidy


  Acts which invite the confidence of an adversary to lead him/her to believe he/she is entitled to, or is obliged to accord, protection under the rules of International Humanitarian Law, with the intent to betray that confidence
• Perfidy acts include


  • Feigning an intent to negotiate under a flag of truce
  • Feigning surrender
  • Feigning incapacitation by wounds or sickness
  • Feigning civilian or noncombatant status
  • Feigning protective status by use of signs, emblems or uniforms of the United Nations or of a neutral or other State not party to the conflict
• Persecution


  The intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of identity of the group or collectivity
• Protected person in an armed conflict

  • A person wounded, sick or shipwrecked, whether civilian or military
  • A prisoner of war or any person deprived of liberty for reasons related to an armed conflict
  • A civilian or any person not taking a direct part or having ceased to take part in the hostilities in the power of the adverse party
  • A person who, before the beginning of hostilities, was considered a stateless person or refugee under the relevant international instruments accepted by the parties to the conflict concerned or under the national legislation of the state of refuge or state of residence
  • A member of the medical personnel assigned exclusively to medical purposes or to the administration of medical units or to the operation of or administration of medical transports
  • A member of the religious personnel who is exclusively engaged in the work of their ministry and attached to the armed forces of a party to the conflict, its medical units or medical transports, or non-denominational, noncombatant military personnel carrying out functions similar to religious
• Superior

  1. Any other superior, in as much as the crimes arose from activities within the effective authority and control of that superior
  2. A military commander or a person effectively acting as a military commander;
• Torture


  The intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical, mental, or psychological, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused; except that torture shall not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions
• War Crimes in Non-International Armed Conflicts; Committed against Hors de Combat


  (1) Violence to life and person, in particular, willful killings,

  mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;

  (2) Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular,

  humiliating and degrading treatment;

  (3) Taking of hostages; and

  (4) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all judicial guarantees which are generally recognized as indispensable.
• War crimes in International Armed Conflict

  • Willful killing
  • Torture or inhuman treatment, including experiments
  • Willfully causing great suffering
  • Extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly
  • Depriving of rights of fair and regular trial
  • Arbitrary deportation or forcible transfer of population or unlawful confinement
  • Taking of hostages
  • Compelling to serve in the forces of a hostile power
  • Unjustifiable delay in the repatriation of prisoners of war
• Genocide


  any of the following acts with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a

  national, ethnic, racial, religious, social or any other similar stable and

  permanent group as such
• Specific Acts of Genocide


  (1) Killing members of the group;

  (2) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

  (3) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated

  to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

  (4) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

  and

  (5) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

  (b) It shall be unlawful for any person to directly and publicly incite

  others to commit genocide.
• Other Crimes Against Humanity


  any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack
• Specific Crimes Against Humanity


  (a) Willful killing;

  (b) Extermination;

  (c) Enslavement;

  (d) Arbitrary deportation or forcible transfer of population;

  (e) Imprisonment

  (f) Torture;

  (g) Rape, sexual slavery, or any other form of sexual violence of

  comparable gravity;

  (h) xx

  referred to in this paragraph or any crime defined in this Act;

  (i) Enforced or involuntary disappearance of persons;

  (j) Apartheid; and

  (k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing

  great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical

  health.
• Responsibility of Superiors.


  In addition to other grounds of criminal responsibility for crimes defined and penalized under this Act, a superior shall be criminally responsible as a principal for such crimes committed by subordinates under his/her effective command and control, or effective authority and control as the case may be, as a result of his/her failure to properly exercise control over such subordinates
• Crimes defined and penalized under this Act are not subject to prescription
• The fact that a crime defined and penalized under this Act has been committed by a person pursuant to an order of a government or a superior, whether military or civilian, does not relieve that person of criminal responsibility
• Elements required for a person to be relieved of criminal responsibility

  • The person was under a legal obligation to obey orders of the government or the superior in question
  • The person did not know that the order was unlawful
  • The order was not manifestly unlawful
• For the purposes of this section, orders to commit genocide or other

  crimes against humanity are manifestly unlawful.
• Jurisdiction

  1. accused is Filipino
  2. accused is present in PH
  3. accused committed a crime against a Filipino