Norma relacionada
Switzerland
Practice Relating to Rule 52. Pillage
Section A. General
Switzerland’s Basic Military Manual (1987) states that all forms of pillage are prohibited. It refers to Article 28 of the 1907 Hague Regulations and Article 33 of the 1949 Geneva Convention IV.
Switzerland, Lois et coutumes de la guerre (Extrait et commentaire), Règlement 51.7/II f, Armée Suisse, 1987, Article 34; see also Articles 21 and 147(c).
The manual further defines pillage as a war crime.
Switzerland, Lois et coutumes de la guerre (Extrait et commentaire), Règlement 51.7/II f, Armée Suisse, 1987, Article 200(2)(i).
Switzerland’s Aide-Memoire on the Ten Basic Rules of the Law of Armed Conflict (2005) states:
Rule 6
… I respect civilian property. Pillaging and robbing, even of wounded or dead persons, are strictly prohibited.
…
Rule 8
I remain fair:
…
I shall not collect “war trophies”.
Switzerland, The Ten Basic Rules of the Law of Armed Conflict, Aide-memoire 51.007/IIIe, Swiss Army, issued based on Article 10 of the Ordinance for Organization of the Federal Department for Defence, Civil Protection and Sports dated 7 March 2003, entry into force on 1 July 2005, Rules 6 and 8.
Switzerland’s Regulation on Legal Bases for Conduct during an Engagement (2005) states:
201 Pillage and wilful damage to civilian property, as well as to facilities and objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population (e.g. water supply), are prohibited at any time and in any place.
…
17 Sanctions for violations of the international law of armed conflict
…
237 The following in particular are criminal offences: … marauding (appropriation, without valid motive, of movable goods for use in active service), pillaging and war robbery (see Art. 108 et seq. and Art. 138 et seq. of the Military Criminal Code).
Switzerland, Bases légales du comportement à l’engagement (BCE), Règlement 51.007/IVf, Swiss Army, issued based on Article 10 of the Ordinance on the Organization of the Federal Department for Defence, Civil Protection and Sports of 7 March 2003, entry into force on 1 July 2005, §§ 201 and 237.
Switzerland’s Military Criminal Code (1927), as amended, punishes “anyone who, in time of war or military service, commits an act of pillage”. It is also a punishable offence to allow subordinates to pillage or not to intervene to stop acts of pillage.
Switzerland, Military Criminal Code, 1927, as amended, Article 139(1).
Switzerland’s Military Criminal Code (1927), as amended in 2007, states:
Any person who, in times of war … , has committed an act of pillage, in particular any person who, profiting from the alarm caused by the war, has taken other people’s property, has compelled another person to hand such property over to him or her, or has committed acts of violence against other people’s property, is to be punished with imprisonment or with a monetary penalty.
Switzerland, Military Criminal Code, 1927, as amended in 2007, Article 139.
Switzerland’s Military Criminal Code (1927), taking into account amendments entered into force up to 2011, states in a chapter entitled “War crimes”:
Art. 110
Articles 112–114 apply in the context of international armed conflicts, including in situations of occupation, and, if the nature of the offence does not exclude it, in the context of non-international armed conflicts.
…
Art. 112c
1 The penalty shall be a custodial sentence of not less than three years for any person who, in the context of an armed conflict:
…
c. as a method of warfare, pillages or otherwise unlawfully appropriates property[.]
Switzerland, Military Criminal Code, 1927, taking into account amendments entered into force up to 2011, Articles 110 and 112c (1)(c).
In a chapter entitled “Felonies or misdemeanours against property” the Code further states:
Art. 138
1 The penalty shall be a custodial sentence of up to three years or a fine for any person who, in time of war or while in active duty, in his own initiative and without sufficient justification takes away food, clothing or any other object of everyday use for their personal use.
…
Art. 139
1 The penalty shall be a custodial sentence or a fine of not less than 60 daily rates for any person who, in time of war or while in active duty, commits an act of pillage, unlawfully appropriates property in any other way, or exercises violence against someone else’s property.
2 The penalty shall be a custodial sentence of not less than five years for any person who pillages by using violence against a person, threatens the person with immediate danger to life or bodily integrity or in any other way makes the person incapable of resistance.
Switzerland, Military Criminal Code, 1927, taking into account amendments entered into force up to 2011, Articles 138(1) and 139.
Switzerland’s Penal Code (1937), taking into account amendments entered into force up to 2011, states under the title “War crimes”:
Art. 264b
Articles 264d–264j apply in the context of international armed conflicts, including in situations of occupation, and, if the nature of the offence does not exclude it, in the context of non-international armed conflicts.
…
Art. 264g
1 The penalty shall be a custodial sentence of not less than three years for any person who, in the context of an armed conflict:
…
c. as a method of warfare, pillages or otherwise unlawfully appropriates property[.]
Switzerland, Penal Code, 1937, taking into account amendments entered into force up to 2011, Articles 264b and 264g (1)(c).
In 2005, in a report in response to a parliamentary postulate on private security and military companies, Switzerland’s Federal Council defined war crimes as “criminal violations of international humanitarian law such as … the plundering of objects of value.”
Switzerland, Report by the Swiss Federal Council on Private Security and Military Companies, 2 December 2005, Section 5.5.2.2, p. 49, footnote 112.
Switzerland’s ABC of International Humanitarian Law (2009) states:
Means and methods of warfare
Even in war not everything is allowed. Various means and methods are prohibited, including … pillage …
War crimes
War crimes are grave breaches of the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 protecting persons and objects as well as other serious violations of the laws and customs that apply to an international or non-international Armed conflict. War crimes include notably: … pillage. States are under an obligation to prosecute or extradite persons suspected of having committed war crimes on their territory.
Switzerland, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, ABC of International Humanitarian Law, 2009, pp. 29 and 40.
