Règle correspondante
United States of America
Practice Relating to Rule 103. Collective Punishments
The US Field Manual (1956) reproduces Article 87 of the 1949 Geneva Convention III, Article 33 of the 1949 Geneva Convention IV and Article 50 of the 1907 Hague Regulations.
United States, Field Manual 27-10, The Law of Land Warfare, US Department of the Army, 18 July 1956, as modified by Change No. 1, 15 July 1976, §§ 163(a) (prisoners of war), 272 (civilians) and 448 (occupied territory).
The US Air Force Pamphlet (1976) prohibits collective punishment imposed on prisoners of war for individual acts.
United States, Air Force Pamphlet 110-31, International Law – The Conduct of Armed Conflict and Air Operations, US Department of the Air Force, 1976, § 13-8 (POWs).
The Pamphlet refers to Article 33 of the 1949 Geneva Convention IV and states that “collective penalties (punishment of a protected person for offences which he has not personally committed)” are prohibited.
United States, Air Force Pamphlet 110-31, International Law – The Conduct of Armed Conflict and Air Operations, US Department of the Air Force, 1976, § 14-4 (civilians).
The US Naval Handbook (1995) states: “Prisoners of war may not be subjected to collective punishment.” The same provision applies to interned persons.
United States, The Commander’s Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations, NWP 1-14M/MCWP 5-2.1/COMDTPUB P5800.7, issued by the Department of the Navy, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and Headquarters, US Marine Corps, and Department of Transportation, US Coast Guard, October 1995 (formerly NWP 9 (Rev. A)/FMFM 1-10, October 1989), §§ 11.7.1 (prisoners of war) and 11.8 (interned persons).
The US Naval Handbook (2007) states: “Prisoners of war may not be subjected to collective punishment.”
United States, The Commander’s Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations, NWP 1-14M/MCWP 5-12.1/COMDTPUB P5800.7, issued by the Department of the Navy, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and Headquarters, US Marine Corps, and Department of Homeland Security, US Coast Guard, July 2007, § 11.3.1.1.
The Handbook also states that “interned persons must … not be subjected to … collective punishment.”
United States, The Commander’s Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations, NWP 1-14M/MCWP 5-12.1/COMDTPUB P5800.7, issued by the Department of the Navy, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and Headquarters, US Marine Corps, and Department of Homeland Security, US Coast Guard, July 2007, § 11.5.
In the Calley case in 1973, a US army officer was convicted of murder for killing South Vietnamese civilians. The US Army Court of Military Review dismissed the argument that the acts were lawful reprisals for illegal acts of the enemy and held: “Slaughtering many for the presumed delicts of a few is not a lawful response to the delicts … Reprisal by summary execution of the helpless is forbidden in the laws of land warfare.”
United States, Army Court of Military Review, Calley case, Judgment, 16 February 1973.
In 1987, the Deputy Legal Adviser of the US Department of State affirmed:
We support the principle that [all persons who are in the power of a party to a conflict and who do not benefit from more favorable treatment under the Conventions] not be subjected to … collective punishments.
United States, Remarks of Michael J. Matheson, Deputy Legal Adviser, US Department of State, Sixth Annual American Red Cross-Washington College of Law Conference on International Humanitarian Law: A Workshop on Customary International Law and the 1977 Protocols Additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, American Journal of International Law and Policy, Vol. 2, 1987, p. 427.
In 1992, in its final report to Congress on the conduct of the Gulf War, the US Department of Defense stated:
Iraqi policy provided for the collective punishment of the family of any individual who served in or was suspected of assisting the Kuwaiti resistance. This punishment routinely took the form of destruction of the family home and execution of all family members. Collective punishment is prohibited expressly by Article 33 [of the 1949 Geneva Convention IV].
United States, Department of Defense, Report to Congress on the Conduct of the Persian Gulf War, 10 April 1992, Appendix O, The Role of the Law of War, ILM, Vol. 31, 1992, p. 620.
According to the Report on US Practice, “Articles 4, 5 and 6 [of the 1977 Additional Protocol II] reflect general US policy on treatment of persons in the power of an adverse party in armed conflicts governed by common Article 3” of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. The report also notes: “It is the opinio juris of the US that persons detained in connection with an internal armed conflict are entitled to humane treatment as specified in Articles 4, 5 and 6 [of the 1977 Additional Protocol II].”
Report on US Practice, 1997, Chapter 5.3.
