Norma relacionada
Cameroon
Practice Relating to Rule 3. Definition of Combatants
According to Cameroon’s Instructor’s Manual (1992), “Each member of the armed forces, except religious and medical personnel, is a combatant.”
Cameroon, Droit international humanitaire et droit de la guerre, Manuel de l’instructeur en vigueur dans les Forces Armées, Présidence de la République, Ministère de la Défense, Etat-major des Armées, Troisième Division, Edition 1992, p. 17; see also p. 77.
The manual further states that in addition to members of the armed forces, “members of militias, volunteer corps, resistance movements … members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a government or an authority not recognized by the Power to which they belong” are also recognized as combatants.
Cameroon, Droit international humanitaire et droit de la guerre, Manuel de l’instructeur en vigueur dans les Forces Armées, Présidence de la République, Ministère de la Défense, Etat-major des Armées, Troisième Division, Edition 1992, p. 35; see also p. 143.
Cameroon’s Instructor’s Manual (2006) states: “All members of the Armed Forces are combatants, except religious and medical personnel.”
Cameroon, Droit des conflits armés et droit international humanitaire, Manuel de l’instructeur en vigueur dans les forces de défense, Ministère de la Défense, Présidence de la République, Etat-major des Armées, 2006, p. 92, § 352.10; see also p. 134, § 412.10 and p. 210, § 511.
The manual further states:
Members of the armed forces of a party to a conflict, members of militias, volunteer corps and resistance movements belonging to a party to a conflict, and civilians who spontaneously take up arms in a levée en masse generally qualify as combatants.
Members of the regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a government or an authority not recognized by the Power to which they belong, as well as members of the armed forces of a third State who are at the disposal of a State party to a conflict, are equally considered combatants.
Cameroon, Droit des conflits armés et droit international humanitaire, Manuel de l’instructeur en vigueur dans les forces de défense, Ministère de la Défense, Présidence de la République, Etat-major des Armées, 2006, p. 21, § 111; see also p. 41, § 211, p. 67, § 301, p. 111, § 381, p. 153, § 441 and p. 179, § 491.A.
The manual also states:
Precise rules stipulate conditions for the identification of combatants:
- the wearing of the uniform of the State party to the conflict;
- carrying arms openly when the person is visible to the adversary;
- the presence of an identifiable commander at the head of troops;
- participation in an attack or in a deployment preparatory to a military operation;
- wearing fixed distinctive signs recognizable at a distance.
Cameroon, Droit des conflits armés et droit international humanitaire, Manuel de l’instructeur en vigueur dans les forces de défense, Ministère de la Défense, Présidence de la République, Etat-major des Armées, 2006, p. 21, § 113.
Under the heading “Combatants”, the manual adds: “The status of combatant is protected by the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law.”
Cameroon, Droit des conflits armés et droit international humanitaire, Manuel de l’instructeur en vigueur dans les forces de défense, Ministère de la Défense, Présidence de la République, Etat-major des Armées, 2006, p. 211, § 512.
Cameroon’s Disciplinary Regulations (2007) states:
Article 30: Definition
Members of armed forces in organized units, franc-tireurs detached from regular units, commando detachments and isolated saboteurs, as well as the members of voluntary militias, self-defence groups and organized resistance formations, are lawful combatants.
It is sufficient that those units, organizations or formations have a designated commander, that their members wear a distinctive sign, notably on their clothing, that they carry their arms openly and that they respect the laws and customs of war.
Cameroon, Règlement de discipline générale dans les forces de défense, Décret N° 2007/199, Président de la République, 7 July 2007, Article 30.
