Norma relacionada
Belgium
Practice Relating to Rule 90. Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
Belgium’s Manual for Soldiers states that prisoners of war and enemy soldiers who are no longer able to fight shall not be subjected to mental or physical torture. The manual considers this prohibition to be a general principle and specifies that it also applies to prisoners of war.
Belgium, Droit de la Guerre, Dossier d’Instruction pour Soldat, à l’attention des officiers instructeurs, JS3, Etat-Major Général, Forces Armées belges, undated, pp. 7, 10 and 62, slide 5/1.
Belgium’s Law of War Manual (1983) states: “The Detaining Power cannot exercise mental or physical torture on prisoners.”
Belgium, Droit Pénal et Disciplinaire Militaire et Droit de la Guerre, Deuxième Partie, Droit de la Guerre, Ecole Royale Militaire, par J. Maes, Chargé de cours, Avocat-général près la Cour Militaire, D/1983/1187/029, 1983, pp. 46 and 55.
The manual adds that torture and inhuman treatment are grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
Belgium, Droit Pénal et Disciplinaire Militaire et Droit de la Guerre, Deuxième Partie, Droit de la Guerre, Ecole Royale Militaire, par J. Maes, Chargé de cours, Avocat-général près la Cour Militaire, D/1983/1187/029, 1983, p. 55.
Belgium’s Penal Code (1867), as amended in 2003, provides:
The crime of genocide, as defined below, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, constitutes a crime under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title. In accordance with the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 9 December 1948, and without prejudice to criminal provisions applicable to breaches committed out of negligence, the crime of genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such: … causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
Belgium, Penal Code, 1867, as amended on 5 August 2003, Chapter III, Title I bis, Article 136 bis, § 2.
The Penal Code further states:
A crime against humanity, as defined below, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, constitutes a crime under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title. In accordance with the Statute of the International Criminal Court, crime against humanity means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack: … torture; … other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
Belgium, Penal Code, 1867, as amended on 5 August 2003, Chapter III, Title I bis, Article 136 ter, § 11.
The Penal Code further provides:
War crimes envisaged in the 1949 [Geneva] Conventions … and in the [1977 Additional Protocols I and II] … , as well as in Article 8(2)(f) of the [1998 ICC Statute], and listed below, … constitute crimes under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title … :
…
2. torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including biological experiments;
3. wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health;
…
5. other outrages upon human dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment.
Belgium, Penal Code, 1867, as amended on 5 August 2003, Chapter III, Title I bis, Article 136 quater, § 1(2),(3) and (5).
The Penal Code also states:
In the case of an armed conflict as defined in … Article 3 common [to the (1949) Geneva Conventions], the grave breaches of [common] Article 3, … listed below, shall constitute crimes under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title, when such breaches endanger, by act or omission, persons protected by these Conventions, without prejudice to criminal provisions applicable to breaches committed out of negligence:
1. violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
2. outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment.
Belgium, Penal Code, 1867, as amended on 5 August 2003, Chapter III, Title I bis, Article 136 quater, § 2(1)–(2).
Belgium’s Law concerning the Repression of Grave Breaches of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols (1993), as amended in 1999, provides that torture or other inhuman treatment and wilfully causing great suffering or serious damage to physical integrity or health constitute crimes under international law.
Belgium, Law concerning the Repression of Grave Breaches of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, 1993, as amended in 1999, Article 1(3)(2); see also Article 1(1)(2)–(3) (genocide).
Belgium’s Law relating to the Repression of Grave Breaches of International Humanitarian Law (1993), as amended in 2003, provides:
The crime of genocide, as defined below, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, constitutes a crime under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title. In accordance with the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 9 December 1948, and without prejudice to criminal provisions applicable to breaches committed out of negligence, the crime of genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such:
…
2. causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
Belgium, Law relating to the Repression of Grave Breaches of International Humanitarian Law, 1993, as amended on 23 April 2003, Article 1, § 2.
The Law further states:
A crime against humanity, as defined below, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, constitutes a crime under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title. In accordance with the Statute of the International Criminal Court, crime against humanity means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
…
6. torture;
…
11. other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
Belgium, Law relating to the Repression of Grave Breaches of International Humanitarian Law, 1993, as amended on 23 April 2003, Article 1 bis, §§ 6 and 11.
The Law further provides:
War crimes envisaged in the 1949 [Geneva] Conventions … and in the [1977 Additional Protocols I and II] … , as well as in Article 8(2)(f) of the [1998 ICC Statute], and listed below, … constitute crimes under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title … :
…
2. torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including biological experiments;
3. wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health;
…
3 ter other outrages upon human dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment.
Belgium, Law relating to the Repression of Grave Breaches of International Humanitarian Law, 1993, as amended on 23 April 2003, Article 1 ter, § 1(2),(3) and (3 ter).
The Law also states:
In the case of an armed conflict as defined in … Article 3 common [to the (1949) Geneva Conventions], the grave breaches of [common] Article 3, … listed below, shall constitute crimes under international law and shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the present title, when such breaches endanger, by act or omission, persons protected by these Conventions, without prejudice to criminal provisions applicable to breaches committed out of negligence:
1. violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
2. outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment.
Belgium, Law relating to the Repression of Grave Breaches of International Humanitarian Law, 1993, as amended on 23 April 2003, Article 1 ter, § 2(1)–(2).
In 2001, in its initial report to the Committee against Torture, Belgium stated: “The courses organized for the armed forces on armed conflict law and the rules of engagement … provide for the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”
Belgium, Initial report to the Committee against Torture, 8 July 2002, UN Doc. CAT/C/52/Add.2, submitted 14 August 2001, § 156.
