Practice Relating to Rule 115. Disposal of the Dead
Section D. Burial in individual or collective graves
Geneva Convention I
Article 17, first paragraph, of the 1949 Geneva Convention I provides that parties to the conflict shall ensure that burial or cremation of the dead is “carried out individually as far as circumstances permit”.
Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, Geneva, 12 August 1949, Article 17, first para.
Geneva Convention II
Article 20, first paragraph, of the 1949 Geneva Convention II provides that parties to the conflict shall ensure that burial at sea of the dead be “carried out individually as far as circumstances permit”.
Convention (II) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, Geneva, 12 August 1949, Article 20, first para.
Geneva Convention III
Article 120, fifth paragraph, of the 1949 Geneva Convention III provides: “Deceased prisoners of war shall be buried in individual graves unless unavoidable circumstances require the use of collective graves.”
Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Geneva, 12 August 1949, Article 120, fifth para.
Geneva Convention IV
Article 130, second paragraph, of the 1949 Geneva Convention IV provides: “Deceased internees shall be buried in individual graves unless unavoidable circumstances require the use of collective graves.”
Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Geneva, 12 August 1949, Article 130, second para.
NATO Standardization Agreement 2070
The 1999 NATO Standardization Agreement 2070 provides:
3. Whenever practicable, separate burial should be given to the remains, or even part remains, of each deceased person.
…
6. The following definitions are taken from the NATO Glossary of Terms and Definitions for military use in English and French …:
a. Emergency Burial. A burial, usually on the battlefield, when conditions do not permit evacuation for burial in a cemetery.
b. Group Burial. A burial in a common grave of two or more individually unidentified remains.
c. Trench Burial. A method of burial resorted to when casualties are heavy whereby a trench is prepared and the individual remains are laid in it side by side, thus obviating the necessity of digging and filling individual graves.
…
12. In the case of trench and group burials a marker and list in a suitable container endorsed accordingly is to be placed at each end of the grave and the distance of the remains from the marker is to be shown against the relevant entry in the list. In group burials, the number of bodies buried must be recorded, with the names of the known but unidentifiable dead listed.
Standardization Agreement 2070, Edition 4, Emergency War Burial Procedures, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Military Agency for Standardization, Brussels, 6 April 1999, §§ 3, 6 and 12.
No data.
Argentina
Argentina’s Law of War Manual (1969) provides that the deceased must “be buried individually, so far as the circumstances so permit”.
Argentina, Leyes de Guerra, RC-46-1, Público, II Edición 1969, Ejército Argentino, Edición original aprobado por el Comandante en Jefe del Ejército, 9 May 1967, § 3.005; see also Leyes de Guerra, PC-08-01, Público, Edición 1989, Estado Mayor Conjunto de las Fuerzas Armadas, aprobado por Resolución No. 489/89 del Ministerio de Defensa, 23 April 1990, § 6.04.
Australia
Australia’s Defence Force Manual (1994) states: “The burial or cremation of the dead shall be carried out individually.”
Australia, Manual on Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Force Publication, Operations Series, ADFP 37 – Interim Edition, 1994, § 999.
Australia
Australia’s LOAC Manual (2006) states: “The burial or cremation of the dead shall be carried out individually.”
Australia, The Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Doctrine Publication 06.4, Australian Defence Headquarters, 11 May 2006, § 9.104.
The LOAC Manual (2006) replaces both the Defence Force Manual (1994) and the Commanders’ Guide (1994).
Benin
Benin’s Military Manual (1995) provides that the dead “shall be buried, cremated or buried at sea individually”.
Benin, Le Droit de la Guerre, III fascicules, Forces Armées du Bénin, Ministère de la Défense nationale, 1995, Fascicule II, p. 12; see also Fascicule III, p. 5.
Burundi
Burundi’s Regulations on International Humanitarian Law (2007) states that “after identification, the dead must be buried individually, if the tactical situation and other circumstances (e.g. hygiene) permit”.
Burundi, Règlement n° 98 sur le droit international humanitaire, Ministère de la Défense Nationale et des Anciens Combattants, Projet “Moralisation” (BDI/B-05), August 2007, Part I bis, p. 105.
Canada
Canada’s LOAC Manual (1999) provides: “Parties to the conflict shall ensure that burial or cremation of the dead is carried out individually as far as circumstances permit.”
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Level, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 1999, p. 9-6, § 55.
Canada
Canada’s Code of Conduct (2001) provides: “The burial or cremation of the dead should be carried out individually as far as circumstances permit.”
Canada, Code of Conduct for CF Personnel, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 4 June 2001, Rule 7, § 5.
Canada
Canada’s LOAC Manual (2001) states in its chapter on the treatment of the wounded, sick and shipwrecked: “Parties to the conflict shall ensure that burial or cremation of the dead is carried out individually as far as circumstances permit.”
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Levels, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 13 August 2001, § 925.2.
Canada
Canada’s Prisoner of War Handling and Detainees Manual (2004) states with regard to the funeral arrangements for prisoners of war (PW): “Unless circumstances necessitate the use of collective graves, deceased PW are to be buried in individual graves.”
Canada, Prisoner of War Handling, Detainees, Interrogation and Tactical Questioning in International Operations, B-GJ-005-110/FP-020, National Defence Headquarters, 1 August 2004, § 3F17.5.c(4).
Canada
Canada’s Code of Conduct (2005) instructs: “The burial or cremation of the dead should be carried out individually as far as circumstances permit.”
Canada, Code of Conduct for CF Personnel, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 2005, Rule 7, § 5.
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic’s Instructor’s Manual (1999) states in Volume 3 (Instruction for non-commissioned officers studying for the level 1 and 2 certificates and for future officers of the criminal police): “At all times, and especially following a battle, the dead must be … buried, if possible individually”.
Central African Republic, Le Droit de la Guerre, Fascicule No. 3: Formation pour l’obtention du Brevet d’Armes No. 1, du Brevet d’Armes No. 2 et le stage d’Officier de Police Judiciaire (OPJ), Ministère de la Défense, Forces Armées Centrafricaines, 1999, Chapter I, Section II, § 2.3.
Croatia
Croatia’s Commanders’ Manual (1992) provides: “As a rule, the dead shall be … buried, cremated or buried at sea individually.”
Croatia, Basic Rules of the Law of Armed Conflicts – Commanders’ Manual, Republic of Croatia, Ministry of Defence, 1992, § 76.
France
France’s LOAC Manual (2001) reproduces Article 17 of the 1949 Geneva Convention I.
France, Manuel de droit des conflits armés, Ministère de la Défense, Direction des Affaires Juridiques, Sous-Direction du droit international humanitaire et du droit européen, Bureau du droit des conflits armés, 2001, p. 121.
Italy
Italy’s LOAC Elementary Rules Manual (1991) provides: “As a general rule, the dead shall be … buried, cremated or buried at sea individually”.
Italy, Regole elementari di diritto di guerra, SMD-G-012, Stato Maggiore della Difesa, I Reparto, Ufficio Addestramento e Regolamenti, Rome, 1991, § 76.
Kenya
Kenya’s LOAC Manual (1997) states: “After identification, the dead shall be buried, cremated or buried at sea individually, when the tactical situation and other circumstances (e.g. hygiene) permit.”
Kenya, Law of Armed Conflict, Military Basic Course (ORS), 4 Précis, The School of Military Police, 1997, Précis No. 3, p. 11.
Madagascar
Madagascar’s Military Manual (1994) provides: “Generally, the dead shall be … buried, cremated or buried at sea individually.”
Madagascar, Le Droit des Conflits Armés, Ministère des Forces Armées, August 1994, Fiche No. 7-O, § 23; see also Fiche No. 6-SO, § B.
Mexico
Mexico’s Army and Air Force Manual (2009), in a section on the 1949 Geneva Convention I, states: “Parties to the conflict must ensure that burial on land or at sea or cremation of the dead … [is] carried out individually as far as circumstances permit”.
Mexico, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario para el Ejército y la Fuerza Área Mexicanos, Ministry of National Defence, June 2009, § 92.
Netherlands
The Military Manual (1993) of the Netherlands states: “Parties to the conflict are obliged to ensure that burial or cremation of the dead shall be carried out individually.”
Netherlands, Toepassing Humanitair Oorlogsrecht, Voorschift No. 27-412/1, Koninklijke Landmacht, Ministerie van Defensie, 1993, p. VI-2.
Netherlands
The Military Manual (2005) of the Netherlands states: “The parties to a conflict are bound to ensure that burial or cremation of the dead takes place separately as far as possible for each of the deceased”.
Netherlands, Humanitair Oorlogsrecht: Handleiding, Voorschift No. 27-412, Koninklijke Landmacht, Militair Juridische Dienst, 2005, § 0609.
Peru
Peru’s IHL Manual (2004) states: “On land, bodies should be buried, individually if circumstances permit, rather than cremated.”
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial Nº 1394-2004-DE/CCFFAA/CDIH-FFAA, Lima, 1 December 2004, § 86.b.
Peru
Peru’s IHL and Human Rights Manual (2010) states: “If circumstances permit, the dead must be buried individually [on land]. … At sea, the dead should be committed to the sea, individually if circumstances permit, if they cannot be taken to land.”
Peru, Manual de Derecho Internacional Humanitario y Derechos Humanos para las Fuerzas Armadas, Resolución Ministerial No. 049-2010/DE/VPD, Lima, 21 May 2010, § 77(b), p. 277; see also p. 427.
Poland
Poland’s Procedures Governing the Interment of Soldiers Killed in Action (2009) states: “Whenever possible, the bodies of soldiers belonging to the national armed forces, allied forces or enemy forces, as well as the bodies of non-combatants, shall be buried in individual graves.”
Poland, Norma Obronna NO-02-A053:2004, Działania wojenne Procedury pochówku poległych i zmarłych, enacted by decision No. 134/MON related to the Approval and Enforcement of Regulatory Instruments in Respect of State Defence and Security, 21 April 2009, published in the Official Gazette of the Ministry of National Defence, No. 8, Item 99, April 2009, Section 1.
The Procedures also states: “The graves may be dug as individual, group or trench graves.”
Poland, Norma Obronna NO-02-A053:2004, Działania wojenne Procedury pochówku poległych i zmarłych, enacted by decision No. 134/MON related to the Approval and Enforcement of Regulatory Instruments in Respect of State Defence and Security, 21 April 2009, published in the Official Gazette of the Ministry of National Defence, No. 8, Item 99, April 2009, Section 2.2.
The Procedures further states in the section on definitions:
Group burial
Burial in a common grave of two or more unidentified bodies or human remains.
…
Trench burial
The burial of bodies in collective graves, in the event of very heavy casualties, when the bodies or remains cannot be separated from one another, and cannot be identified.
Poland, Norma Obronna NO-02-A053:2004, Działania wojenne Procedury pochówku poległych i zmarłych, enacted by decision No. 134/MON related to the Approval and Enforcement of Regulatory Instruments in Respect of State Defence and Security, 21 April 2009, published in the Official Gazette of the Ministry of National Defence, No. 8, Item 99, April 2009, Section 1.
The Procedures also states: “Civilian members of the armed forces who had not participated in hostilities shall be buried in line with procedures established for the burial of the bodies of soldiers.”
Poland, Norma Obronna NO-02-A053:2004, Działania wojenne Procedury pochówku poległych i zmarłych, enacted by decision No. 134/MON related to the Approval and Enforcement of Regulatory Instruments in Respect of State Defence and Security, 21 April 2009, published in the Official Gazette of the Ministry of National Defence, No. 8, Item 99, April 2009, Section 2.4.2.
Russian Federation
The Russian Federation’s Regulations on the Application of IHL (2001) provides: “Whenever possible, dead bodies or the remains thereof shall be buried individually in accordance with the rites of the religion to which they belonged.”
Russian Federation, Regulations on the Application of International Humanitarian Law by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Moscow, 8 August 2001, § 168.
South Africa
South Africa’s LOAC Teaching Manual (2008) states:
Search for Casualties
[1949] Geneva Convention I article 15 stipulates that the Parties to the conflict must, at all times, particularly after an engagement, without delay, take all possible measures to[:]
…
- search for the dead and prevent their being despoiled.
…
Burial of the Dead
…
- Bodies must, wherever possible, be buried in separate graves.
…
Search for Casualties (Article 18 [1949] Geneva Convention II)
- After every engagement at sea all possible measures must be taken to search for and collect the dead, wounded, sick and shipwrecked.
…
- Burial of the Dead
- Burial can take place at sea (individually if circumstances permit).
…
- If the bodies are brought ashore, the prescriptions of Geneva Convention I, regarding burial at land, will apply.
South Africa, Advanced Law of Armed Conflict Teaching Manual, School of Military Justice, 1 April 2008, as amended to 25 October 2013, Learning Unit 2, pp. 103–104, 106–107, 109 and 111.
Spain
Spain’s LOAC Manual (1996) provides: “The dead shall be buried, cremated or buried at sea individually.”
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, § 5.2.d.(6).
Spain
Spain’s LOAC Manual (2007) states that “the dead must be buried or cremated individually”.
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, § 5.2.d.(6).
Switzerland
Switzerland’s Basic Military Manual (1987) states: “If possible, corpses shall be buried separately.”
Switzerland, Lois et coutumes de la guerre (Extrait et commentaire), Règlement 51.7/II f, Armée Suisse, 1987, Article 76, commentary.
Togo
Togo’s Military Manual (1996) provides that the dead “shall be buried, incinerated or buried at sea individually”.
Togo, Le Droit de la Guerre, III fascicules, Etat-major Général des Forces Armées Togolaises, Ministère de la Défense nationale, 1996 Fascicule II, p. 12; see also Fascicule III, p. 5.
Ukraine
Ukraine’s IHL Manual (2004) states:
2.5.3.5. The best spaces of open and dry terrain shall be chosen for gravesites and separate graves.
…
2.5.3.6. As much as possible, the burial of the dead bodies or their remains shall be done individually.
Ukraine, Manual on the Application of IHL Rules, Ministry of Defence, 11 September 2004, §§ 2.5.3.5 and 2.5.3.6.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The UK Military Manual (1958) provides: “The belligerents must make provision for … interment, in individual graves so far as possible”.
United Kingdom, The Law of War on Land being Part III of the Manual of Military Law, The War Office, HMSO, 1958, § 383.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The UK LOAC Manual (2004) states: “The remains of the dead are to be honourably interred (unless burial at sea is appropriate), in so far as possible in individual graves”.
United Kingdom, The Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict, Ministry of Defence, 1 July 2004, § 7.35.
United States of America
The US Field Manual (1956) provides: “Parties to the conflict shall ensure burial or cremation of the dead, carried out individually as far as circumstances permit.”
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, § 218; see also Air Force Pamphlet 110-31, International Law – The Conduct of Armed Conflict and Air Operations, US Department of the Air Force, 1976, § 12-2(a).
Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia’s Military Manual (1988) stipulates that bodies should be buried individually.
Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of, Propisi o Primeri Pravila Medjunarodnog Ratnog Prava u Oruzanim Snagama SFRJ, PrU-2, Savezni Sekretarijat za Narodnu Odbranu (Pravna Uprava), 1988, Article 167.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s International Crimes (Tribunal) Act (1973) states that the “violation of any humanitarian rules applicable in armed conflicts laid down in the Geneva Conventions of 1949” is a crime.
Bangladesh, International Crimes (Tribunal) Act, 1973, Section 3(2)(e).
Denmark
Denmark’s Military Criminal Code (1973), as amended in 1978, provides:
Any person who uses war instruments or procedures the application of which violates an international agreement entered into by Denmark or the general rules of international law, shall be liable to the same penalty [i.e. a fine, lenient imprisonment or up to 12 years’ imprisonment].
Denmark, Military Criminal Code, 1973, as amended in 1978, § 25(1).
Denmark’s Military Criminal Code (2005) provides:
Any person who deliberately uses war means [“krigsmiddel”] or procedures the application of which violates an international agreement entered into by Denmark or international customary law, shall be liable to the same penalty [i.e. imprisonment up to life imprisonment].
Denmark, Military Criminal Code, 2005, § 36(2).
Ireland
Under Ireland’s Geneva Conventions Act (1962), as amended in 1998, any “minor breach” of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, including violations of Article 17 of the Geneva Convention I, Article 20 of the Geneva Convention II, Article 120 of the Geneva Convention III and Article 130 of the Geneva Convention IV, is a punishable offence.
Ireland, Geneva Conventions Act, 1962, as amended in 1998, Section 4(1) and (4).
Norway
Norway’s Military Penal Code (1902), as amended in 1981, provides:
Anyone who contravenes or is accessory to the contravention of provisions relating to the protection of persons or property laid down in … the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 … is liable to imprisonment.
Norway, Military Penal Code, 1902, as amended in 1981, § 108(a).
Colombia
In 1995, Colombia’s Council of State held that the deceased must be buried individually, subject to all the requirements of the law, and not in mass graves.
Colombia, Council of State, Administrative Case No. 10941, Judgment, 6 September 1995.
Russian Federation
In 2007, in the Burial case, the Russian Federation’s Constitutional Court was called upon to rule on the constitutionality of two laws related to the interment of suspected terrorists whose deaths resulted from the interception of their terrorist acts. The Court held that the restrictive measures introduced by these laws were in conformity with the Constitution. The Court stated:
3.1 … [T]he interest in fighting terrorism, in preventing terrorism in general and specific terms and in providing redress for the effects of terrorist acts, coupled with the risk of mass disorder, clashes between different ethnic groups and aggression by the next of kin of those involved in terrorist activity against the population at large and law-enforcement officials, and lastly the threat to human life and limb, may, in a given historical context, justify the establishment of a particular legal regime, such as that provided for by section 14(1) of the Federal Act [on Interment and Burial of 12 January 1996, as amended], governing the burial of persons who escape prosecution in connection with terrorist activity on account of their death following the interception of a terrorist act. …
…
3.2. Action to minimise the informational and psychological impact of the terrorist act on the population, including the weakening of its propaganda effect, is one of the means necessary to protect public security and the morals, health, rights and legal interests of citizens. It therefore pursues exactly those aims for which the Constitution of the Russian Federation and international legal instruments permit restrictions on the relevant rights and freedoms.
The burial of those who have taken part in a terrorist act, in close proximity to the graves of the victims of their acts, and the observance of rites of burial and remembrance with the paying of respects, as a symbolic act of worship, serve as a means of propaganda for terrorist ideas and also cause offence to relatives of the victims of the acts in question, creating the preconditions for increasing inter-ethnic and religious tension.
In the conditions which have arisen in the Russian Federation as a result of the commission of a series of terrorist acts which produced numerous human victims, resulted in widespread negative social reaction and had a major impact on the collective consciousness, the return of the body to the relatives … may create a threat to social order and peace and to the rights and legal interests of other persons and their security, including incitement to hatred and incitement to engage in acts of vandalism, violence, mass disorder and clashes which may produce further victims. Meanwhile, the burial places of participants in terrorist acts may become a shrine for certain extremist individuals and be used by them as a means of propaganda for the ideology of terrorism and involvement in terrorist activity.
In such circumstances, the federal legislature may introduce special arrangements governing the burial of individuals whose death occurred as a result of the interception of a terrorist act in which they were taking part.
Russian Federation, Constitutional Court, Burial case, 28 June 2007, §§ 3.1–3.2.
The Court also stated:
The constitutional and legal meaning of the existing norms presupposes the possibility of bringing court proceedings to challenge a decision to discontinue, on account of the deaths of the suspects, a criminal case against or prosecution of participants in a terrorist act. Accordingly, they also presuppose an obligation on the court’s part to examine the substance of the complaint, that is, to verify [that] the decision and the conclusions therein [are lawful and well founded] as regards the participation of the persons concerned in a terrorist act, and to establish the absence of grounds for rehabilitating [the suspects] and discontinuing the criminal case. They thus entail an examination of the lawfulness of the application of the aforementioned restrictive measures. Until the entry into force of the court judgment the deceased’s remains cannot be buried; the relevant State bodies and officials must take all necessary measures to ensure that the bodies are disposed of … through the burial of the remains in the ground ... or by [cremation], individually, if possible.
Russian Federation, Constitutional Court, Burial case, 28 June 2007, § 87.
Chad
In 2007, in its initial report to the Committee against Torture, Chad stated: “[O]n 21 March 1980 Hissène Habré’s Armed Forces of the North (FAN) and Goukouni Weddeye’s Popular Armed Forces (FAP) clashed in N’Djamena. When Habré retreated a mass grave was discovered close to his home in N’Djamena.”
Chad, Initial report to the Committee against Torture, 22 September 2008, UN Doc. CAT/C/TCD/1, submitted 4 September 2007, § 19.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
In 2008, a training manual by the Prosecutor at the Military High Court for magistrates on techniques for investigating sexual crimes, including war crimes, was adopted as part of the Programme on Investigating Sexual Crimes of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The training manual states:
In addition, there are, unfortunately, cases of mass burial aimed at eliminating traces of crimes … This criminal form [of mass burial] is addressed here, insofar as it is used as a subterfuge to conceal mass violations of human rights committed during armed conflicts. …
§ 2. The concept of mass graves
There is no consensus about the characteristics nor the minimum number of individuals required for the constitution of a mass grave. … [Doctrine] distinguishes [different types of] mass graves according to whether they are constituted as:
a. a simple trench where bodies are grouped, with a minimum contact among them;
b. a more complex structure where corpses form a dense and contiguous aggregate, which is called a “mass of corps”. In this case, the individuals touch each other, and might be tangled, contorted or embroiled among them. There might even be dispersed remains which do not belong to this mass.
c. a multi-layered structure: there might be dressed and undressed bodies in various levels inside the grave. When exhumed, this mass is characterised by a chaotic and distressing image … Multiple masses of corps in the same grave indicate that the bodies were thrown there in different moments. The existence of layers of remains separated by an embankment of earth is another indication that … groups of individuals were deposited on successive occasions[.]
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Training manual by the Prosecutor at the Military High Court for magistrates on techniques for investigating sexual crimes, adopted as part of the Programme on Investigating Sexual Crimes of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Military Justice seminar, 2008, pp. 33–34.
UN Commission of Experts Established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 780 (1992)
In 1994, in its final report on grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and other violations of IHL committed in the former Yugoslavia, the UN Commission of Experts Established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 780 (1992) noted, with respect to its investigation into mass graves:
A mass gravesite is a potential repository of evidence of mass killings of civilians and POWs [prisoners of war] …
The manner and method by which a mass grave is created may itself be a breach of the Geneva Conventions, as well as a violation of the customary regulations of armed conflict … Parties to a conflict must also ensure that deceased persons are … buried in individual graves, as far apart as circumstances permit.
UN Commission of Experts Established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 780 (1992), Final report, Annex Summaries and Conclusions, UN Doc. S/1994/674/Add.2 (Vol. I), 31 May 1995, § 503(a) and (b).
No data.
No data.
No data.
ICRC
To fulfil its task of disseminating IHL, the ICRC has delegates around the world teaching armed and security forces the rule that “burial or cremation shall, as far as circumstances permit, be carried out individually”.
Frédéric de Mulinen, Handbook on the Law of War for Armed Forces, ICRC, Geneva, 1987, § 735.
No data.
