Belgium
Practice Relating to Rule 70. Weapons of a Nature to Cause Superfluous Injury or Unnecessary Suffering
Belgium’s Law of War Manual (1983) provides that the use of weapons or means and methods of warfare which render death inevitable or cause unnecessary suffering is illegal.
Belgium’s Teaching Manual for Officers (1994) defines the concept of unnecessary suffering as “suffering … that needlessly adds to that already inflicted on the enemy to render him
hors de combat”. It provides: “It is prohibited to use weapons for the purpose of causing superfluous injury rather than for their military effectiveness.”
Belgium’s Teaching Manual for Soldiers states: “Combatants must refrain from causing superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering to persons and unnecessary damage to property.”
Belgium’s Penal Code (1867), as amended in 2003, provides:
War crimes envisaged in the 1949 [Geneva] Conventions … and in the [1977 Additional Protocols I and II] … , as well as in Article 8(2)(f) of the [1998 ICC Statute], and listed below, … constitute crimes under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title … :
…
40. employing weapons, projectiles, material and methods of warfare which are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering … in violation of the international law of armed conflict, provided that such weapons, projectiles, material and methods of warfare are the subject of a comprehensive prohibition and are included in an annex to the Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Belgium’s Law relating to the Repression of Grave Breaches of International Humanitarian Law (1993), as amended in 2003, provides:
War crimes envisaged in the 1949 [Geneva] Conventions … and in the [1977 Additional Protocols I and II] … , as well as in Article 8(2)(f) of the [1998 ICC Statute], and listed below, … constitute crimes under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title … :
…
26. employing weapons, projectiles, material and methods of warfare which are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering … in violation of the international law of armed conflict, provided that such weapons, projectiles, material and methods of warfare are the subject of a comprehensive prohibition and are included in an annex to the Statute of the International Criminal Court.