Related Rule
Spain
Practice Relating to Rule 10. Civilian Objects’ Loss of Protection from Attack
Spain’s LOAC Manual (1996) states: “Civilian objects can become military objectives if by their location, purpose or use, they may assist the enemy, or if their capture, destruction or neutralization offers a definite military advantage.”
Spain, Orientaciones. El Derecho de los Conflictos Armados, Publicación OR7-004, 2 Tomos, aprobado por el Estado Mayor del Ejército, Division de Operaciones, 18 March 1996, Vol. I, § 2.3.b.(1).
Spain’s LOAC Manual (2007) states:
A civilian object can become a military objective if, by its location, purpose or use, it makes an effective contribution to the enemy’s military action and if its total or partial destruction, capture or neutralization provides a definite military advantage.
Spain, Orientaciones. El Derecho de los Conflictos Armados, Tomo 1, Publicación OR7–004, (Edición Segunda), Mando de Adiestramiento y Doctrina, Dirección de Doctrina, Orgánica y Materiales, 2 November 2007, § 2.3.b.(1).
Spain’s LOAC Manual (1996) states: “In case of doubt, an object which is normally dedicated to civilian purposes, such as a house, a school or a place of worship, must be considered to be a civilian object.”
Spain, Orientaciones. El Derecho de los Conflictos Armados, Publicación OR7-004, 2 Tomos, aprobado por el Estado Mayor del Ejército, Division de Operaciones, 18 March 1996, Vol. I, § 4.2.b.(2); see also § 2.3.b.(1).
Spain’s LOAC Manual (2007) states: “If there is any doubt, based on the information available at the time about whether an object normally used for civilian purposes, such as a dwelling, a school or a place of worship, is a military objective, it must be presumed to be a civilian object.”
Spain, Orientaciones. El Derecho de los Conflictos Armados, Tomo 1, Publicación OR7–004, (Edición Segunda), Mando de Adiestramiento y Doctrina, Dirección de Doctrina, Orgánica y Materiales, 2 November 2007, § 4.2.b.(2); see also § 2.3.b.(1).
In 2010, in the Couso case, which concerned the killing of a Spanish journalist in Baghdad on 8 April 2003 by troops of the United States of America, the Criminal Chamber of Spain’s Supreme Court referred to norms of IHL relevant to the case under review, including Article 52(3) of the 1977 Additional Protocol I.
Spain, Supreme Court, Couso case, Judgment, 13 July 2010, Section II(II), Sexto, § 2, p. 15.
