Règle correspondante
Burundi
Practice Relating to Rule 14. Proportionality in Attack
Section A. General
Burundi’s Regulations on International Humanitarian Law (2007) states: “The utilization of methods and means of combat may not be excessive in relation to the direct and concrete military advantage anticipated.”
Burundi, Règlement n° 98 sur le droit international humanitaire, Ministère de la Défense Nationale et des Anciens Combattants, Projet “Moralisation” (BDI/B-05), August 2007, Part I bis, p. 81; see also Part I bis, p. 33.
The Regulations also states:
It is prohibited to cause suffering and destruction which are excessive in relation to the aim of the mission. The means utilized must be proportionate to the objective sought. Thus, bombarding a village because a single sniper is located there violates the principle of proportionality.
Burundi, Règlement n° 98 sur le droit international humanitaire, Ministère de la Défense Nationale et des Anciens Combattants, Projet “Moralisation” (BDI/B-05), August 2007, Part I bis, p. 33; see also Part I bis, pp. 3, 17, 23, 26, 40, 54, 63, 86 and 93.
The Regulations further states: “The rule of proportionality must be respected. … The rule of proportionality does not justify unlimited destruction or attacks against civilians or civilian objects as such.”
Burundi, Règlement n° 98 sur le droit international humanitaire, Ministère de la Défense Nationale et des Anciens Combattants, Projet “Moralisation” (BDI/B-05), August 2007, Part I bis, p. 40.
Burundi’s Law on Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes (2003) states:
[The following are] considered as war crimes:
…
B. Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflicts, within the established framework of international law, namely, any of the following acts:
…
d) launching a deliberate attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects … which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated.
Burundi, Law on Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes, 2003, Article 4(B)(d).
Burundi’s Penal Code (2009) states:
“War crimes” means crimes which are committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes, in particular:
…
2. … [S]erious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict, within the established framework of international law, namely, any of the following acts:
…
4°. Intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians [or] damage to civilian objects … which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated.
Burundi, Penal Code, 2009, Article 198(2)(4°).
