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A case study on War Poses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2023

Angelica Widström
Angelica Widström*
Affiliation:
Legal Adviser, Swedish Red Cross, Stockholm, Sweden
*
Email: Angelica.Widstrom@redcross.se
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Abstract

This article delves into Sweden's evolving legal response to international crimes, notably focusing on the 2021 War Poses case before the Swedish Supreme Court. The case involves an Iraqi asylum-seeker charged with violating the personal dignity of several persons, presumed to be deceased, during a 2015 non-international armed conflict in Kirkuk, Iraq. A key contention is whether deceased individuals can be considered “protected persons” under Swedish war crimes legislation. The article examines the Swedish Supreme Court's decision, which deems deceased individuals as protected persons, drawing on the Rome Statute's Elements of Crimes. It examines the complexities surrounding the application of international humanitarian law (IHL) to cases involving the deceased and explores potential misinterpretations arising from the Court's brief and ambiguous reasoning. As Sweden grapples with the complexities of international criminal law, the article advocates for clarity and comprehensive discussion to ensure that justice is served while upholding accurate and harmonized definitions of fundamental concepts of IHL.

Keywords

war crimesRome Statuteprotected personsthe deadoutrages upon personal dignityuniversal jurisdiction
Type
Research Article
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , First View , pp. 1 - 11
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the ICRC

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Footnotes

*

Angelica Widström holds an LLM from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Geneva. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of her employer.

The advice, opinions and statements contained in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ICRC. The ICRC does not necessarily represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information provided in this article.

References

1 Deland, Mats, “Deportations, Extraditions and the Absence of Swedish Legal Proceedings of International Crimes in the Second World War”, in Scandinavian Studies in Law, Vol. 66, Stockholm Institute for Scandinavian Law, Stockholm, 2020Google Scholar, pp. 16 ff.

2 Swedish Police Authority, “Krigsbrott – polisens arbete”, 10 September 2021, available at: https://polisen.se/om-polisen/polisens-arbete/krigsbrott/ (all internet references were accessed in November 2023).

3 Swedish Prosecution Authority, “Helt avgörande att tidigt samla in vittnesmål från krig”, 13 April 2022, available at: www.aklagare.se/nyheter-press/aktuellt-pa-aklagarmyndigheten/helt-avgorande-att-tidigt-samla-in-vittnesmal-fran-krig/.

4 Supreme Court of Sweden, Case No. B 5595-19 (Swed.), 5 May 2021 (War Poses), available at: www.domstol.se/globalassets/filer/domstol/hogstadomstolen/avgoranden/engelska-oversattningar/b-5595-19-eng.pdf.

5 Martinsson, Dennis and Klamberg, Mark, “Jurisdiction and Immunities in Sweden when Investigating and Prosecuting International Crimes”, in Scandinavian Studies in Law, Vol. 66, Stockholm Institute for Scandinavian Law, Stockholm, 2020, pp. 59–60Google Scholar.

6 Act on Penalties for Certain International Crimes, SFS 2014:406, 28 May 2014. Previously known as the Act on Criminal Responsibility for Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes.

7 Andersson, Anna, “Outrage upon the Personal Dignity of the Dead in International and Swedish War Crimes Legislation and Case Law”, in Scandinavian Studies in Law, Vol. 66, Stockholm Institute for Scandinavian Law, Stockholm, 2020, p. 256Google Scholar.

8 Örebro District Court, Prosecutor v. KBHS, Case No. B 1662-18, Judgment, 19 February 2019, p. 11.

9 Göta Court of Appeal, Prosecutor v. KBHS, Case No. B 939-19, Judgment, 24 September 2019, p. 4.

10 Supreme Court of Sweden, War Poses, above note 4, para. 39.

11 Ibid., para. 2.

12 See e.g. Protocol Additional (I) to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, 1125 UNTS 3, 8 June 1977 (entered into force 7 December 1978) (AP I), Arts 33–34.

13 Supreme Court of Sweden, War Poses, above note 4, para. 13.

14 Ibid., paras 14–15.

15 Ibid., para. 16.

16 Ibid., para. 20.

17 Ibid., para. 39.

18 See e.g. Petrig, Anna, “The War Dead and Their Gravesites”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 91, No. 874, 2009, p. 350CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

19 See e.g. AP I, Art. 41: “A person is ‘hors de combat’ if: (a) he is in the power of an adverse Party; (b) he clearly expresses an intention to surrender; or (c) he has been rendered unconscious or is otherwise incapacitated by wounds or sickness, and therefore is incapable of defending himself; provided that in any of these cases he abstains from any hostile act and does not attempt to escape.” See also Jean-Marie Henckaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck (eds), Customary International Humanitarian Law, Vol. 1: Rules, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005 (ICRC Customary Law Study), p. 164, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/rules.

20 Francis Lieber, Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field, General Order No. 100, US Department of War, 24 April 1863 (Lieber Code), Art. 71; Project of an International Declaration concerning the Laws and Customs of War, Brussels, 27 August 1874 (Brussels Declaration), Art. 13(c); Institute of International Law, The Laws of War on Land, Oxford, 9 September 1880 (Oxford Manual), Art. 9(b); Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and Its Annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, The Hague, 18 October 1907 (Hague Regulations), Art. 23(c).

21 ICRC, Commentary on the First Geneva Convention: Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, 2nd ed., 2016, paras 611, 668; A. Andersson, above note 7, p. 261.

22 Supreme Court of Sweden, War Poses, above note 4, para. 22.

23 Ibid., para. 24. See also Dörmann, Knut, Elements of War Crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: Sources and Commentary, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003, p. 314CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

24 Federal Supreme Court of Justice, Case No. 3 StR 57/17, Judgment, 27 July 2017.

25 Ibid., para. 2(A) in the English translation by Margaret Hiley and Kai Ambos, provided in Ambos, Kai, “Deceased Persons within the Meaning of International Humanitarian Law: German Federal Supreme Court Judgment of 27 July 2017”, Journal of International Criminal Justice, Vol. 16, No. 5, 2018, p. 1106Google Scholar.

26 Ibid., p. 1106.

27 Supreme Court of Sweden, War Poses, above note 4, para. 25.

28 See e.g. ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 19, p. 166: “It is uncontested that a person who is in the power of an adverse party is hors de combat.”

29 K. Ambos, above note 25, p. 1108.

30 Supreme Court of Sweden, War Poses, above note 4, para. 27.

31 K. Ambos, above note 25.

32 Blekinge District Court, Prosecutor v. Ubai Julaybib, Case No. B 2759-21, Judgment, 4 January 2023.

33 Ibid., p. 19.

34 Skåne and Blekinge Court of Appeal, Prosecutor v. Ubai Julaybib, Case No. B 461-23, Judgment, 6 August 2023.

35 Göteborg District Court, Prosecutor v. Fatosh, Case No. B 4663-22, Judgment, 29 March 2023.