The Penal Code

Part II. Criminal acts

Chapter 16. Genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes

Section 101.Genocide

Any person is liable to punishment for genocide who with the intention of wholly or partly destroying a national, ethnic, racial or religious group

a.kills one or more members of the group,
b.causes considerable harm to the body or health of one or more members of the group,
c.subjects one or more members of the group to living conditions that are intended to cause physical destruction of all or part of the group,
d.implements measures with respect to one or more members of the group that are intended to prevent births within the group, or
e.forcibly transfers one or more children from the group to another group.

Intent with respect to the main perpetrator's destructive purpose is sufficient to be penalised for contribution.

The penalty for genocide is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 years.

Section 102.Crimes against humanity

Any person is liable to punishment for crimes against humanity who as part of a broad or systematic attack on a civilian population

a.kills a person,
b.exterminates a population wholly or in part, including by inflicting living conditions on the population or parts thereof that are intended to exterminate the population wholly or in part,
c.enslaves a person,
d.deports or forcibly relocates a population contrary to international law,
e.imprisons or in some other serious manner deprives a person of liberty contrary to fundamental rules of international law,
f.tortures a person in his/her custody or control by causing serious mental or physical pain,
g.subjects a person to rape, sexual slavery or forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced sterilisation or other similarly aggravated forms of sexual violence,
h.subjects an identifiable group to persecution by depriving one or more members of the group of fundamental human rights on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious or gender-based grounds or other grounds contrary to international law,
i.contributes to the involuntary disappearance of a person on behalf of or with the consent, support or permission of a state or a political organisation, with the intention of depriving the person of legal protection for a prolonged period of time,
j.commits a crime of apartheid within the framework of an institutionalised regime based on one racial group's systematic suppression and dominance over one or more other racial groups by undertaking inhuman acts of the same or similar type as those falling within the present section, for the purpose of maintaining the regime, or
k.commits some other inhuman act of a similar type that causes great suffering or serious harm to someone's body or health.

The penalty for a crime against humanity is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 years.

Section 103.War crimes against a person

Any person is liable to punishment for a war crime who in connection with an armed conflict

a.kills a protected person,
b.inflicts great suffering or considerable harm to the body or health of a protected person, particularly through torture or other cruel or inhuman treatment,
c.enslaves a protected person,
d.subjects a protected person to rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced sterilisation or other similarly aggravated forms of sexual violence,
e.takes a protected person hostage,
f.conscripts or recruits children under 18 years of age to armed forces or uses them actively as participants in hostilities,
g.subjects a protected person to a medical or scientific experiment that is not in the person's interest and that entails serious risk to the person's life or health,
h.contrary to international law deports or forcibly relocates a protected person from an area in which the person is lawfully present, or unlawfully confines a protected person,
i.imposes or implements a penalty against a protected person without the person first having received a fair trial in accordance with international law,
j.grossly violates a protected person's dignity through humiliating or degrading treatment, or
k.injures a combatant who has surrendered or is incapable of participating in combat.

Also subject to punishment in an international armed conflict is any party that

a.transfers part of its own civilian population to an occupied area,
b.forces a citizen of the opposing party to participate in acts of war against his/her own country, or
c.forces a protected person to serve in the armed forces of a hostile power.

A protected person is a person who is not, or is no longer, actively participating in hostilities, or who is otherwise protected by international law.

The penalty for a war crime against a person is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 years, or up to 30 years in the cases specified in the first paragraph, a) to e), or otherwise if the crime is aggravated. In determining whether a crime is aggravated, weight shall be given to factors including the crime's potential for harm and harmful effects and whether it was committed as part of a plan or objective or as part of large-scale commission of such crimes.

Section 104.War crimes against property and civil rights

Any person is liable to punishment for a war crime who in connection with an armed conflict

a.pillages,
b.engages in extensive destruction, seizure or confiscation of property that is not strictly necessary for the purposes of warfare, or
c.declares the civil rights of the opposing party's citizens, or their opportunity to have these reviewed by the courts, to be annulled or temporarily set aside.

The penalty for war crimes against property or civil rights is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, or up to 30 years if the crime is aggravated, see section 103, fourth paragraph, second sentence.

Section 105.War crimes against humanitarian missions or distinctive signs

Any person is liable to punishment for a war crime who in connection with an armed conflict

a.directs an attack against personnel, facilities, materiel, units or vehicles involved in humanitarian aid work or peacekeeping operations in accordance with the UN Charter, provided that these are entitled to protection as civilian persons or property under international law,
b.directs an attack against personnel, buildings, materiel, medical units or means of transportation that under international law are entitled to use one of the specifically protected distinctive signs defined in the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols or other means of identification showing that they are protected by the Geneva Conventions, or
c.misuses a flag of truce or the flag, distinctive military sign or uniform of the enemy or the United Nations, or misuses the specifically protected distinctive signs specified in b), in a way that a person dies or suffers considerable harm.

The penalty for war crimes against humanitarian missions or distinctive signs is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, or up to 30 years in the cases specified in c), and otherwise if the crime is aggravated, see section 103, fourth paragraph, second sentence.

Section 106.War crimes committed using prohibited methods of warfare

Any person is liable to punishment for a war crime who in connection with an armed conflict

a.directs an attack against the civilian population in general or individual civilians who are not participating in the hostilities,
b.uses starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by taking, withholding or refusing access to food or objects essential for their survival, or hindering relief supplies in violation of international law,
c.implements an attack in the knowledge that such an attack will cause loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects or damage to the natural environment that would be excessive relative to the specific and immediate overall military benefit that is anticipated,
d.uses the presence of a protected person to preclude certain locations, areas or armed forces from being subject to military operations,
e.directs an attack against cities, towns, locations, settlements or buildings that are undefended and do not constitute military targets, or against demilitarised zones,
f.directs an attack against buildings devoted to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, against historic monuments, cultural monuments, hospitals or gathering places for sick and wounded persons or against other civilian objects that are not military targets,
g.leads a person to believe that he/she is entitled to protection or has a duty to afford protection under international law and with the intention of betraying the resulting trust kills or wounds a person who is a citizen of the opposing party or a member of the opposing party's armed forces, or
h.declares or threatens that no quarter will be given.

The penalty for a war crime involving the use of prohibited methods of warfare is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 years, or up to 30 years if the crime involves the intentional killing of a civilian or other protected person, or otherwise if the crime is aggravated, see section 103, fourth paragraph, second sentence.

Section 107.War crimes committed using prohibited means of warfare

Any person is liable to punishment for a war crime who in connection with an armed conflict

a.uses poison or poisonous weapons,
b.uses biological or chemical weapons,
c.uses bullets that easily expand or flatten inside the human body, or
d.uses other means of warfare that are contrary to international law.

The penalty for a war crime committed using prohibited means of warfare is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 years, or up to 30 years if the crime involves the intentional killing of a civilian or other protected person, or otherwise if the crime is aggravated, see section 103, fourth paragraph, second sentence.

Section 108.Conspiracy to commit and incitement to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes

Any person who enters into a conspiracy with another person to commit an offence specified in sections 101 to 107 shall be subject to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years. The same applies to any person who directly and publicly incites any person to commit such an offence.

Section 109.Responsibility of superiors

A military or civilian leader, or any person effectively acting as such, shall be subject to punishment for breach of superior responsibility if persons under his/her effective authority and control commit a crime specified in sections 101 to 107, provided that the crime is a result of the leader's failure to exercise due control over them, and the leader

a.knew or should have known that the subordinates had embarked on such a crime or that the crime was imminent, and
b.failed to implement necessary and reasonable measures in his/her power to prevent or stop the crime, or to report the offence to a competent authority for prosecution.

The penalty is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, or up to 30 years if the crime is aggravated. In determining whether the crime is aggravated, weight shall be given to the seriousness and scope of the crimes committed by the subordinates and to what extent the superior can be held to blame.

Section 110.Minimum penalty

A penalty assessed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may not be set lower than the minimum penalty specified in the penal provision that in the absence of chapter 16 would have applied to the act of which the person is convicted.