Spain
Practice Relating to Rule 65. Perfidy
Section H. Simulation of protected status by using other internationally recognized emblems
Spain’s Penal Code (1995) punishes “anyone who, during an armed conflict … uses … in a perfidious manner the protective or distinctive signs, emblems or signals established and recognized under international treaties to which Spain is a party”.
Spain’s Penal Code (1995), as amended in 2010, removes the reference to “in a perfidious manner” from this article.
Spain’s LOAC Manual (1996) states: “It is prohibited to feign a protected status by inviting the confidence of the enemy: misuse of distinctive signs.”
The manual adds that it is a grave breach and a war crime “to make a perfidious use … of … recognized protective signs”.
Spain’s LOAC Manual (2007) states that it is a war crime to make “[deliberate] misuse of … recognized protective emblems ([an] act of perfidy), causing death or seriously endangering physical health or integrity”.