Règle correspondante
Spain
Practice Relating to Rule 96. Hostage-Taking
Spain’s LOAC Manual (1996) prohibits the taking of hostages among the civilian population.
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, § 7.3.a.(1); see also § 10.6.b.(4) and 10.8.b.
The same prohibition applies to prisoners of war.
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, § 8.2.c.
Spain’s LOAC Manual (2007) states:
[N]o person who is captured or detained in relation to an armed conflict remains unprotected under the law of armed conflict and is entitled, at all times, to minimum guarantees. [These include] … prohibition of the following acts at any time and in any place, whether committed by civilian or military agents:
…
l. the taking of hostages.
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, § 8.2.c; see also § 10.3.e.(1).
The manual also prohibits the taking of hostages among the civilian population.
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, § 7.3.a.(1).
Under Spain’s Military Criminal Code (1985), hostage-taking of nationals of the State with which Spain is at war is an offence against the laws and customs of war.
Spain, Military Criminal Code, 1985, Article 77(6).
Spain’s Penal Code (1995) punishes anyone who, in time of armed conflict, takes any protected person hostage.
Spain, Penal Code, 1995, Article 611(4).
Spain’s Penal Code (1995), as amended in 2003, states:
Any person who [commits any of the following acts] during armed conflict is punished with 10 to 15 years’ imprisonment, without prejudice to a penalty for the results of such acts:
…
4. … [T]aking a protected person hostage.
Spain, Penal Code, 1995, as amended on 25 November 2003, Article 611(4).
