Cameroon
Practice Relating to Rule 107. Spies
Cameroon’s Instructor’s Manual (1992) states:
Spying is to be distinguished from military intelligence. The latter is legal while the former is vigorously condemned in all national and international jurisdictions. Spying is an unlawful search for information.
Cameroon’s Instructor’s Manual (2006), under the heading “Non-Combatants”, states:
Spying is different from military intelligence and is rigorously condemned by all national and international jurisdictions. Spies are persons who gather information of military interest in the enemy zone for the benefit of a belligerent on false or deceitful pretences or in disguise; whereas military intelligence is a lawful activity.
The manual also states:
A combatant who gathers or attempts to gather information of military interest in the operational zone of a belligerent in a deliberately clandestine way or under false pretences, must not be considered to be spying if, in so doing, he wears the uniform of his armed forces.
Cameroon’s Disciplinary Regulations (1975) states:
Members of the Armed Forces in organized units,
francs-tireurs detached from their regular units, commando detachments and isolated
saboteurs, as well as voluntary militias, self-defence groups and organized resistance formations are lawful combatants on condition that those units, organizations or formations have a designated commander, that their members wear a distinctive sign, notably on their clothing, that they carry arms openly and that they respect the laws and customs of war. These combatants must be considered prisoners of war. Anyone who does not comply with these conditions may be considered a spy subject to the applicable criminal sanctions.
Cameroon’s Instructor’s Manual (1992) states that a combatant caught spying “loses his status as a prisoner of war”.
Cameroon’s Instructor’s Manual (2006), under the heading “Non-Combatants”, states that
[S]pies are … considered non-combatants and do not benefit from the status of prisoner of war in case of capture … [S]pies must be treated humanely … [and] one must avoid … infringements of their physical or psychological integrity. These persons must be tried in accordance with the law of the state.
The manual also states: “Spies … do not benefit from the protection of the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law. Nonetheless, they must in all cases be treated humanely.”
The manual further states that “[t]he actions which they [spies] have undertaken are only subject to individual responsibility”.
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.
These combatants, if they are captured, must be considered prisoners of war.
Anyone who does not comply with the conditions contained in the preceding paragraphs may be considered a spy and be subjected to the penal sanctions provided in that case.