Norma relacionada
Canada
Practice Related to Rule 95. Forced Labour
Canada’s LOAC Manual (2001), in its chapter on the treatment of civilians in the hands of a party to the conflict or an occupying power and, more specifically, in the section entitled “Aliens in the territory of a party to the conflict”, states:
Protected persons may be compelled to work only to the extent, under the same working conditions, and with the same benefits, as the nationals of the belligerent. Protected persons of enemy nationality may be compelled to do only the kind of work which is normally necessary to ensure the feeding, sheltering, clothing, transport and health of the population. They must not be required to do work directly related to the conduct of military operations.
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Levels, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 13 August 2001, § 1124.2.
In its chapter on rights and duties of occupying powers, the manual states:
The occupying power may only compel persons over the age of eighteen to work, and only on work for the needs of the army of occupation, the public utility services, or for the feeding, clothing, sheltering, transportation or health of the population of the occupied territory. The population cannot be compelled to participate in any work, which would involve participation in military operations.
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Levels, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 13 August 2001, § 1225.
Canada’s Prisoner of War Handling and Detainees Manual (2004) states: “Prisoners of War (PW) will be required to carry out work, whilst taking account of their rank, sex, age and physical aptitude”.
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, § 3G01.
Annex G to the manual provides guidance for the employment of prisoners of war.
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, § 3G01.
In the Rudolph and Minister of Employment and Immigration case in 1992, the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal upheld an order for the removal from Canada of the accused, a German national who during the Second World War had requested and supervised the deportation and use of foreign civilians as slave labourers in the production of V2 rockets, on the ground that he had committed outside Canada an act that constituted a war crime.
Canada, Federal Court of Appeal, Rudolph and Minister of Employment and Immigration case, Judgment, 1 May 1992.
Canada’s LOAC Manual (1999) provides:
The occupying power is prohibited from compelling protected persons to enlist in its armed forces and may not use any pressure or propaganda aimed at securing their voluntary enlistment. To compel the population of occupied territory so to enlist is a grave breach of [the 1949 Geneva Convention IV].
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Level, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 1999, p. 12-5, § 42.
The manual adds that “it is also a breach to compel a PW [prisoner of war] to serve in the forces of the hostile power” and that “in the case of civilians in the hands of the adverse party, it is also a grave breach … to compel a protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power.
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Level, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 1999, p. 16-2, §§ 13 and 14.
The manual further states:
In accordance with the Hague Rules, a number of acts are “especially forbidden” … compelling enemy nationals to take part in hostilities against their own country, even if they were members of the particular belligerent’s forces before the commencement of the conflict.
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Level, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 1999, p. 16-2, p. 16-3, § 20.
Canada’s LOAC Manual (2001) states in its chapter on rights and duties of occupying powers:
The occupying power is prohibited from compelling protected persons to enlist in its armed forces and may not use any pressure or propaganda aimed at securing their voluntary enlistment. To compel the population of occupied territory so to enlist is a grave breach of [the 1949 Geneva Convention IV].
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Levels, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 13 August 2001, § 1224.
In its chapter on “War crimes, individual criminal liability and command responsibility”, the manual states: “It is also a grave breach to compel a PW [prisoner of war] to serve in the forces of the hostile power”.
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Levels, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 13 August 2001, § 1607.5.
In the same chapter, the manual states: “In the case of civilians in the hands of the adverse party, it is also a grave breach: … c. to compel a protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power”.
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Levels, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 13 August 2001, § 1607.6.c.
The manual further states:
In accordance with the Hague Rules, a number of acts are “especially forbidden”. The commission of the following especially forbidden [act] is a war crime:
…
i. compelling enemy nationals to take part in hostilities against their own country, even if they were members of the particular belligerent’s forces before the commencement of the conflict.
Canada, The Law of Armed Conflict at the Operational and Tactical Levels, Office of the Judge Advocate General, 13 August 2001, § 1609.2.i.
Canada’s Prisoner of War Handling and Detainees Manual (2004) states: “Grave breaches of the [1949 Geneva Conventions] and [the 1977 Additional Protocol I] include any of the following actions[:] … Compelling PW [prisoners of war] or other protected persons to serve in the armed forces of a hostile power.”
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, § 103.2.c.
Canada’s Geneva Conventions Act (1985), as amended in 2007, provides: “Every person who, whether within or outside Canada, commits a grave breach [of the 1949 Geneva Conventions] … is guilty of an indictable offence.”
Canada, Geneva Conventions Act, 1985, as amended in 2007, Section 3(1).
Canada’s Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act (2000) provides that the war crimes defined in Article 8(2) of the 1998 ICC Statute are “crimes according to customary international law” and, as such, indictable offences under the Act.
Canada, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act, 2000, Section 4(1) and (4).
In 2013, in the Sapkota case, Canada’s Federal Court dismissed a request for review of a decision denying refugee protection to the applicant on grounds of complicity in crimes against humanity in Nepal between 1991 and 2009. While reviewing the submissions of the respondent, Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, the Court stated: “The Respondent notes that the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court … is endorsed in Canada as a source of customary law.”
Canada, Federal Court, Sapkota case, Reasons for Judgment and Judgment, 15 July 2013, § 28.
