In the context of war, perfidy is a form of

deception Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight o ...

in which one side promises to act in good faith (such as by raising a

flag of truce White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale. Contemporary use The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire, and for negotiation. It is also used to symboliz ...

) with the intention of breaking that promise once the unsuspecting enemy is exposed (such as by coming out of cover to take the "surrendering" prisoners into custody). Perfidy constitutes a breach of the recognized

laws of war The law of war is the component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war ('' jus ad bellum'') and the conduct of warring parties (''jus in bello''). Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territ ...

and so is considered a war crime, as it degrades the protections and mutual restraints developed in the interest of all parties,

combatants Combatant is the legal status of an individual who has the right to engage in hostilities during an armed conflict. The legal definition of "combatant" is found at article 43(2) of Additional Protocol I (AP1) to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It ...

and

civilians Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...

Geneva Conventions

Perfidy is specifically prohibited under the 1977 '' Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949'', which states: Article 37. – Prohibition of perfidy Article 38. – Recognized emblems Article 39. – Emblems of nationality

History

Disapproval of perfidy was part of the customary laws of war long before the prohibition of perfidy was included in Protocol I. For example, in the 1907 Hague Convention ''IV - The Laws and Customs of War on Land'', Article 23 includes: During the Pacific Theatre of World War II, Japanese soldiers were reported to often booby-trap their dead and wounded and to fake surrenders or injuries to lure Allied troops into a trap then surprise attack them. One example was the " Goettge Patrol", during the early days of the

Guadalcanal Campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the ...

in 1942, in which an allegedly fake Japanese surrender resulted in more than 20 US deaths. It has been asserted that the incident, along with many other perfidious actions of the Japanese throughout the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...

, led to an Allied tendency to shoot the dead or wounded Japanese soldiers and those who were attempting to surrender and not to take them as

POWs A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

easily. At the Dachau Trials, the issue of whether the donning of enemy uniforms to approach the enemy without drawing fire was within the laws of war was established under

international humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war ('' jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by pr ...

at the trial in 1947 of the planner and commander of Operation Greif,

Otto Skorzeny Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny (12 June 1908 – 5 July 1975) was an Austrian-born German SS-''Obersturmbannführer'' (lieutenant colonel) in the Waffen-SS during World War II. During the war, he was involved in a number of operations, including t ...

. He was found not guilty by a US military tribunal of a crime by ordering his men into action in US uniforms. He had passed on to his men the warning of German legal experts that if they fought in US uniforms, they would be breaking the laws of war. During the trial, a number of arguments were advanced to substantiate this position and that the German and US militaries seem to be in agreement on it. In its judgement, the tribunal noted that the case did not require that the tribunal make findings other than those of guilty or not guilty and so no safe conclusion could be drawn from the acquittal of all accused. The tribunal also emphasized the difference between using enemy uniforms in espionage versus combat.

References

External links

{{wiktionary
UK's Geneva Conventions (Amendment) Act 1995 which bans perfidy
Deception Military deception War crimes by type

Geneva Conventions

History

See also

References

External links