Related Rule
Peru
Practice Relating to Rule 7. The Principle of Distinction between Civilian Objects and Military Objectives
Peru’s IHL Manual (2004) states: “A distinction must be made at all times between … military objectives and civilian property.”
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial Nº 1394-2004-DE/CCFFAA/CDIH-FFAA, Lima, 1 December 2004, § 27.a.(2).(b); see also § 111.b.
The manual further states:
Commanders must take all necessary measures and ensure that their subordinates distinguish between … objects that are considered military objectives and those that are not, both in the conduct of operations and in their behaviour during engagements.
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial Nº 1394-2004-DE/CCFFAA/CDIH-FFAA, Lima, 1 December 2004, § 24.c.(1).
Peru’s IHL and Human Rights Manual (2010) states: “A distinction must be made at all times between … military objectives and civilian objects.”
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario y Derechos Humanos para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial No. 049-2010/DE/VPD, Lima, 21 May 2010, § 28(a)(2)(b), p. 237; see also § 19, p. 224, and § 61, p. 264.
The manual also states: “The general principles on the means of combat and their utilization are based on the fundamental distinction between … military objectives on the one hand and … civilian objects on the other.”
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario y Derechos Humanos para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial No. 049-2010/DE/VPD, Lima, 21 May 2010, § 1, p. 360.
The manual further states: “Commanders must take all necessary measures and ensure that their subordinates distinguish between … military objectives and objects that are not military objectives, both in the conduct of operations and in their behaviour during engagements.”
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario y Derechos Humanos para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial No. 049-2010/DE/VPD, Lima, 21 May 2010, § 25(c)(1), p. 228.
Peru’s Decree on the Use of Force by the Armed Forces (2010) states: “A distinction must be made between military objectives and objects which are not military objectives.”
Peru, Decree on the Use of Force by the Armed Forces, 2010, Article 7(b).
Peru’s IHL Manual (2004) states: “Attacks may only target military objectives. Military objectives must be identified as such and clearly designated and assigned. Attacks must be confined to the assigned military objective.”
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial Nº 1394-2004-DE/CCFFAA/CDIH-FFAA, Lima, 1 December 2004, § 29.a.
The manual further states: “Non-protected objects are military objectives, which can be attacked.”
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial Nº 1394-2004-DE/CCFFAA/CDIH-FFAA, Lima, 1 December 2004, § 33.d.
Peru’s IHL and Human Rights Manual (2010) states: “Attacks may only be directed against military objectives. The military objective must be identified as such and clearly designated and assigned. Attacks must be confined to the assigned military objective.”
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario y Derechos Humanos para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial No. 049-2010/DE/VPD, Lima, 21 May 2010, § 30(a), p. 242.
The manual also states: “Non-protected objects are military objectives, which can be attacked.”
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario y Derechos Humanos para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial No. 049-2010/DE/VPD, Lima, 21 May 2010, § 34(c), p. 242; see also § 9, p. 419.
Peru’s Decree on the Use of Force by the Armed Forces (2010) states: “Only military objectives may be attacked.”
Peru’s IHL Manual (2004) states: “Civilian objects must be respected.” Peru, Decree on the Use of Force by the Armed Forces, 2010, Article 7(b).
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial Nº 1394-2004-DE/CCFFAA/CDIH-FFAA, Lima, 1 December 2004, § 18.
The manual further states: “Protected objects are civilian objects which must not be attacked unless they become military objectives.”
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial Nº 1394-2004-DE/CCFFAA/CDIH-FFAA, Lima, 1 December 2004, § 33.b.
Peru’s IHL and Human Rights Manual (2010) states: “Civilian objects must be respected”.
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario y Derechos Humanos para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial No. 049-2010/DE/VPD, Lima, 21 May 2010, § 19, p. 224.
The manual also states: “Civilian objects must not be attacked unless they become military objectives.”
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario y Derechos Humanos para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial No. 049-2010/DE/VPD, Lima, 21 May 2010, § 11, p. 419; see also p. 398.
Peru’s Code of Military and Police Justice (2006) states:
A member of the military or police shall be imprisoned for a period of no less than eight and no more than 15 years if he or she in the context of an international or non-international armed conflict:
…
2. Directs an attack by any means against civilian objects if they are protected by international humanitarian law.
Peru, Code of Military and Police Justice, 2006, Article 95(2).
This article is no longer in force. Along with certain other articles in this legislation, it was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court (en banc decision for case file No. 0012-2006-PI-TC, 8 January 2007) because it does not stipulate a crime committed in the line of duty that would fall under the jurisdiction of a military court pursuant to Article 173 of Peru’s Constitution.
Peru’s Military and Police Criminal Code (2010), in a chapter titled “Crimes involving the use of prohibited methods in the conduct of hostilities”, states:
A member of the military or the police shall be punished with deprivation of liberty of not less than six years and not more than twenty-five years if, in a state of emergency and when the Armed Forces assume control of the internal order, he or she:
…
2. Attacks civilian objects by any means, provided that these objects are protected by International Humanitarian Law.
Peru, Military and Police Criminal Code, 2010, Article 91(2).
Peru’s IHL and Human Rights Manual (2010) states: “The bombardment of towns, villages, houses and buildings which are not in the immediate proximity of the operations of the land forces is prohibited.”
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario y Derechos Humanos para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial No. 049-2010/DE/VPD, Lima, 21 May 2010, § 63(e), p. 323.
Peru’s Regulations to the Law on Internal Displacement (2005) states:
Internally displaced persons who return to their place of habitual residence or who have resettled in another part of the country have a right to:
…
h) Be protected against all forms of combat that may put internally displaced persons at risk, including armed attacks on [their] camps and other settlements.
Peru, Regulations to the Law on Internal Displacement, 2005, Article 6(h).
Peru’s IHL Manual (2004) states:
(a) Enemy merchant vessels
(1) Enemy merchant vessels may only be attacked if they meet the definition of a military objective.
…
(3) Any attack on these vessels must comply with the basic rules of international humanitarian law, the requirement to distinguish between protected persons and objects and military objectives and the conditions that must be met for an object to be considered a military objective.
…
(b) Enemy civil aircraft
(1) Enemy civil aircraft may only be attacked if they meet the definition of a military objective.
…
(3) Any attack on these aircraft must comply with the basic rules of international humanitarian law, the requirement to distinguish between protected persons and objects and military objectives and the conditions that must be met for an object to be considered a military objective.
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial Nº 1394-2004-DE/CCFFAA/CDIH-FFAA, Lima, 1 December 2004, § 130.a.(1) and (3) and b.(1) and (3).
Peru’s IHL and Human Rights Manual (2010) states:
120. Enemy vessels and aircraft which benefit from immunity against attack
a. The following classes of enemy vessels cannot be attacked:
…
(5) Passenger ships if they only transport civilian passengers.
…
121. Other enemy vessels and aircraft
a. Enemy merchant vessels
(1) Enemy merchant vessels may only be attacked if they meet the definition of a military objective.
…
b. Enemy civil aircraft
(1) Enemy civil aircraft may only be attacked if they meet the definition of a military objective.
…
(3) Any attack on these aircraft must comply with the basic rules of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), the requirement to distinguish between protected persons and objects and military objectives and the conditions that must be met for an object to be considered a military objective.
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario y Derechos Humanos para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial No. 049-2010/DE/VPD, Lima, 21 May 2010, § 120(a)(5), p. 310, § 121(a)(1), p. 312, and § 121(b)(1) and (3), p. 313.
The Report on the Practice of Peru refers to a scholar who wrote that in 1879, during a conflict against Chile, a Peruvian admiral refused, on humanitarian grounds, to attack an enemy vessel that he believed to be a transport ship.
Report on the Practice of Peru, 1998, Chapter 1.3, referring to E. Angeles Figueroa, El Derecho Internacional Humanitario y los Conflictos Armados, Lima, 1992, pp. 119–120.
