IHL

Question 1

RUSES WHICH BECAME PERFIDY

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Answer 1

On 2 July 2008, Colombian security forces rescued 15 hostages, including former presidential candidate Ingrid
Betancourt, who had been held for up to ten years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC).

The rescue was widely hailed as a daring coup: it involved the use of bogus communications to persuade
FARC rebels to release the hostages to a group posing as aid workers.

Photographs and video footage taken of personnel about to embark on the rescue mission appeared to
show one man wearing a bib bearing Red Cross insignia.

The use of the Red Cross symbol in this context constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian
law, notwithstanding that the purpose of the ruse was to rescue hostages.

Question 2

Celebici Case

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Answer 2

The Čelebići case was one of the first major trials at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia (ICTY). It involved war crimes and crimes against humanity committed at the Čelebići prison
camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War (1992–1995).

The camp was used by Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat forces to detain Bosnian Serb prisoners.
Detainees were subjected to torture, sexual violence, inhumane treatment, and killings.

• The case established that commanders can be held criminally liable if they knew or should have known
  about crimes committed by their subordinates and failed to prevent or punish them.