Threats to take any prisoners in conflict are illegal under US and international law
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that he was facing charges of violating domestic and international laws that prohibited war crimes. “No Quarter” Or Iranian forces will be given mercy.
The legal definition of the term means that Iranian soldiers are executed by American forces rather than captured and surrendered. US officials and legal experts responded by accusing Hegseth of encouraging war crimes.
“We keep pressing. We keep pushing, advancing. No foot, no mercy to our enemy.” Hegseth said at a press conference in Iran on Friday.
Some US officials and legal scholars have argued that the criticism has gone beyond harsh rhetoric and led to criminality.
Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona blasted Hegseth’s comment “Some tough guy line isn’t it” Rather, it is an illegal order that puts US military service members at risk. It also shows “This war has never had a clear strategy” MLAs added.
Dan Maurer, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel and judge advocate, published a fictitious memo that Hegseth was supposed to receive from Pentagon legal counsel, informing him of criminal liability for himself and any subordinate who followed his directive to refuse the quarter.
Both the Hague Convention and the Geneva Convention prohibit harming enemy combatants who are unable to defend themselves or who have surrendered and expressly declared. “No quarter will be given.”
These terms are incorporated into US domestic law. The War Crimes Act of 1996 directly refers to the Prohibition Article “No Quarter” In its definition of war crimes.
Since US President Abraham Lincoln issued the Liber Code in 1863 during the Civil War, the US military has prohibited orders from taking any prisoners.
Hegseth has previously dismissed concerns about international law, saying he does not abide by it “Stupid Rules of Engagement” And “Politically Correct Wars.”
His remarks came two weeks after a US strike on a girls’ school in southern Iran killed more than 170 people, most of them children.
You can share this story on social media:
