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Serving God and Caesar: Religious personnel and their protection in armed conflict

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2010

Stefan Lunze
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International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 86 , Issue 853 , March 2004 , pp. 69 - 92
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Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2004

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References

1 See Jean-Pierre Langellier, “Hostites à la coalition, les Irakiens veulent la démocratie”, Le Monde, 3 December 2003, and X., “Neunzig Prozent wollen Demokratie”, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 3 December 2003, p. 5.

2 See Art. 9 and 12 of the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field, Geneva, 6 July 1906; Art. 12 of the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field, Geneva, 27 July 1929; Art. 7 of the Convention (III) for the Adaptation to Maritime Warfare of the Principles of the Geneva Convention of 22 August 1864, The Hague, 29 July 1899; Art. 10 of the Convention (X) for the Adaptation to Maritime Warfare of the Principles of the Geneva Convention, The Hague, 18 October 1907; Art. 17 of the Regulations respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, annexed to Convention (IV) concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, The Hague, 18 October 1907 (hereinafter “Hague Regulations”); Art. 16 of the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field, Geneva, 27 July 1929.

3 Art. 8 (d) of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, Geneva, 8 June 1977, (hereinafter “AP I” or “Additional Protocol I”) reads: “‘Religious personnel’ means military or civilian persons, such as chaplains, who are exclusively engaged in the work of their ministry and attached: i) to the armed forces of a Party to the conflict; ii) to medical units or medical transports of a Party to the conflict; iii) to medical units or medical transports described in Article 9, paragraph 2; or iv) to civil defence organizations of a Party to the conflict. The attachment of religious personnel may be either permanent or temporary …”.

4 See Bock, Martin, Religion within the Armed Forces, Sozialwissertschaftliches Institut der Bundeswehr, Strausberg, 1998, pp. 250 ffGoogle Scholar.

5 See Nicolas, Claude, L'Assistance spirituelle dans le droit de la guerre, Diss. iur., Université Paris-Sud XI, Paris, 1991, p. 104Google Scholar.

6 See Hiebel, lean-Luc, “Droit de l'aumônerie, droit de l'assistance spirituelle”, Annuaire français des droits de l'homme, Vol. 1, 1974, p. 535Google Scholar.

7 Dunant, Henry, A Memory of Sotferino, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, 1986, p. 31Google Scholar.

8 See Zemmali, Ameur, Combattants et prisonniers de guerre en droit islamique et en droit international humanitaire, Pedone, Paris, 1997, p. 449Google Scholar; Nicolas, op. cit. (note 5), p. 80.

9 See Paul VI, “Discours à l'organisation des Nations Unies à l'occasion du 20E anniversaire de l'organisation”, 4 October 1965, available at: <http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/speeches/1965/documents/hf_p-vi_spe_19651004_united-nations_fr.html>.

10 See John Paul II, “Address to the third international and interdenominational conference of chief military chaplains of Europe and North America”, 6 February 1992, available at: <http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1992/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19920206_military-chaplains_en.html>.

11 See Art. 47 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Battlefield, 12 August 1949 (hereinafter “GC I” or “First Geneva Convention”) and Art. 48 of the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, 12 August 1949 (hereinafter “GC II” or “Second Geneva Convention”). One example of measures specifically focusing on religious personnel is an international humanitarian law course organized by the Holy See for catholic military chaplains in March 2003 in fulfilment of its pledge No. P062 at the 27th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, see: <http://www.icrc.org/Appiic/p127e.nsf/va_PBA/064EA4ADoECB671CC1256ADA0038D977>.

12 See Giorgio Filibeck, “The farce of law against the law of force”, L'Osservatore Romano [English], 11–18 August 1999, p. 6 (on the “fruitful synergies” of collaboration between humanitarian organizations and religious leaders); Veuthey, Michel, “Remedies to promote the respect of fundamental human values in non-international armed conflicts”, Israeli Yearbook on Human Rights Vol. 30, 2001, p. 37Google Scholar (on the role of religious leadership in the protection of victims of war).

13 GC I, Art. 24. See also GC II, Art. 36 (on protection and respect for religious personnel of hospital ships), and the UN Secretary-General's Bulletin, Observance by United Nations Forces of International Humanitarian Law, 6 August, 1999, p. 3, Section 9.4, UN Doc. ST/SGB/1999/13 (on the applicability of this principle to missions by UN Forces).

14 See Art. 8(b)xxiv of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 17 July 1998, UN Doc. A/CONF.183/9 (which criminalizes intentionally directing attacks against personnel using the distinctive emblem. The specific mention made of them in various elements of crimes adds to the protection of religious personnel from being murdered, mutilated, treated cruelly, tortured, degraded, taken hostage, and sentenced without due process).

15 Verri, Pietro, Dictionary of the International Law of Armed Conflict, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, 1992, p. 97Google Scholar.

16 Quoted supra (note 3).

17 See Art.36 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, 12 August 1949 hereinafter “GC III” or “Third Geneva Convention”); Pictet, Jean, The Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, Commentary, Vol. 1, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, 1952, p. 220Google Scholar.

18 See Pictet, op.cit. (note 17), pp. 219 ff.

19 See Stadlmeier, Sigmar, “Die Stellung des Militärseelsorgers im humanitären Volkerrecht”, in Kaluza, Hans Walter (ed.), Pax et lustitia, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, 1990, p. 531Google Scholar; Green, Leslie C., The Contemporary Law of Armed Conflict, 2nd ed., Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2000, pp. 25–26Google Scholar.

20 See Sandoz, Yves, Swinarski, Christophe and Zimmerman, Bruno (eds.), Commentary on the Additional Protocols, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, 1978, p. 127, para. 362Google Scholar.

21 See Art. 40 of GC I, Art. 42 of GC II, and Art. 18(1) API.

22 See Art. 4 (2) of Annex I to Additional Protocol I (as of 8 June 1977) and Art. 5 (4) of Annex I to the Additional Protocol I as amended on 30 November 1993.

23 See AP I, Art. 8 (f) and (g).

24 E.g.: Fleet Marine Force Manual (FMFM) 3–61: Ministry in Combat, U.S. Marine Corps, 22 June 1992, para. 3OO3(d) (for the U.S.); Rausch, Wolf Werner, “Seelsorge im humanitären Völkerrecht”, Humanitäres Völkerrecht–Informationsschriften, Vol. 5, 1992, p. 116 (for Germany)Google Scholar.

25 See AP I, Art. 15 (5); see also Bothe, Michael, Partsch, Karl Josef and Solf, Waldemar A., New Rules for the Victims of Armed Conflicts, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague, 1982, p. 395Google Scholar.

26 See GC I, Art. 22, and GC II, Art. 35.

27 See Ipsen, Knut, “Combatants and Non-Combatants”, in Fleck, Dieter (ed.), The Handbook of Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflicts, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995, p. 92Google Scholar.

28 E.g.: Walter Rabus, “Religious personnel”, in Fleck, op.cit. (note 27), p. 372, para. 820 (for Germany), Fleet Marine Force Manual (FMFM) 3–61: Ministry in Combat, op. cit. (note 24), para. 1004(f) (for USA).

29 See the different approaches in Art. 3 of the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field, Geneva, 22 August 1864; Art. 12 of the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field, Geneva, 6 July 1906; Art. 12 of the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field, Geneva, 27 July 1929.

30 See GC I, Art. 28; GC II, Art. 37; GC III, Art. 33. The religious personnel of hospital ships must not be captured, see GC II, Art. 36.

31 See “La Rétention et la relève du personnel sanitaire et religieux, accords-types et commentaires”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 37, 1955, p. 10Google Scholar.

32 See GC I, Art. 28; GC III, Artt. 4 (C) and 33.

33 See GC III, Artt. 33 and 35.

34 See GC I, Art. 28(2); GC III, Art. 33.

35 See GC III, Art. 36.

36 See GC III, Artt. 35 and 37.

37 See GC III, Art. 34.

38 See Pictet, lean, The Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, Commentary, Vol. 4, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, 1958, p. 405Google Scholar.

39 See GC III, Artt. 72, 125, 108 (3) and 12 (4).

40 See Hiebel, Jean-Luc, “Human rights relating to spiritual assistance as embodied in the Geneva Conventions of 1949”, International Review of the Red Cross, No. 214, 1980, p. 4Google Scholar.

41 See Art. 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, New York, 10 December 1948, and Art. 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, New York, 16 December 1966; the latter norm is non-derogable even in times of armed conflict, see Art. 4 (2) of the Covenant.

42 See Art. 9 (1) of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts, Geneva, 8 June 1977 (hereinafter “AP II” or “Additional Protocol II”). The definition of “religious personnel” given in Art. 8 (d) AP I is applied, see Hiebel, Jean-Luc, Assistance spirituetle et conflits armés, Henry Dunant Institute, Geneva, 1980, p. 355Google Scholar.

43 See AP II, Art. 4 (1), and Green, op. cit. (note 19), p. 327.

44 See GC I, Art. 18(4).

45 See Rabus, op. cit. (note 28), p. 370.

46 See Pictet, op. cit. (note 187), pp. 255 ff.

47 See Gentili, Alberico, De iure belli libri tres, Vol. 2, Hein, Buffalo, 1995Google Scholar (translation of the edition of 1612, repr. of the Oxford 1933 ed.), p. 262.

48 de Vattel, Emer, Le droit des gens ou principes de la lot naturelle. Vol. 3, Hein, Buffalo, 1995Google Scholar (repr. of the Washington 1916 ed.). Book III, Chapter 2, para. 10, p. 238.

49 See San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, International Institute of Humanitarian Law, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995, p. 133Google Scholar. See also Scott, James Brown, The Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907, Vol. 1, Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1909, p. 618Google Scholar (for the cessation of immunity in the event of participation in warfare).

50 Pictet, op. cit. (note 187), p. 157; Hiebei, op. cit. (note 42), p. 199.

51 See International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), The Prosecutor v. Emmanuel Rukundo (ICTR-2001–70-I), Indictment, 27 March 2003, available at: <http://www.ictr.org/ENGLISH/cases/Rukundo/indictment/rukundo.pdf>.

52 See Nicolas, op. cit. (note 5), p. 309.

53 See Weber, Paul J., “The first amendment and the military chaplaincy”, journal of Church and State, Vol. 22, 1980, p. 465CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

54 See Hiebel, op. cit. (note 6), p. 540.

55 See Policy Letter, US Department of the Navy, Office of Chief of Naval Operations, Chief of Chaplains, Chaplain of the Marine Corps and Deputy Chief of Chaplains for Total Force, 1730 Ser N097/01301, 8 November 2001, cited in Odom, Jonathan G., “Beyond arm bands and arms banned: Chaplains, armed conflict, and the law”, Naval Law Review, Vol. 49, 2002, pp. 20 ffGoogle Scholar.

56 See Budd, Richard M., Serving Two Masters, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 2002, pp. 54–55Google Scholar (for examples of the American Civil War).

57 See Hiebel, op. cit. (note 40), p. 25.

58 Ibidem.

59 See Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism, Military Order of 13 November 2001, 66 U.S. Federal Register 57.833, Art. 3(d).

60 See Odom, op. cit. (note 55), p. 50.

61 Ibid, pp. 60, 63 and 65.

62 See John Mintz and Susan Schmidt, “Muslim army chaplain is held in investigation”, The Washington Post, 21 September 2003, p. A16.

63 See Nicolas, op. cit. (note 5), p. 311.

64 See Art. 27 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 12 August 1949 (hereinafter “GC IV” or “Fourth Geneva Convention”).

65 See GC IV, Artt. 17, 38 (3), 58 and 91 (2) and (3).

66 See GC IV, Art. 58 (1).

67 GC IV, Art. 56.

68 See Art. 27 of the 1907 Hague Regulations, Art. 5 of the Convention (IX) concerning Bombardment by Naval Forces in Time of War, The Hague, 18 October 1907; Art. 1(a) of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, The Hague, 14 May 1954; AP I, Art. 53; AP II, Art. 16.

69 See AP I, Art. 52.

70 AP I, Art. 16 (1); AP II, Art. 10. See also Schlögel, Anton, “Schutz der Seelsorge im humanitären Völkerrecht” in Hangartner, Yvo (ed.), Völkerrecht im Dienste des Menschen, Haupt, Bern, 1996, p. 278 (on the desire for a similar status for religious personnel)Google Scholar.

71 Pictet, op. cit. (note 17), p. 157; Pictet, op. cit. (note 38), p. 140.

72 See Stocks, Karen H., “Understanding the chaplain's role in an age of weapons of mass destruction”, Military Medicine, Vol. 166, 2001, Suppl. 2, p. 55Google Scholar (calling for an intervention strategy on the part of both religious personnel and civilian ministers); see also Nicolas, op. cit. (note 5), p. 311 (on the stimulation of “indiscriminate” spiritual assistance by modern means of warfare).

73 See Sandoz, Swinarski and Zimmerman (eds.), op. cit. (note 20).

74 See GC III, Art. 33(2)(b).

75 For a complete list of participating religious organizations, see Hiebel, op. cit. (note 42), p. 118. Muslim representatives also joined in the drafting process of the 1977 Additional Protocols.

76 See Rabus, op. cit. (note 28), p. 369.

77 See Hiebel, op. cit. (note 42), pp. 359–361.

78 GC IV, Art. 27, and AP I, Art. 4 (1). See also Sandoz, Swinarski and Zimmerman (eds.), op. cit. (note 20), p. 1370, para. 4522; Moir, Lindsay, The Law of Internal Armed Conflict, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002, p. 213CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

79 Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, First session, New York, 3–10 September 2002, Official Records, UN Doc. ICC-ASP/1/3, Part. II B, p. 145, note 56.

80 Pictet, Jean, The Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, Commentary, Vol. 3, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, 1960, p. 225Google Scholar.