Switzerland
Practice Relating to Rule 113. Treatment of the Dead
Switzerland’s Basic Military Manual (1987) states that anyone who “mutilates the dead” will be punished.
Switzerland’s Military Criminal Code (1927), as amended, punishes anyone who mutilates a dead person.
Switzerland’s Military Criminal Code (1927), taking into account amendments entered into force up to 2011, states in a chapter entitled “War crimes”:
Art. 110
Articles 112–114 apply in the context of international armed conflicts, including in situations of occupation, and, if the nature of the offence does not exclude it, in the context of non-international armed conflicts.
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Art. 112c
1 The penalty shall be a custodial sentence of not less than three years for any person who, in the context of an armed conflict:
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e. mutilates the dead body of an enemy combatant.
Switzerland’s Penal Code (1937), taking into account amendments entered into force up to 2011, states under the title “War crimes”:
Art. 264b
Articles 264d–264j apply in the context of international armed conflicts, including in situations of occupation, and, if the nature of the offence does not exclude it, in the context of non-international armed conflicts.
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Art. 264g
1 The penalty shall be a custodial sentence of not less than three years for any person who, in the context of an armed conflict:
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e. mutilates the dead body of an enemy combatant.
Switzerland’s Basic Military Manual (1987) provides that it is prohibited “to despoil the … dead”.
Switzerland’s Aide-Memoire on the Ten Basic Rules of the Law of Armed Conflict (2005) states: “I respect civilian property. Pillaging and robbing, even of wounded or dead persons, are strictly prohibited.”
Switzerland’s Military Criminal Code (1927), as amended, punishes anyone who, on the battlefield, despoils dead persons.
Switzerland’s Military Criminal Code (1927), as amended in 2007, states that “any person who has mutilated a dead enemy is to be punished with three years’ or more imprisonment or a monetary penalty or, in less serious cases, a year imprisonment or less”.
The manual further states: “Any person who, on the battlefield, has laid his or her hands on a dead person … with the intention to steal, is to be punished with a year imprisonment or less.”