In the context of
war, perfidy is a form of
deception in which one side promises to act in
good faith (such as by raising a
flag of truce) 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 and so is considered a
war crime, as it degrades the protections and mutual restraints developed in the interest of all parties,
combatants and
civilians.
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
The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were amon ...
''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 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, 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 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 at the trial in 1947 of the planner and commander of
Operation Greif,
Otto Skorzeny. 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.
See also
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Bad faith
*
False flag
*
Good faith
*
Betrayal
*
Inherent bad faith model The inherent bad faith model of information processing is a theory in political psychology that was first put forth by Ole Holsti to explain the relationship between John Foster Dulles' beliefs and his model of information processing.
It is the m ...
*
Unsportsmanlike conduct
*
War Crimes Act of 1996 (incorporated into US law)
References
External links
{{wiktionary
UK's Geneva Conventions (Amendment) Act 1995 which bans perfidy
Deception
Military deception
War crimes by type