Colombia
Practice Relating to Rule 47. Attacks against Persons Hors de Combat
Colombia’s Circular on the Fundamental Rules of IHL (1992) states: “It is prohibited to kill or injure an adversary who … is
hors de combat.”
Colombia’s Directive on IHL (1993) considers an “attack against a person
hors de combat” as a punishable offence.
Colombia’s Penal Code (2000) imposes a criminal sanction on anyone who, during an armed conflict, refuses to give quarter or attacks persons
hors de combat.
In 2007, in the Constitutional Case No. C-291/07, the Plenary Chamber of Colombia’s Constitutional Court stated:
The principle of distinction affords protection not only to civilians, but also to a broader category of “non-combatants”, persons who have participated in hostilities and have been placed
hors de combat ... The protection of persons
hors de combat is provided for in Article 3 Common to the [1949] Geneva Conventions and Article 7 of their [1977] Additional Protocol II and is a rule of customary law.

[footnote in original omitted]
The Court further held that “under customary law, … persons
hors de combat who take a direct part in hostilities shall lose the protection afforded by the principle of distinction if and for such time as they participate in the conflict”.

(footnote in original omitted)
The Court also stated: “Just as in the case of ‘civilians’, persons
hors de combat lose the protection provided by the principle of distinction whenever they take a direct part in hostilities if and for such time as this participation lasts.”

(footnote in original omitted)
The Court also held: “The principle of distinction is complex and encompasses a number of treaty and customary norms applicable in internal armed conflicts, in addition to, in many cases, enjoying
ius cogens status. These rules [include] … the prohibition to attack persons
hors de combat”.
Colombia’s Circular on the Fundamental Rules of IHL (1992) states: “It is prohibited to kill or injure an adversary who surrenders.”
Colombia’s Penal Code (2000) imposes a criminal sanction on anyone who, during an armed conflict, commits acts aimed at leaving no survivors or at killing the wounded and sick.
In a case against the State relative to the takeover of the Palacio de Justicia by guerrillas in 1985, a Colombian administrative court cited a document of the Colombian Ministry of Defence stating that a commander should “respect the life of the enemy who offers to surrender”.