Norma relacionada
Australia
Practice Relating to Rule 147. Reprisals against Protected Objects
Section C. Cultural property
Australia’s Commanders’ Guide (1994), under the heading “Protection of Cultural Objects and Places of Worship”, provides:
LOAC … extends immunity [from attack] to cultural property of great importance to cultural heritage. This is irrelevant of origin, ownership or whether the property is movable or immovable. LOAC requires such property to be protected, safeguarded and respected and not made the object of reprisals.
Australia, Law of Armed Conflict, Commanders’ Guide, Australian Defence Force Publication, Operations Series, ADFP 37 Supplement 1 – Interim Edition, 7 March 1994, § 961.
Referring, inter alia, to Articles 51–56 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I, as well as to Article 4 of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property, the manual further states: “Protected buildings and facilities … should not be the subject of reprisals.”
Australia, Law of Armed Conflict, Commanders’ Guide, Australian Defence Force Publication, Operations Series, ADFP 37 Supplement 1 – Interim Edition, 7 March 1994, § 1212.
Australia’s Defence Force Manual (1994) states:
Historic monuments, places of worship and works of art, which constitute the cultural and spiritual heritage of peoples, are protected from acts of hostility. These objects must not be … the subject of reprisals.
Australia, Manual on Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Force Publication, Operations Series, ADFP 37 – Interim Edition, 1994, § 928.
The manual further states: “[P]rotected buildings and facilities … should not be the subject of reprisals.”
Australia, Manual on Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Force Publication, Operations Series, ADFP 37 – Interim Edition, 1994, § 1311.
Australia’s LOAC Manual (2006) states: “Historic monuments, places of worship and works of art, which constitute the cultural and spiritual heritage of peoples, are protected from acts of hostility. These objects must not be … the subject of reprisals.”
Australia, The Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict, Australian Defence Doctrine Publication 06.4, Australian Defence Headquarters, 11 May 2006, § 9.29; see also § 13.20.
The LOAC Manual (2006) replaces both the Defence Force Manual (1994) and the Commanders’ Guide (1994).
In 1991, in briefing notes prepared for a debate on the Geneva Convention Amendment Bill in Australia’s House of Representatives, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade expressed the view that:
The extension in [the 1977 Additional Protocol I of the prohibition of reprisals] is to civilian, cultural and other non-military objects. It was felt that an Australian reservation on this point, while leaving the way open for us to use such reprisals, would not only allow Australia to be portrayed as barbaric but also leave such Australian objects open to attack in enemy reprisals, in return for very little military advantage. This is now a settled Australian Defence Force view.
Australia, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Minute on the Geneva Protocols, File 1710/10/3/1, 13 February 1991, § 5.
