Canada
Practice Relating to Rule 146. Reprisals against Protected Persons
Section A. Captured combatants and prisoners of war
Canada’s LOAC Manual (1999), in the section dealing with the treatment of prisoners of war (PWs), provides: “Reprisals against PWs are prohibited.”
In the section dealing with enforcement measures, the manual further states: “Reprisals are permitted against combatants and against objects constituting military objectives.”

In the same section, it states: “Reprisals against the following categories of persons and objects are prohibited: … c. prisoners of war (PWs)”.
Canada’s Code of Conduct (2001) provides: “No reprisals will be taken against PWs [prisoners of war] or detainees.”
Canada’s LOAC Manual (2001) states in its chapter on the treatment of prisoners of war (PWs): “Reprisals against PWs are prohibited.”
In its chapter entitled “Preventative and enforcement measures and the role of protecting powers”, the manual states:
4. Reprisals against the following categories of persons and objects are prohibited:
…
c. prisoners of war (PWs);
…
5. Reprisals are permitted against combatants and against objects constituting military objectives.
Canada’s Code of Conduct (2005) states:
No reprisals will be taken against PWs [prisoners of war] or detainees … CF [Canadian Forces] personnel will treat detained persons properly regardless of how CF personnel may have been treated while in the hands of opposing forces.
In 1986, in a memorandum on Canada’s attitude to possible reservations with regard to the 1977 Additional Protocol I, the Canadian Ministry of Defence noted: “The Geneva Conventions of 1949 prohibit reprisals against certain categories of persons such as … prisoners of war”.