القاعدة ذات الصلة
Belgium
Practice Relating to Rule 88. Non-Discrimination
Belgium’s Law of War Manual (1983) states, with reference to common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, that in internal armed conflicts “persons who do not take a direct part in hostilities, including members of the armed forces who have laid down their arms and persons placed hors de combat must be treated … without any adverse distinction”.
Belgium, Droit Pénal et Disciplinaire Militaire et Droit de la Guerre, Deuxième Partie, Droit de la Guerre, Ecole Royale Militaire, par J. Maes, Chargé de cours, Avocat-général près la Cour Militaire, D/1983/1187/029, 1983, p. 17 and Chapter IX, § 2.
In 2001, in its thirteenth periodic report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Belgium stated:
Following reports of acts, particularly acts of a racist nature, which were allegedly committed by soldiers from a Belgian battalion of the international peacekeeping force in Somalia and for which sentences were handed down, the Minister of Defence took strong action, by agreement with the army chief of staff, to rid the army of racism and, in particular, make multiculturalism a positive feature of the army’s corporate culture. The general watchword adopted in 1999 thus relates to the topic of racism and xenophobia. A code of conduct was also drawn up and includes the question of racism and xenophobia.
Belgium, Thirteenth periodic report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 9 August 2001, UN Doc. CERD/C/381/Add.1, submitted 12 February 2001, § 30.
In 2001, in its initial report to the Committee against Torture, Belgium stated:
Paragraph 7 of the Code of Conduct of the Department of Defence (May 1999) also refers to human rights and international humanitarian law:
“7. … I undertake to treat every individual with respect on a basis of equality. I will not tolerate any form of discrimination. I will assist any individual in danger.”
Belgium, Initial report to the Committee against Torture, 8 July 2002, UN Doc. CAT/C/52/Add. 2, submitted 14 August 2001, § 21.
Belgium’s Field Regulations (1964) provides that wounded and sick soldiers who have laid down their arms shall be treated without distinction based on nationality.
Belgium, Règlement sur le Service en Campagne, Règlement IF 47, Ministère de la Défense Nationale, Etat-Major Général, Force Terrestre, Direction Supérieure de la Tactique, Direction Générale du Planning, Entraînement et Organisation, 1964, Article 23.
Belgium’s Teaching Manual for Soldiers provides that during search and rescue operations, “no difference shall be made between fellow or enemy wounded and sick”.
Belgium, Droit de la Guerre, Dossier d’Instruction pour Soldat, à l’attention des officiers instructeurs, JS3, Etat-Major Général, Forces Armées belges, undated, p. 17.
Belgium’s Law concerning the Repression of Grave Breaches of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols (1993), as amended in 1999, provides for the punishment of anyone “indulging in practices of apartheid or other inhuman or degrading practices based on racial discrimination and resulting in outrages upon personal dignity”.
Belgium, Law concerning the Repression of Grave Breaches of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, 1993, as amended in 1999, Article 1(3)(19); see also Article 1(2)(8) (crime against humanity).
Belgium’s Penal Code (1867), as amended in 2003, provides:
A crime against humanity, as defined below, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, constitutes a crime under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title. In accordance with the Statute of the International Criminal Court, crime against humanity means 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:
…
10. the crime of apartheid.
Belgium, Penal Code, 1867, as amended on 5 August 2003, Chapter III, Title I bis, Article 136 ter, § 10.
The Penal Code further states:
War crimes envisaged in the 1949 [Geneva] Conventions … and in the [1977 Additional Protocols I and II] … , as well as in Article 8(2)(f) of the [1998 ICC Statute], and listed below, … constitute crimes under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title … :
…
33. carrying out practices of apartheid and other inhuman or degrading practices based on racial discrimination and involving outrages upon personal dignity.
Belgium, Penal Code, 1867, as amended on 5 August 2003, Chapter III, Title I bis, Article 136 quater, § 1(33).
Belgium’s Law relating to the Repression of Grave Breaches of International Humanitarian Law (1993), as amended in 2003, provides:
A crime against humanity, as defined below, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, constitutes a crime under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title. In accordance with the Statute of the International Criminal Court, crime against humanity means 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:
…
10. the crime of apartheid.
Belgium, Law relating to the Repression of Grave Breaches of International Humanitarian Law, 1993, as amended on 23 April 2003, Article 1 bis, § 10.
The Law further states:
War crimes envisaged in the 1949 [Geneva] Conventions … and in the [1977 Additional Protocols I and II] … , as well as in Article 8(2)(f) of the [1998 ICC Statute], and listed below, … constitute crimes under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title … :
…
19. carrying out practices of apartheid and other inhuman or degrading practices based on racial discrimination and involving outrages upon personal dignity.
Belgium, Law relating to the Repression of Grave Breaches of International Humanitarian Law, 1993, as amended on 23 April 2003, Article 1 ter, § 1(19).
