Norma relacionada
Netherlands
Practice Relating to Rule 99. Deprivation of Liberty
The Military Manual (1993) of the Netherlands provides that “unlawful confinement” is a grave breach of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols.
Netherlands, Toepassing Humanitair Oorlogsrecht, Voorschift No. 27-412/1, Koninklijke Landmacht, Ministerie van Defensie, 1993, p. IX-5.
The Military Manual (2005) of the Netherlands states:
Protected persons must be able to lead normal lives as far as possible.
Example:
- Captivity in war is not a punishment, but only a means of preventing the opponent from playing any further part in the conflict.
Netherlands, Humanitair Oorlogsrecht: Handleiding, Voorschift No. 27-412, Koninklijke Landmacht, Militair Juridische Dienst, 2005, § 0224(b).
In its chapter on peace operations, the manual states:
When carrying out its operational mission, the military may be confronted with the following and other human rights, which may affect what they do. The following is based on ECHR [1950 European Convention on Human Rights] and related protocols ratified by the Netherlands. In view of the detailed rules added by extensive legal precedents, this convention forms a basis for the fulfilment of the human rights established in other treaties, at least those with which the military may be involved in pursuit of their duties. Those human rights are as follows:
Netherlands, Humanitair Oorlogsrecht: Handleiding, Voorschift No. 27-412, Koninklijke Landmacht, Militair Juridische Dienst, 2005, § 1212.
Under the International Crimes Act (2003) of the Netherlands, it is a crime to commit in an international armed conflict grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, including “unlawful confinement” of persons protected by the Conventions.
Netherlands, International Crimes Act, 2003, Article 5(1)(g); see also Article 4(1)(e) (imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law as a crime against humanity).
With regard to unlawful confinement, several post-Second World War trials found army officers and, occasionally, industrialists guilty of war crimes because of their participation in the wrongful internment of civilians, their illegal detention and internment under inhumane conditions. Examples are the Dutch Motomura case and the Notomi Sueo case before the Temporary Court-Martial at Makassar in 1947, the Rauter case before the Special Court at The Hague and Special Court of Cassation in 1948 and 1949, and the Zuhlke case before the Special Court in Amsterdam and the Special Court of Cassation in 1948.
Netherlands, Temporary Court-Martial at Makassar, Motomura case, Judgment, 18 July 1947; Temporary Court Martial at Makassar, Notomi Sueo case, Judgment, 4 January 1947; Special Court (War Criminals) at The Hague, Rauter case, Judgment, 4 May 1948, and Special Court of Cassation, Rauter case, Judgment, 12 January 1949; Special Court in Amsterdam Zühlke case Judgment, 3 August 1948, and Special Court of Cassation, Zühlke case, Judgment, 6 December 1948.
